Renaud

Renaud, stage name of Renaud Séchan (pronounced: [ʁəno seʃɑ̃]), born on 11 May 1952 in the 15th arrondissement of Paris, is a French musician, singer-songwriter, and actor.

With twenty-six albums released, totalling nearly twenty million copies sold, he is one of France's most popular singers. His works, with their often rebellious and libertarian lyrics, peppered with slang and a unique phrasing imbued with Parisian wit, address themes both light and serious, alternating between humour, emotion, and social criticism. While he achieved significant success in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, his career has since been marked by ups and downs, with the singer regularly suffering from depression and alcoholism, ailments he addresses in several of his songs.

He has also appeared in several films, including an adaptation of Germinal by Claude Berri in 1993.

His stances often spark controversy, and he refers to himself as “the annoying singer” due to his numerous commitments to causes such as human rights, environmentalism, and anti-militarism, which frequently appear in his songs. However, he also lends his support to controversial figures like Didier Raoult or Yvan Colonna.