Pascal Obispo
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Pascal Michel Obispo (; born 8 January 1965) is a French singer-songwriter.


Biography

Pascal Obispo, son of Max Obispo (a former Bordeaux Girondins football player of Basque origin) and Nicole Guérin (originally from Angers), was born on 8 January 1965 in Bergerac. In 1978, at the age of 13, after the divorce of his parents, he was raised by his mother who decided to settle in
Rennes Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department ...
. His father Max will have a small notoriety by publishing two books, one on football, shortly after having been international, and Le Sable d'Ararat, in 2010, a novel born from a meeting with the Armenian Minister of Culture Hasmik Boghossian when he discovers the similarities between the
Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...
language and
Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...
.


Career

Pascal Obispo started singing in 1980. He got his first record deal in 1990. The record deal was ''Le long du fleuve''. Some of his most famous songs are "Plus que tout au monde", "Laurelenn", "Tombé pour elle", "L'important c'est d'aimer", "Personne" and " Fan". With his 2007 release of ''Les Fleurs du Bien'' (a play on
Baudelaire Charles Pierre Baudelaire (, ; ; 9 April 1821 – 31 August 1867) was a French poet who also produced notable work as an essayist and art critic. His poems exhibit mastery in the handling of rhyme and rhythm, contain an exoticism inherited fro ...
's ''
Les Fleurs du mal ''Les Fleurs du mal'' (; en, The Flowers of Evil, italic=yes) is a volume of French poetry by Charles Baudelaire. ''Les Fleurs du mal'' includes nearly all Baudelaire's poetry, written from 1840 until his death in August 1867. First publish ...
'') he makes allusions to
Rosa Parks Rosa Louise McCauley Parks (February 4, 1913 – October 24, 2005) was an American activist in the civil rights movement best known for her pivotal role in the Montgomery bus boycott. The United States Congress has honored her as "the ...
,
Pablo Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...
and others. He is also well known for his various escapades, his unconservative behavior, his haircut, etc. His name is an anagram of painter
Pablo Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...
's name. Obispo used his popularity to help with charity work and particularly for fighting the spread of HIV/AIDS. He has worked with many other well-known artists such as
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 ...
,
Florent Pagny Florent Pagny (born 6 November 1961) is a French singer-songwriter, musician and actor. He records his work in French, as well as in Italian, Spanish and English. His greatest hits include " N'importe quoi", " Savoir aimer" and " Ma Liberté de ...
,
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 ...
,
Patricia Kaas Patricia Kaas (; born 5 December 1966) is a French singer. Her music is a mix of pop, cabaret, jazz, and chanson. Since the appearance of her 1988 debut album '' Mademoiselle chante...'', Kaas has sold over 17 million records worldwide. She h ...
,
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 com ...
, and
Natasha St-Pier Natasha St-Pier (born 10 February 1981) is a Canadian singer of Acadian origin who has spent most of her career in France. She was coach in the second and third season of The Voice Belgique (''The Voice of Belgium''). Career Natasha St-Pier r ...
.


1980s

In the beginning of the 1980s Rennes was one of the cities of rock in France. While studying at the Lycée Émile-Zola, Pascal found his passion for music, after discovering the group The Cure in rehearsal next to the basketball court where he was playing. He also fell in love with the Rennes rock group Marquis de Sade. In 1983, while he was in Terminale interne at the free institution of Combrée, he created the group Words Of Goethe with friends from his former high school in Rennes (notably the lyricist Alain Gaudiche). After his military service, between January and August 1986, he was the bassist of the new wave group Evening Legions. In 1988, he joined the new wave group Senso, which consisted of the members Frank Darcel (a former member of the Marquis de Sade group) and Frédéric Renaud. Originally a bass player, Pascal later became the singer of the project.


1990s

At the turn of the 1990s, the Senso group prepared a first album but, after discussion, decided to make it Pascal Obispo's first solo album. The disc, entitled ''Le Long du Fleuve'', was released in 1990 by EMI with songs written by Franck Darcel, and supported by the single ''Les avions se souvenir''. The album went unnoticed. In 1991, Pascal Obispo signed his first artist contract with Epic and published his second album (Plus que tout au monde) in 1992, which met with real success thanks to the single of the same name and the title ''Tu vas me manquer'', which placed 16th in the Top 50. At the end of 1994, he released the album ''Un jour comme'' today, confirming his success with titles like ''Tombé pour elle'' and ''Tu compliques tout'', and revealing the influence of Michel Polnareff (from whom he took over Holidays) and the Beatles. The album sold over 500,000 copies. In 1995, he met Lionel Florence, with whom he wrote the credits for the TF1 series ''Sous le soleil''. The same year, he took advantage of his growing fame to get involved in the fight against AIDS, around the album ''Entre sourires et larmes'', with six titles signed by Lionel Florence. In early 1996, he opened for Celine Dion for 13 dates, including four at Bercy. He then released his 4th album, ''Superflu.'' Thanks to the titles ''Il faut du temps'', ''Lucie'', ''Où et avec qui tu m'aimes''? and the duo Les Meilleurs Enemies with Zazie, he reached a very large audience, allowing the album to exceed one million sales. In 1997 he began collaborating with other artists. In November, he worked with Florent Pagny on his album ''Savoir aimer'', which reached 2 million sales. The following year, he produced Johnny Hallyday's album, ''Ce que je sais'' (including the song ''Allumer le feu''). Then, with Lionel Florence, he wrote ''Sa raison d'être'', a song bringing together 42 artists on the same song for the benefit of the fight against AIDS. This compilation reaches 700,000 sales and brings in more than 45 million francs to ECS, of which he is an honorary member of the board of directors. On July 28, 1997, during an outdoor concert in Ajaccio, a 19-year-old man shot him with a pellet gun and injured him in the face (he left a scar on his left eyebrow). After publishing the album Live 98, from his Superflu tour, he produced the album ''Le mot de passe'' by Patricia Kaas in 1999, and participated in the production of several titles for Florent Pagny's new album, ''RéCréation''. In December, he released his 5th studio album, ''Soledad'', which totaled 700,000 sales, carried by the titles Soledad, ''L'important c'est d'aimer'', ''Tue par amour'', ''Pas besoin de regrets'' and ''Ce qu'on voit Allée Rimbaud''.


2000s

Pascal Obispo worked for almost a year on the release of the album of the musical ''Les Dix Commandements'', which premiered in October at the Palais des sports in Paris. In December, he composed Noël Ensemble, bringing together 112 artists for the benefit of the fight against AIDS (600,000 copies sold). That same year on April 4, he married Isabelle Funaro in Paris. His son Sean was born a few months later, on October 11, inspiring the title ''Millésime''. In 2001, he was voted "male artist of the year" at the NRJ Music Awards. In 2002, he produced the album ''De l'amour le mieux'' by Natasha Saint-Pier (including the duo ''Tu definables'') which reached more than 750,000 sales and was certified Platinum in France. He then went on to collaborate on several of the singer's following albums, performing with her another duet, ''Mourir demain'', which became a great success. In 2004, his 6th album, Studio Fan - Live Fan, was released, a double album which pays tribute in particular to Michel Polnareff. The Fan Tour, which brought together more than 500,000 spectators, allowed him to receive his first Victoire de la Musique in a personal capacity, that of "Musical show, tour or concert of the year" (in 2001, the title L'Envy to love that he composed for The Ten Commandments won the "Victory for Original Song of the Year"). On May 15, 2006, he released his 7th album, ''Les Fleurs du bien'', which included the songs ''Rosa'' and ''1980'' (with Melissa Mars), among others. In January 2007, he took the pseudonym of Vitoo for a song with Fatal Bazooka, ''Mauvaise foi nocturne'' (No. 1 in the Top 50), a parody of the duo Confessions nocturnes by Diam's and Vitaa. In June, he resumed the role of Vitoo for his song ''Le Chanteur'' ideal. In 2007, he released the single ''Nouveau voyage (C'est la vie)'', featuring American rapper Baby Bash, which ranked 10th best selling singles. In February 2009, the singer offered two concerts, at the Olympia theater in Arcachon, all of the proceeds from which went to benefit oyster farmers in the Arcachon basin and to the reconstruction of the forest massif (following the storm in January 2009). On April 16, 2009, he launched his web radio on the digital radio station GOOM, where he broadcasts his titles freely. In April 2009, he took the pseudonym "Captain Samouraï Flower" and published the album ''Welcome to the Magic World of Captain Samouraï Flower'', which met with mixed success.


2010s

In June 2010, Pascal Obispo embarked on the production of the musical Adam and Eve: ''La Seconde Chance.'' Its objective is to create a modern and poetic musical show, which speaks of love and music to generations born with the web. Performances of the show took place from January 31, 2012, to March 25, 2012, at the Palais des Sports in Paris, but the tour scheduled for September was cancelled. In January 2013, the best of Millésimes was released, celebrating and retracing its twenty years of success, supported by two unreleased titles, ''Tu m'had dit'' and ''Comment-vous que je t'aime'', and a new tour, the Millésimes Tour. In September 2013, the single ''D'un Ave Maria'' was released, taken from the album ''Le Grand Amour'', which was released on December 224 and was certified double platinum. In February 2016, the album ''Billet de femme'' was published, the texts of which are taken from the collections ''Romance and Pauvres fleurs'' by the poet Marceline Desbordes-Valmore. In December 2016, Pascal Obispo unveiled the single ''La bonne nouvelle'', taken from his musical show Jesus, from Nazareth to Jerusalem, which evokes the last three years of Jesus' life. Performances begin on October 17, 2017, at the Palais des Sports in Paris. A tour throughout France then takes place from February to April 2018. In 2018, he was a coach in the 7th season of The Voice: ''La Plus Belle Voix''. The same year, he played himself in the film ''La Ch'tite Famille'' by Dany Boon.


2020s

Pascal becomes a coach during the ninth season of The Voice, he goes on to win the edition in 2020 with Abi Bernadoth. During the COVID-19 Pandemic in France in 2020, he composed the music for the title ''Pour les gens du rescue'' on a text by Marc Lavoine. Florent Pagny accompanies them on vocals. All royalties are paid to the Fédération hospitalière de France and the Fondation des Hôpitaux de France28. In June 2020, his new single I counted sort. In January 2021, he launched his own Obispo All Access music app, available on the App Store and Google Play, giving access to his entire catalog, unreleased tracks and interviews.


Personal life

Pascal Obispo is the father of Sean, whom he had in 2000 with Isabelle Funaro and for whom he wrote his song Millésime. In February 2008, he began a relationship with the singer Jenifer. After a somewhat chaotic romance, the two artists separated in February 2009. On 26 February 2008, he saved the life of Nicolas Lacambre, a young motorcyclist who had just been hit by a hit-and-run driver. Pascal Obispo saw the accident happen in the distance. When he arrived at the scene, he called the emergency services and carried the victim and his severed arm to the side of the road to avoid any further accidents. He drove off as soon as the emergency services arrived, to avoid making the front page of the magazines. It was the gendarmes who informed Nicolas Lacambre of the identity of his saviour. They finally met a year and a half after the events, at the end of a
Girondins de Bordeaux Football Club des Girondins de Bordeaux (), commonly referred to as Girondins de Bordeaux ( oc, Girondins de Bordèu) or simply Bordeaux, is a French professional football club based in the city of Bordeaux in Gironde, Nouvelle-Aquitaine. The ...
match, and became friends. This episode remained secret for 11 years, until the publication of Nicolas Lacambre's book "On n'est pas seul sur Terre" and Pascal Obispo's single of the same name. He got married on 19 September 2015 to model Julie Hantson at the Notre-Dame-des-Flots church in Cap Ferret. The couple divorced in 2022.


Discography


Studio albums


Live albums


Singles


Musicals

*2000: '' Les Dix Commandements'' – Music: Pascal Obispo, Book and Lyrics: Lionel Florence and Patrice Guirao *2012: '' Adam et Ève : La Seconde Chance'' – musical at the Palais des Sports in Paris, France.


Philanthropy

Obispo has been a member of the
Les Enfoirés Les Enfoirés (, 'The Tossers' or 'The Bastards') is the name given to the singers and performers in the yearly charity concert for the Restaurants du Cœur The Restaurants du Cœur (literally ''Restaurants of the Heart'' but meaning ''Restau ...
charity ensemble since 1997."Pascal Obispo"
(in French). ''Enfoires.com''. Retrieved 23 February 2017.


External links


Official website

Biography of Pascal Obispo
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 ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Obispo, Pascal 1965 births Living people People from Bergerac, Dordogne French singer-songwriters French male singers French-language singers French pop singers French-Basque people French male singer-songwriters