Lucien Voulzy (, born 18 December 1948), better known as Laurent Voulzy (), is a French singer-songwriter, composer, and musician.
Life and career
Voulzy was born in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
,
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
. He originally led the English-pop-influenced
Le Temple de Vénus before joining
Pascal Danel as guitarist from 1969 to 1974. However, he is best known for his collaborative songwriting efforts with singer-songwriter
Alain Souchon and his solo singing career, which spanned several successful singles and albums.
Voulzy had an international hit with the song "
Rockollection". The French lyrics were interspersed with some lines from classic rock hits after the chorus.
His major hits also include the singles "
Paradoxal Système" (which reached the French Top 10), "Le Soleil Donne" – sung in French,
English, Portuguese, and
Spanish – and the
double
Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to:
Mathematics and computing
* Multiplication by 2
* Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length
* A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1
* A ...
"Belle-Île-en-Mer, Marie-Galante"/"
Les Nuits Sans Kim Wilde" ("Nights without
Kim Wilde
Kim Wilde (born Kim Smith, 18 November 1960) is an English pop singer. She first gained success in 1981 with her debut single "Kids in America", which peaked at no. 2 in the UK. In 1983, she received the Brit Award for Best British Female solo ...
"; a song inspired by the chart-topping English singer). Other songs entered the French charts ("Bopper en larmes", "Le coeur Grenadine", "Désir, désir", etc.).
Voulzy also enjoys success in
Belgium
Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
,
Switzerland
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
and
Québec
Quebec is Canada's largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, New Brunswick to the southeast and a coastal border ...
; and although being a French artist, his songs often contain multiple languages (including lyrics in English, Spanish,
Portuguese,
German, etc.).
In 2005, he co-produced and co-composed
Nolwenn Leroy
Nolwenn Le Magueresse (; born 28 September 1982), known by her stage name Nolwenn Leroy (), is a French singer-songwriter and actress.
Originally classically trained (violin and opera singing), she rose to fame after winning the second season o ...
's second album ''
Histoires Naturelles''.
Voulzy had a huge hit with his album ''La Septième Vague'' which reached number one in 2006. Featured on the album is a cover of the
Everly Brothers hit "
All I Have to Do Is Dream", recorded as a duet with Irish singer
Andrea Corr. The song was released as a single and was also included on
The Corrs' greatest hits album ''
Dreams: The Ultimate Corrs Collection''.
He recorded in 2007 a duet with the French guitarist
Jean-Pierre Danel on his hit album ''Guitar Connection 2''. The song hit the French charts at No. 7 in 2008. For his 2011 album, ''Lys and Love'', Voulzy recorded a duet on the song "Ma seule amour" with English singer
Roger Daltrey
Sir Roger Harry Daltrey (born 1 March 1944) is an English singer, musician and actor. He is the co-founder and lead vocalist of the Rock music, rock band the Who, known for his powerful voice and charismatic stage presence. His stage persona ear ...
of
The Who
The Who are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup (1964–1978) consisted of lead vocalist Roger Daltrey, guitarist Pete Townshend, bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon. Considered one of th ...
.
In 2007, He toured France.
Discography
Studio albums
Live albums
Compilations
Singles
*1977: "
Rockollection"
*1978: "Bubble Star"
*1979: "Le Cœur grenadine"
*1979: "Karin Redinger"
*1979: "Cocktail chez Mademoiselle"
*1980: "Surfing Jack"
*1981: "Idéal simplifié"
*1983: "Bopper en larmes"
*1983: "Liebe"
References
External links
*
Laurent Voulzy (official site)Biography of Laurent Voulzy from
Radio France Internationale
Radio France Internationale, usually referred to as RFI, is the State media, state-owned international radio news network of France. With 59.5 million listeners in 2022, it is one of the most-listened-to international radio stations in the world ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Voulzy, Laurent
1948 births
Living people
Musicians from Paris
Singers from Paris
20th-century French composers
21st-century French composers
21st-century French singers
French pop singers
20th-century French male musicians
21st-century French male singers
French male singer-songwriters
French singer-songwriters
English-language singers from France
Musicians from Val-de-Marne