Bruno Nicolini (born 16 June 1969), better known by his stage name Bénabar, is a French songwriter and singer, who could be compared to

Vincent Delerm Vincent Delerm (born 31 August 1976) is a French singer-songwriter, pianist and composer. He is the son of the writer Philippe Delerm and illustrator Martine Delerm. His first album was released in 2002, the second, ''Kensington Square'', in ...

and other singers from his generation. As many of them he was influenced by Georges Brassens,

Renaud Renaud Pierre Manuel Séchan (; born 11 May 1952 in Paris), known as Renaud, is a French singer-songwriter. With twenty-six albums to his credit, selling nearly twenty million copies, he is one of France's most popular singers. Several of h ...

Jacques Higelin Jacques Joseph Victor Higelin (; 18 October 1940 – 6 April 2018) was a French pop singer who rose to prominence in the early 1970s. Early life Higelin was born on 18 October 1940. His father, Paul, a railway worker and musician of Alsatian de ...

and also

Tom Waits Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on society's underworld and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He began in the American folk music, fo ...

. His songs describe day-to-day life events with humour and a tender cynicism. His songs are influenced by French

chanson A (, ; , ) is generally any Lyrics, lyric-driven French song. The term is most commonly used in English to refer either to the secular polyphonic French songs of late medieval music, medieval and Renaissance music or to a specific style of ...

and a heavy influence is placed on the piano or the accordion and on typical French ''fanfare'' (brass band) for the most upbeat of them. This genre of music is very typically French and differs from most in that emphasis is placed on appreciation of the lyrics and that it is linked to a specific culture of modern "'' guinche''" (slang for "''guinguette''") appreciated a lot by Bobos among others.

Biography

Bénabar began his career in the cinema, working as an assistant on ''Le Brasier'' (1991) before directing three short subjects: ''Nada Lezard'' (1991), ''José Jeannette'' (1992) and ''Sursum corda'' (1994). He then turned to music, working for some time with his friend Patchol who gave him his nickname (Bénabar being the "

verlan The verlan word "pineco" comes from "copine". () is a type of argot in the French language, featuring inversion of syllables in a word, and is common in slang and youth language. It rests on a long French tradition of transposing syllables of in ...

" of Barnabé, the name he was using on stage). With "Les associés" he sang for several years in small places in France, Belgium, and Switzerland before the release of ''Bénabar'' (2001), which raised his profile sufficiently to make him the opening act for

Henri Salvador Henri Salvador (18 July 1917 – 13 February 2008) was a French Caribbean singer, comedian and cabaret artist. Biography Salvador was born in Cayenne, French Guiana. His father, Clovis, and his mother, Antonine Paterne, daughter of an Indigen ...

. He was nominated as a Revelation for the "Victoires de la musique 2003" but did not win it. In 2004, after the successful release of ''Les risques du métier'', he won the award for "album "chanson/variété" of the year". His next album ''Reprise des négociations'' sold better than the previous ones: according to ''Le Figaro'', Bénabar reached number 4 for CD sales in France, with 2.18 million euros sales in 2006. In 2007 he won the awards for "Male group or artist of the year" and "original song of the year" (for ''Le dîner'').

Personal life

He has two brothers named Patrick and Sébastien. He has a son born in 2004 named Manolo and a daughter born in 2009.

Philanthropy

Bénabar has been a member of the Les Enfoirés charity ensemble since 2007."Bénabar"
(in French). ''Enfoires.com''. Retrieved 23 February 2017.

Discography

Studio albums

Live albums

Compilations

Singles

^A Chart peak for

Ultratip Ultratop is an organization which generates and publishes the official record charts in Belgium. Ultratop is a non-profit organization, created in 1995 on the initiative of the Belgian Entertainment Association (BEA), the Belgian member organiza ...

. Other singles

Filmography

* 2009 : ''

Incognito Incognito is an English adjective meaning "in disguise", "having taken steps to conceal one's identity". Incognito may also refer to: Film and television Film * ''Incognito'', a 1915 film featuring Rae Berger * ''Incognito'' (1937 film), a Dan ...

'' * 2015 : '' The Night Watchman'' * 2019 : ''

Beaux-parents ''Beaux-parents'' () is a 2019 French comedy directed by Héctor Cabello Reyes. Released only in France, it grossed $3.9 million. Cast * Josiane Balasko as Coline Rossi * Didier Bourdon Didier Bourdon (; born 23 January 1959) is a French ac ...

References

External links

*
Official French site

Biography of Bénabar on the RFI musique Website (in English)
1969 births Living people French male singers French male songwriters French songwriters French people of Corsican descent French people of Italian descent People from Thiais {{France-singer-stub