Kyo is a French
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
band with lead by
Benoît Poher. The band was active from 1997 to 2005 with three albums ''Kyo'' (2000), ''
Le Chemin'' (2003) and ''
300 Lésions
''300 Lésions'' is a 2004 album recorded by French pop-rock act Kyo. It was released on December 28, 2004, and achieved huge success in France, Belgium (Wallonia) and Switzerland, where it was respectively #1, #1 and #2. This album, entirely co ...
'' (2004) and a string of singles. It announced a hiatus in 2005 without a definite break-up. In 2006, Kyo was involved in launching "
L'Or de nos vies" written by Kyo and its lead singer Benoît Poher for the Fighting AIDS charity in 2006. Kyo had a comeback in 2013 with the album ''L'équilibre''.
Biography
Since attending
collège
In France, secondary education is in two stages:
* ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 15.
* ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for children between ...
Notre-Dame in
Yvelines
Yvelines () is a department in the western part of the Île-de-France region in Northern France. In 2019, it had a population of 1,448,207.[Nirvana
( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lampRichard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo.' ...]
,
Pearl Jam,
Rage Against the Machine
Rage Against the Machine (often abbreviated as RATM or shortened to simply Rage) is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1991, the group consists of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist and backing vocalist Tim Commer ...
and
Soundgarden
Soundgarden was an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1984 by singer and drummer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil (both of whom are the only members to appear in every incarnation of the band), and bassist Hiro Yama ...
.
At that time the band was named Spiritus Sanctus and they recorded their first demo on DAT with Dominique Gire.
In 1997, they met their future manager Yves Michel Akle, who convinced of their potential, introduced them to Sony BMG where they performed and were offered a contract. Their big break came when they performed during a big concert of
David Hallyday
David Hallyday (born David Michael Benjamin Smet; 14 August 1966) is a French singer, songwriter and amateur sports car racer.
Early life
Hallyday was born in Boulogne-Billancourt and is the son of the French singers Johnny Hallyday and Sylvie ...
, son of famous French rocker
Johnny Hallyday
Jean-Philippe Léo Smet (; 15 June 1943 – 5 December 2017), better known by his stage name Johnny Hallyday, was a French rock and roll and pop singer and actor, credited for having brought rock and roll to France.
During a career spanning 57 ...
, also appearing in the music video of one of David Hallyday's music videos as a backing band.
They have since released three albums and one DVD entitled ''Kyosphere''. After limited success of self-titled debut album ''Kyo'' that sold around 40,000 copies, their sophomore album ''
Le Chemin'' sold in comparison 1.5 million copies, and peaked at number 2 on the French Albums Chart. They retreated to a house in Brittany, where they worked on their new album ''300 Lésions''. That album went gold in four days with sales reaching upwards of 500,000 copies, and peaked at number 1 on the French Albums Chart.
In 2005, the band announced a hiatus, but without a definite break
;Fight Aids charity single
The band would be instrumental in launching Fight Aids single "
L'Or de nos vies", co-written by Kyo and their lead singer
Benoît "Ben" Poher and produced by
François Delabrière and Kyo. Seventeen artists pitched in including
Anggun
Anggun Cipta Sasmi (; born 29 April 1974), better known as Anggun C. Sasmi or more often mononymously as Anggun, is an Indonesian-born French singer-songwriter and television personality. Born in Jakarta, she began performing at the age of sev ...
,
Bénabar
Bruno Nicolini (born 16 June 1969), better known by his stage name Bénabar, is a French songwriter and singer, who could be compared to Vincent Delerm and other singers from his generation. As many of them he was influenced by Georges Brassens ...
,
Amel Bent
Amel Bent Bachir ( ar, آمال بنت بشير; born 21 June 1985) is a French R&B and pop singer who gained fame after reaching the semi-finals of season 2 of French TV singing competition ''Nouvelle Star''. She is best-selling artist to come ...
,
Patrick Bruel,
Corneille
Pierre Corneille (; 6 June 1606 – 1 October 1684) was a French tragedian. He is generally considered one of the three great seventeenth-century French dramatists, along with Molière and Racine.
As a young man, he earned the valuable patronag ...
,
Emma Daumas,
Jenifer, Kyo,
Leslie,
Emmanuel Moire,
M. Pokora
Matthieu Tota (; born 26 September 1985), artistically known as Matt Pokora and later M. Pokora (), is a French pop and R&B singer. In 2016, he became a coach for ''The Voice Kids France'' and '' The Voice: la plus belle voix''.
Early life ...
,
Roch Voisine
Joseph Armand Roch Voisine, (born 26 March 1963) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, actor, and radio and television host who lives in Montreal and Paris. He writes and performs material in both English and French. He won the Juno Award for Male V ...
,
Stéphanie de Monaco,
Tété. The revenues from the sale of the single and downloads was donated to F.A.M. (Fight Aids Monaco) charity,
in support of building a house called "maison de vie" (house of life) near
Avignon which offers both psychological and material aid to persons living with either HIV and AIDS and their families.
The song released on 28 July 2006 received wide media coverage and reached number 5 in
SNEP, the French singles chart.
NRJ 12
NRJ 12 is a French private public-state general-interest television channel belonging to the NRJ Group, created on 31 March 2005 on DTT. The channel is available on DTT, cable, satellite and ADSL.
History of the channel
Originally called NRJ T ...
also broadcast on 15 August 2006, a 24-minute documentary about "making of" of the music video and interviews with participating artists.
;Comeback (2013–2014)
In June 2013, it was revealed that Kyo was planning a comeback and were in the process of recording material at Gang Studio with producer
Mark Plati
Mark Plati is a New York–based musician, record producer, and songwriter, best known for his work in the 1990s with David Bowie.
Plati also has worked with Spookey Ruben, The Cure, Duncan Sheik, Hooverphonic, Robbie Williams, Joe McIntyre, D ...
. The singles "Le Graal" and "L'équilibre", from the upcoming album, were pre-released at the end of January 2014.
2017
In October 2017, Kyo launch a new single "Ton Mec" and announce a new album "Dans la Peau", for December 2017.
In popular culture
*The song "Le Chemin" was used as the ending of the second episode of the anime OVA
Strait Jacket
is a light novel series by Ichirō Sakaki with illustrations by Yō Fujishiro, published by Fujimi Shobo under their Fujimi Fantasia Bunko imprint. It was published in 11 volumes between 2000 and 2010. The series was adapted into a 3-episode ...
.
*The song "Contact" from ''300 Lésions'' was used in the soundtrack for the video game
FIFA 06
''FIFA 06'', known as ''FIFA Soccer 06'' in North America, is a football simulation video game developed by EA Canada and published by Electronic Arts under the EA Sports label. It was released in the United States on 4 October 2005 for the Play ...
.
Members
*
Benoît Poher - Lead
vocals
Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...
**Benoît "Ben" Poher born June 27, 1979 in Yvelines, Paris, France (in the Paris area) is a singer, songwriter and lyricist who continued in the French rock band
Empyr alongside Florian Dubos, another member of Kyo. He has also co-written for a number of artists including Johnny Hallyday,
Jenifer, as well as a number of musical comedies and television series.
* Fabien Dubos -
Drums
**Fabien "Fab" Dubos born 3 June 1978 is the older brother of bassist of band Florian> He was a massive fan of Japanese
manga. He named the band after character
Kyo Kusanagi
is a fictional character in SNK's ''The King of Fighters'' series of fighting games. The character was first introduced in the 1994 video game ''The King of Fighters '94'' as the leader of the Japanese team from the series' title tournament. K ...
in
SNK Playmore
is a Japanese video game hardware and software company. It is the successor to the company Shin Nihon Kikaku and presently owns the SNK video game brand and the Neo Geo video game platform. SNK's predecessor Shin Nihon Kikaku was founded in 197 ...
's ''
The King of Fighters
''The King of Fighters'' (''KOF'') is a series of fighting games by SNK that began with the release of '' The King of Fighters '94'' in 1994. The series was developed originally for SNK's Neo Geo MVS arcade hardware. This served as the main p ...
'' video game series. With a hiatus of the band, he joined as singer, guitarist and drummer for the French rock and rap formation Crew Z.
* Florian Dubos -
Guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...
/ Backing Vocals /
Bass
**Florian "Flo" Dubos born 26 March 1980 and younger brother of Fabien Dubos. Also joined Benoît Poher in
Empyr as bass player
* Nicolas Chassagne -
Guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...
**Nicolas "Nico" Chassagne born on 24 December 1978
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 televisio ...
** ''Best French Song'' (2004)
** ''Best French Album'' (2004)
** ''Best French Band'' (2004)
** ''Best Musical Site'' (2004)
*
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 Group Revelation of the Year'' (2004)
** ''Best Group Revelation Shows of the Year'' (2004)
** ''Best Album Revelation of the Year'' (2004)
*
MTV Europe Music Awards
The MTV Europe Music Awards (originally named MTV European Music Awards, commonly abbreviated as MTV EMA) are awards presented by Paramount International Networks to honour artists and music in pop culture. It was originally conceived as an a ...
** ''French Band of the Year'' (2003)
** ''Best French Artists'' (2005)
*
World Music Awards
The World Music Awards is an international award show founded in 1989 under the patronage of Albert II, Prince of Monaco and co-founder/executive producer John Martinotti. The event is based in Monte Carlo. Awards are presented to the world' ...
** ''World's Best Selling French Artist'' (2004)
*Prix Roger Seiller of Sacem
** ''Best French band'' (2004)
Discography
Albums
Studio albums
Compilation albums
Singles
*Did not appear in the official Belgian Ultratop 50 charts, but rather in the bubbling under Ultratip charts. Added 50 positions to actual Ultratip position at #2 in Belgium
Collective single by Fight AIDS
*Did not appear in the official Belgian Ultratop 50 charts, but rather in the bubbling under Ultratip charts.nAdded 50 positions to actual Ultratip position at #14 in Belgium
DVDs
*2004: ''Kyosphère''
Filmography
*2004: ''Kyosphère''
*2005: ''Sad Day''
References
External links
*
kyomusic.com The band's official website
Biography of Kyo 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 ...
Kyoat BandoftheDay.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kyo
Musical groups from Île-de-France
French rock music groups
World Music Awards winners
French alternative rock groups
MTV Europe Music Award winners