Michel Polnareff was a French singer, songwriter and composer widely known in the 1970s and 1980s.
The early years of Michel Polnareff
The musician was born on July 3, 1944 in the French region of Lot and Garonne. He has mixed roots. Michel's father is a Jew who moved from Russia to France, where he later became a musician.
Therefore, the love of creativity was laid down in Michel from childhood. As a little boy, he listened to many different records. This is how his musical taste was brought up.
Michel's mom worked as a dancer, she was a professional. Therefore, the fate of the son was actually predetermined. The city of Nerak became native for the composer for one reason - his family moved here, fleeing the hostilities. Upon graduation, the parents and their son moved back to Paris.
Parents decided to develop the creative abilities of the baby. Therefore, as soon as he was 5 years old, he was sent to learn how to play various instruments.
Chief among them was the piano. For six years, the child studied the basics and achieved a certain skill. At the age of 11, he already wrote the first composition on the instrument. A year later, he was awarded the first prize for an excellent game (at an audition at one of the conservatories in Paris).
After graduating from school, the young man immediately moved from his parents. At first he served in the army, then there was work in several places not related to music. After working for some time in a bank and other organizations, the young man realized that he did not want to do this. He decided to devote himself to music.
Choice in favor of music
There wasn't much choice. Michel bought himself a guitar and went out into the street hoping to earn some money. Better yet, meet some music manager. In parallel, the young man took part in various music competitions, even won victories in them.
In particular, in 1966 he received the award of the Disco Revue competition. His reward was the opportunity to sign a contract with the music company Barclay.
But the young man refused to sign a lucrative contract. On the other hand, he met the director of Europe 1, a well-known radio in France. This acquaintance favorably influenced the career of an aspiring musician. Lucien Morris (radio station manager) helped Polnareff for a long time.
Rise of popularity Michel Polnareff
In the same year, the first album was released. It is interesting because it is written in several languages at once. Michel sang not only in French, but also in English and Italian. Thanks to this, in 1967 he was already named the most popular foreign artist in Germany.
In the early 1970s, he wrote a number of successful soundtracks for French films. He also released high-profile singles that became popular not only in France, but also in many European countries.
Lucien Maurice, who had already become close friends with the artist by 1970, committed suicide. This led to the fact that Michel ended up in the hospital amid depression. And later he dedicated the famous song Qui a Tuégrand-maman? to a friend.
During the 1970s, the musician was very popular with the public. Tours followed literally one after another. In parallel, he did not forget about recording solo material, releasing new albums and singles.
Later years of the artist
Contrary to popular belief that the peak of fame passes quickly, Michel managed to become popular for decades to come. The 1980s were no exception. New songs hit the world charts, albums sold well. Mainly, the musician was popular in France and in other European countries. However, his music has spread to the United States, even Asia.
In 1990, his popularity in the world only increased with the release of the Kama-Sutra disc. By the way, a popular video clip was shot for the song of the same name from the album, which interested the audience with the idea. Throughout the video, a countdown was made from 2030 to 3739. The mystery of this clip is still of interest to fans. Singles from the album have been at the top of the charts for a long time.
From 1990 to 1994 there was a break in his career associated with the growing blindness of the musician. As a result, he decided to have an operation to get rid of the disease. Since 1995, the composer has periodically performed with concerts at large venues. The speeches were one-off. As a rule, after them, the performer disappeared for a long time from the field of view of fans and journalists.
A full-fledged return, which Polnareff himself called official, took place only in 2005. Then a series of major performances took place. So, in 2007, one of the concerts took place in front of the Eiffel Tower - it was the proposal of former President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Kama-Sutra became the last official studio album of the legendary composer. Since then, only various collections have been published. The last one came out in 2011. Today, the musician practically does not appear in public and does not give concerts.
