On Ecoute…Julien Clerc

For many French music fans, their chouchou performer is Julien Clerc, a singer-songwriter with a vast repertoire of chansons and a career that has endured with consistent success since the 1960s.

Born Paul-Alain Leclerc in Paris in 1947 (his father was a senior official at UNESCO, and his grandfather was from Guadeloupe), he was studious as a youngster, taking the prestigious Sciences-Po exam, before enrolling in the Faculty of Law in Paris in September 1966. He also studied English at the Sorbonne. But by 1968, he had abandoned his studies and released his first single, rebel song La cavalerie, which was a hit during the May 68 upheaval. He followed this with two more singles before releasing his first album in 1969. That year, he took to the stage to star in the musical Hair, emblematic of the hippie movement.

The 1970s were a prolific period, with a slew of hit albums but it was the 1980s that saw him established at the top table of French chanson performers. He also chopped his trademark curly hair off for a smarter look. Fast forward to 2025 and Clerc shows no signs of slowing down – he has a new album out, Une Vie, his 28th, and is touring from February 2026.

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From France Today Magazine

Lead photo credit : @antoncorbijn4real