Sébastien Tellier (; born 22 February 1975) is a French singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He represented

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 ...

in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2008 The Eurovision Song Contest 2008 was the 53rd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Belgrade, Serbia, following the country's victory at the with the song "" by Marija Šerifović. Organised by the European Broadcasting Unio ...

with his song "

Divine Divinity (from Latin ) refers to the quality, presence, or nature of that which is divine—a term that, before the rise of monotheism, evoked a broad and dynamic field of sacred power. In the ancient world, divinity was not limited to a singl ...

". He has also produced songs for Dita Von Teese and composed music for the French films '' Narco'' and ''

Steak A steak is a cut of meat sliced across muscle fibers, sometimes including a bone. It is normally Grilling, grilled or Pan frying, fried, and can be diced or cooked in sauce. Steaks are most commonly cut from cattle (beefsteak), but can also ...

'', among others. Tellier is currently signed to Record Makers, a French independent record label. He sings in English, French and Italian.

Biography

Tellier's first album, '' L'incroyable Vérité'' (The Incredible Truth), was released in 2001. Tellier went on tour with

Air An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosph ...

in support of the album and was joined on stage by

theremin The theremin (; originally known as the ætherphone, etherphone, thereminophone or termenvox/thereminvox) is an electronic musical instrument controlled without physical contact by the performer (who is known as a thereminist). It is named aft ...

player Pamelia Kurstin. ''L'incroyable Vérité'' is a pop album featuring styles from lo-fi electronica to bizarre cabaret tunes. The same year, he appears, alongside Vincent Belorgey (Kavinsky) in ''Nonfilm'', directed by Quentin Dupieux. His second studio album, ''

Politics Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...

'', released on 31 January 2004. ''Politics'' included the popular song " La Ritournelle", a string-led tune with Nigerian drummer Tony Allen. The same year, he composed the soundtrack for the film '' Narco'', directed by Tristan Aurouet and

Gilles Lellouche Gilles Lellouche (; born 5 July 1972) is a French actor and director. He was nominated twice for a César Award; in 2006 for Most Promising Actor and in 2011 for Best Supporting actor for his performance in '' Little White Lies'' (2010). Earl ...

. The soundtrack released two years later, on 9 November 2007. Since the release of ''Politics'', Tellier has also recorded an acoustic album of his more popular songs, ''Sessions'' (2006). The album was repackaged for the British market as ''Universe'' (2006), to include both highlights from the French CD, as well as compositions from Tellier's score for the film '' Narco''. This compilation included a cover of "La Dolce Vita", a song originally by French singer Christophe. In 2007, he composed a few songs with Mr. Oizo, for the soundtrack of the film ''

'', directed by Quentin Dupieux (Mr. Oizo himself). Also co-composed by SebastiAn, the

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

was released by Ed Banger and Because Music the same year. Tellier also appears in the film as Prisme, the man with the electric wheelchair. His third studio album ''

Sexuality Human sexuality is the way people experience and express themselves sexually. This involves biological, psychological, physical, erotic, emotional, social, or spiritual feelings and behaviors. Because it is a broad term, which has varied ...

'' was produced by

Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo Guillaume Emmanuel "Guy-Manuel" de Homem-Christo (; born 8 February 1974) is a French musician. He is known as one half of the former French house music duo Daft Punk, along with Thomas Bangalter. He has produced several works from his now-def ...

Daft Punk Daft Punk were a French electronic music duo formed in 1993 in Paris by Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo. They achieved popularity in the late 1990s as part of the French house movement, combining house music, funk, disco, tech ...

. Like his previous album ''Politics'', Tellier used a single term as title and theme of the album. Tellier's label Record Makers collaborated with retailer American Apparel for an exclusive three-month pre-release of the album, whilst American Apparel sold limited edition versions of the ''Sexuality'' CD, LP and "Divine" 7" and 12" single through their North American stores and website. On 7 March 2008, it was announced by Bruno Berberes, head of

EBU The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; , UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations in countries within the European Broadcasting Area (EBA) or who are member states of the Council of Europe, members of the ...

delegation in France, that Tellier would represent France in the

. It was held in Belgrade on 24 May 2008. Tellier sang "

". This was the first time in the history of the contest that the nominated French entry was to be performed largely in English, which caused controversy, leading to Tellier pledging to increase the amount of French in the song prior to the competition itself. In total, the entry received 47 points. His fourth album '' My God Is Blue'' was released in 23 April 2012. As the name suggests, the concept of this album is religion. Tellier is presented in this album as a guru, founder of a fictional sect called "Alliance Bleue". The album is entirely produced by Mr Flash and Pavle Kovacevic. His fifth album ''Confection'' was released in October 2013. This was partially inspired by the death of Tellier's grandmother. Some of the music on the album was intended to appear on a film soundtrack, but ended up not being used. In an interview with artistxite, Tellier noted: "You can say my grandmother's death as well as this nonexisting soundtrack had an impact on “Confection“. To me this has been a super strange situation. I was full of love for my grandmother and full of dedication to this soundtrack; ''Confection'' is the result of both of these emotional conditions." In Spring 2014, Tellier performed a medley of tracks from ''Confection'' at the

Chanel Chanel ( , ) is a French luxury fashion house founded in 1910 by Coco Chanel in Paris. It is privately owned by French brothers, Alain and Gérard Wertheimer, through the holding company Chanel Limited, established in 2018 and headquarte ...

Haute Couture show at the

Grand Palais The (; ), commonly known as the , is a historic site, exhibition hall and museum complex located in the 8th arrondissement of Paris between the Champs-Élysées and the Seine, France. Construction of the began in 1897 following the demolitio ...

. Tellier recounts that

Karl Lagerfeld Karl Otto Lagerfeld also called Kaiser Karl (; 10 September 1933 – 19 February 2019) was a German fashion designer, photographer, and creative director. Lagerfeld began his career in fashion in the 1950s, working for several top fashion hous ...

invited him to perform, having listened to the album himself. His sixth album ''L'Aventura'', was released on 14 July 2014. The album was inspired by the childhood and Brazil, where the video to its lead single, "L'Adulte", is set. This album, consisting of 10 tracks, is sung entirely in French. In 2016, he composed soundtracks for the two French films '' Saint-Amour'', directed by

Benoît Delépine Benoît Delépine (; born 30 August 1958) is a French comedian and film director. He is known for his satirical activities on TV channel Canal+. Director of the TV program '' Guignols de l'info'' for many years, he currently writes TV programs ...

and Gustave Kervern, and '' Marie et les naufragés'', directed by Sébastien Betbeder. The same year, he composed the music for the credits of the comedy show broadcast on

Canal+ Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flo ...

, '' Groland Le Zapoï''. The next year, he composed the soundtrack for the series ''A Girl Is a Gun''. In 2018, Tellier composed all the songs from the eponymous album by Dita Von Teese. In 2020, Tellier returned with a new single "A Ballet", released on 29 January, to promote his seventh album ''

Domesticated Domestication is a multi-generational mutualistic relationship in which an animal species, such as humans or leafcutter ants, takes over control and care of another species, such as sheep or fungi, to obtain from them a steady supply of reso ...

'', consisting of 8 tracks, which released on 29 May 2020. On 8 April, "Domestic Tasks", the second single released and "Stuck in a Summer Love" the third single on 19 May. The concept on this album is domestic life and this concept was born following his marriage and the birth of his two children. The album is produced by Corentin "nit" Kerdraon, Mind Gamers ( John Carroll Kirby and Daniel Stricker), Jam City, Varnish La Piscine and Philippe Zdar (who died in 2019). Apart from this album, on 14 February 2020, he appeared as a featured artist on "Boycycle" by Salvatore Ganacci. The same year, he released an album titled ''Simple Mind'', in which he covered several tracks from his previous albums, ''Sexuality'', ''My God Is Blue'', ''L'Aventura'' and ''Domesticated''. In 2024, Tellier performed La Ritournelle with Ensemble Matheus at the Paralympic Games opening ceremony in Paris.

Personal life

Tellier is married to Amandine de la Richardière with whom he has two children.

Discography

Studio albums

Soundtracks

Compilations

Other contributions

Singles

Other appearances

References

External links

Official website

Anthem interview with Sebastian Tellier
on Anthemmagazine.com *

on Phrequency.com
Sebastian Tellier
on Soundcloud {{DEFAULTSORT:Tellier, Sebastien 1975 births Living people People from Le Plessis-Bouchard French pop singers French electronic musicians English-language singers from France Synth-pop singers French new wave musicians 21st-century French singers 21st-century French male singers French male singer-songwriters French singer-songwriters Eurovision Song Contest entrants