On Ecoute…Grégoire

Picardy-born singer-songwriter Grégoire Boissenot, who simply goes by the stage name Grégoire, was drawn to music at an early age. At just eight years old, he took an instant shine to piano-based pop classics such as the Beatles’ Let It Be, John Lennon’s Imagine and Elton John’s Your Song, and this kickstarted a creative journey that continues today with the release of Vivre, his latest album.

Grégoire’s early musical career was powered by the growing influence of the internet – back in 2008, he was a hit on the website MyMajorCompany.com, which allowed direct access to an audience, as well as funding, for fledgling artists. A subsequent recorded release, the album Toi + moi came out in September 2008, and its eponymous single went straight to the top of the download charts. The singer honoured a commitment to repay his 437 ‘sponsors’ by giving them 30% of his sales revenue.

Grégoire has overcome major tragedy in his life – two of his brothers died young, one by suicide – and Vivre is “a story of resilience”, he told France Bleu, “of pursuing a dream that nothing, not even the worst, has ever stopped, so that people don’t give up”. The piano-driven melodies and mainstream chanson style hark back to his earliest influences.

From France Today Magazine