Eddy de Pretto (born 2 May 1993 in Créteil in the

Val-de-Marne Val-de-Marne (, "Vale of the Marne") is a department of France located in the Île-de-France region. Named after the river Marne, it is situated in the Grand Paris metropolis to the southeast of the City of Paris. In 2019, Val-de-Marne had a pop ...

) is a French singer-songwriter and actor.

Early life

Eddy de Pretto was born on 2 May 1993 and grew up in Créteil in the

. His father is a truck driver and football fan; his mother a laboratory technician and an art lover. He sings about his native city in ''Beaulieue''. In an interview, he described his hometown: At the age of twelve, he started lessons in theatre, singing, vocal technique and piano:. "I took the TV remote for a microphone and operated a halogen lamp for lighting. So my mother suggested taking theatre lessons since I didn't excel at sport." He continued his education at the ''Institut supérieur des arts de la scène'' (ECM-ISAS, "Advanced Institute of Dramatic Arts") in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

Acting

Eddy de Pretto's first acting experiences were in TV advertisements, such as the role of a young

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...

for CanalSat in September 2010, before entering into the theatrical and film worlds: the

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

s ''Königsberg'' by Philipp Mayrhofer in 2012 and ''Vivre sa vie'' by Paul D. Meyer in 2013 as well as an appearance in the

feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

Paulette Paulette may refer to: *Paulette (name), French feminine given name *Paulette (tax) * Paulette Caveat - a caveat filed in 1973 by a group of Dene chiefs at the land titles office in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories to gain a legal interest in 40 ...

'' by Jérôme Enrico in the role of "the young hippy buyer", also in 2013.

Music career

Between the ages of eighteen and nineteen he began to write songs. In his first public performance he sang

R. Kelly Robert Sylvester Kelly (born January 8, 1967) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and sex offender convicted of racketeering and multiple sex offenses. During his recording career, Kelly sold over 75 million records worldwid ...

's "

I Believe I Can Fly "I Believe I Can Fly" is a song written, produced, and performed by disgraced American singer R. Kelly from the soundtrack to the 1996 film ''Space Jam''. It was originally released on November 26, 1996, and was later included on Kelly's 1998 a ...

" at his local youth centre (''Maison des jeunes et de la culture''): "I was totally weak, ... so stressed out because there was a lot of rap and I didn't fit into that genre at all," he said in an interview. He participated in the

Printemps de Bourges Le Printemps de Bourges is an annual music festival that is held in Bourges, France, over the course of five days. It is now a major event in France and Europe. History The festival was created in 1977 (by , , and ). With its span of 35 years, ...

music festival, where he won the ''Inouïs'' ("unheard of, amazing") prize, and the ''Bars en Trans'' festival, and is a graduate of ''inRocKs Lab 2016''. In October 2017, he also took part in the ''Festival Off Off Off'' (''Nuits de Champagne'' festival) in

Troyes Troyes () is a commune and the capital of the department of Aube in the Grand Est region of north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about south-east of Paris. Troyes is situated within the Champagne wine region and is near to ...

''Kid'' and ''Cure''

He released his first EP, entitled ''Kid'', on 6 October 2017. In the live performances of the EP he played sound clips from his iPhone connected with a cable. The only live musician at his concerts was a

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one mem ...

. In early January 2018, on the stage of the

television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, e ...

Taratata ''Taratata'' is a French television music show showcasing live and pre-recorded footage of current acts. Presented by Nagui since its début in 1993, the show was initially shown on France 2. The show often involved surprise and unlikely duets, as ...

'', he sang " Comme un boomerang" in duet with

Julien Doré Julien Doré (; born 7 July 1982) is a French singer-songwriter, musician and actor. He is the winner of the fifth season of the television show ''Nouvelle Star'', aired on the French Television M6 channel. He is also the great-great-grandson ...

, a song written by Serge Gainsbourg and previously performed by Dani and

Étienne Daho Étienne Daho (; ; born 14 January 1956) is a French singer. He has released a number of synth-driven and rock- surf influenced pop hit singles since 1981. Career Daho was born in Oran, French Algeria. He sings in a low, whispery voice somewha ...

in 2001. In mid-January 2018, he launched "Random", the first song from his debut album , describing his heartaches. Along with

Gaël Faye Gaël Faye (born 6 August 1982) is a Rwanda, Rwandan-France, French singer, rapper, and writer. Personal life Faye was born in Bujumbura, Burundi of a French father and Rwandan mother. He immigrated to France at the age of 13, escaping from the ...

and Fishbach, he was nominated for "Best Newcomer Stage Act" (''Groupe ou artiste révélation scène'') at the 33rd '' Victoires de la Musique'' in 2018. Gaël Faye won the award. In mid-February 2018, he introduced his song "Ego" with "a stripped down, mechanical instrumental", which the singer explained thus: "I set down the possibility of becoming unhinged because of the speed at which the project is going. By dint of hearing praise, the 'excess of self' implodes, and that's the risk I'm exposing here. The simple fear of degenerating into a fanaticism of the self through

social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...

, endearments, and all other flattering signals that create this monster of ego." On 2 March 2018, he released his first album , on CD, vinyl and in digital format. At the same time, the clip for "Normal" was unveiled, which took on

stereotype In social psychology, a stereotype is a generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can be, for example ...

s of

sexual identity Sexual identity is how one thinks of oneself in terms of to whom one is romantically and/or sexually attracted.
''Sex ...

, fear of Other (philosophy), the other and

homophobia Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitude (psychology), attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, h ...

: "An anger about people who were attacking me because they didn't like the person I embodied," he explained in the magazine ''

Têtu ( French for "stubborn") is the main LGBTQIA magazine published in France. It was subtitled in French ( en, the magazine of gays and lesbians) until 2007, and reaffirmed itself as a men's magazine since then. As of December, 2012, its certifie ...

''. A week after its release, the recording was ranked the number one best-selling album ahead of ''Vous et moi'' by

, with 13,500 copies, "driving out" Grand Corps Malade from

Fnac Fnac () is a large French retail chain selling cultural and electronic products, founded by André Essel and Max Théret in 1954. Its head office is in ''Le Flavia'' in Ivry-sur-Seine near Paris. It is an abbreviation of Fédération Nationale d ...

's Top French Albums listing.

''À TOUS LES BÂTARDS''

On 25 March 2021, he released his new album entitled À TOUS LES BÂTARDS, featuring his two previously released singles, Bateaux-Mouches and Désolé Caroline, alongside a COLORS SHOW performance of the song ‘ Parfaitement’ which was released on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

ahead of the album's release. The 16-track album featured an artwork given to de Pretto by a fan, the design of which shows the sketch of the artist's head superimposed onto a yellow background, a trend continued from his previous album's cover where he superimposed bodybuilder

Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July 30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, film producer, businessman, retired professional bodybuilder and politician who served as the 38th governor of California between 2003 and 2011. ''Time'' ...

’s arm onto an image of himself.

Personal life

As alluded to in some of his songs, Eddy de Pretto does not hide his homosexuality: "I'm not

militant The English word ''militant'' is both an adjective and a noun, and it is generally used to mean vigorously active, combative and/or aggressive, especially in support of a cause, as in "militant reformers". It comes from the 15th century Latin " ...

. I don't want to be a standard-bearer. I just want to give an account of my life, my reality," he added in an interview. He defines himself as a "non-genre" artist. In the TV program ''

'', broadcast on 15 December 2017, he explained that he was trying to examine masculinity and the hypermasculinity that made up part of his education. When Nagui asked him if he talked about homosexuality in his songs, he responded that that was in no way his goal. In this regard, speaking to '' Les Inrockuptibles'' the singer declared: "I try to speak about my personal history and to normalise it as much as possible. And not to highlight it saying I'm the first

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are not heterosexual or cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against those with same-sex desires or relationships in the late 19th century. Beginning in the lat ...

to link rap and French chanson".

Musical influences

Discography

Album

EP

Singles

Other charting songs

Covers

* 2017: "Je suis pas fou" by

Jul Jul most commonly refers to: * July, as an abbreviation for the seventh month of the year in the Gregorian calendar Jul or JUL may also refer to: Celebrations * ''Jul'', Scandinavian and Germanic word for Yule * ''Jul (Denmark)'', the Danish Yu ...

* 2017: "Du bout des lèvres" by

Barbara Barbara may refer to: People * Barbara (given name) * Barbara (painter) (1915–2002), pseudonym of Olga Biglieri, Italian futurist painter * Barbara (singer) (1930–1997), French singer * Barbara Popović (born 2000), also known mononymously as ...

* 2018: " Comme un boomerang" by

Serge Gainsbourg Serge Gainsbourg (; born Lucien Ginsburg; 2 April 1928 – 2 March 1991) was a French musician, singer-songwriter, actor, author and filmmaker. Regarded as one of the most important figures in French pop, he was renowned for often provoca ...

(duet with

)

Filmography

Feature films

Short films

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:de Pretto, Eddy French male singer-songwriters French singer-songwriters 21st-century French singers French rappers 1993 births Living people Rappers from Val-de-Marne French LGBT singers