Gérald Gardrinier (; born 14 October 1967 in
Saint-Denis,
Réunion
Réunion (; french: La Réunion, ; previously ''Île Bourbon''; rcf, label= Reunionese Creole, La Rényon) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas department and region of France. It is located approximately east of the island ...
), better known by his stage name Gérald de Palmas, is a French singer-songwriter.
Biography
Early life
Gérald de Palmas was born in France. His father was a
land surveyor
Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. A land surveying professional is ca ...
from
Brittany
Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...
and his mother was a French teacher from
Réunion
Réunion (; french: La Réunion, ; previously ''Île Bourbon''; rcf, label= Reunionese Creole, La Rényon) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas department and region of France. It is located approximately east of the island ...
. At the age of 10, De Palmas' family left
Réunion
Réunion (; french: La Réunion, ; previously ''Île Bourbon''; rcf, label= Reunionese Creole, La Rényon) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas department and region of France. It is located approximately east of the island ...
, to live in
Aix-en-Provence
Aix-en-Provence (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Ais de Provença in classical norm, or in Mistralian norm, ; la, Aquae Sextiae), or simply Aix ( medieval Occitan: ''Aics''), is a city and commune in southern France, about north of Marseille. ...
, France. At the age of 13, he discovered
ska
Ska (; ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walki ...
music, and became a fan of the UK band
The Specials
The Specials, also known as The Special AKA, are an English Two-tone (music genre), 2 tone and ska revival band formed in 1977 in Coventry. After some early changes, the first stable lineup of the group consisted of Terry Hall (singer), Terr ...
. Then he met
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 ...
and formed a group called ''Les Max Valentin'' together with Edith Fambuena and Jean-Louis Pierot. They released the single 'Les Maux Dits' in 1987, but De Palmas was uncomfortable with this group, and went solo. After seven years of writing and singing solo, Da Palmas won a talent contest on the French
M6 TV network.
Career
In 1994, Gérald de Palmas, or just De Palmas as an artistic name, released his first album ''La dernière Année'' (The Last Year), which contains the hit song ''Sur la Route'' (On the Road). He won a
Victoires de la Musique
Victoires de la Musique (; en, Victories of Music) is an annual French award ceremony where the Victoire accolade is delivered by the French Ministry of Culture to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry. The classical and jazz ...
award in 1996.
De Palmas released his second album ''Les Lois de la Nature'' (Laws of Nature) in 1997. The album was less successful than his debut album, probably due to the dramatic change in his style. He was in the slumps for two and a half years, until 2000. That's when
Jean-Jacques Goldman
Jean-Jacques Goldman (; born 11 October 1951) is a French singer-songwriter and music record producer. He is hugely popular in the French-speaking world. Since the death of Johnny Hallyday in 2017 he has been the highest grossing living French p ...
restored his confidence and wrote a song for him titled ''
J'en rêve encore
"J'en rêve encore" (English : "I Still Dream about It") is a 2000 pop / rock song recorded by French singer-songwriter Gérald de Palmas. It was the first single from his third album ''Marcher dans le sable'' on which it appears as second track ...
'' (I still dream about it).
De Palmas composed and wrote 10 of the 12 songs in his third album ''
Marcher dans le sable
''Marcher dans le sable'' is a 2000 album recorded by French singer Gérald De Palmas. It was his third studio album, and his most successful in terms of sales. It reached number two in France and in Belgium (Wallonia) and remained for almost two ...
'' (Walking in the sand). He was reborn as a star in 2002, as he won the
Victoires de la Musique
Victoires de la Musique (; en, Victories of Music) is an annual French award ceremony where the Victoire accolade is delivered by the French Ministry of Culture to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry. The classical and jazz ...
and the
NRJ Music Awards
An NRJ Music Award (commonly abbreviated as an NMA) is an award presented by the French radio station NRJ to honor the best in the French and worldwide music industry. The awards ceremony, created in 2000 by NRJ in partnership with the televisi ...
, while playing more than 180 concerts. His songs even crossed the Atlantic, when
Céline Dion
Céline Marie Claudette Dion ( ; born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Noted for her powerful and technically skilled vocals, Dion is the best-selling Canadian recording artist, and the best-selling French-language artist of all time. Her ...
sang his hit song ''Tomber'' (falling) in English, titled ''Ten Days''. At the end of that year, ''Live 2002'' was released on DVD and on CD, to commemorate his great tour of 2002.
Two years later, De Palmas returned with his fourth album ''
Un homme sans racines
''Un homme sans racines'' is a 2004 album recorded by French singer Gérald De Palmas. It was his fourth studio album and his fifth album overall, and his most successful in terms of peak positions. It reached number one in France in its first we ...
'' (A man without roots), a more intimate album with less music, but still in the same melancholic style.
After having problems with Universal, Gérald de Palmas came back in November 2009 with his new album "Sortir" (Leaving) with the hit single "Au bord de l'eau".
His latest album is "La beauté du geste" released in the summer of 2016.
Awards
*
NRJ Music Awards
An NRJ Music Award (commonly abbreviated as an NMA) is an award presented by the French radio station NRJ to honor the best in the French and worldwide music industry. The awards ceremony, created in 2000 by NRJ in partnership with the televisi ...
:
**Best francophone male artist (2003)
**Best francophone album (''Marcher dans le sable'') (2002)
*
Victoires de la musique
Victoires de la Musique (; en, Victories of Music) is an annual French award ceremony where the Victoire accolade is delivered by the French Ministry of Culture to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry. The classical and jazz ...
:
**Best male artist of the year (2002)
**Male revelation of the year (1996)
Discography
Albums
;Live albums
Singles
;Featured in
References
External links
Official websitebroken link previous Official websiteBiography of Gérald De Palmas from
Radio France Internationale
Radio France Internationale, usually referred to as RFI, is the state-owned international radio broadcaster of France. With 37.2 million listeners in 2014, it is one of the most-listened-to international radio stations in the world, along with ...
* Gérald de Palmas' music videos from his album "Sortir"
"Mon Coeur ne bat plus""Dans une Larme"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Palmas, Gerald de
1967 births
Living people
French pop singers
French male singers
Musicians from Réunion
French folk-pop singers
Réunionnais singers