Yoann Lemoine (; born 16 March 1983), known professionally as Woodkid, is a French
music video director
A music video director is the head of music video production. The director conceives of videos' artistic and dramatic aspects while instructing the musical act, technical crew, actors, models, and dancers. They may or may not be in collaboration ...
,
graphic designer
A graphic designer is a professional within the graphic design and graphic arts industry who assembles together images, typography, or motion graphics to create a piece of design. A graphic designer creates the graphics primarily for published, ...
and singer-
songwriter
A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...
.
His most notable works include his music video direction for
Katy Perry
Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson (born October 25, 1984), known professionally as Katy Perry, is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. Known for her influence on modern pop music and her Camp (style), campy style, she has been ...
's "
Teenage Dream",
Taylor Swift
Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Her discography spans multiple genres, and her vivid songwriting—often inspired by her personal life—has received critical praise and wide media coverage. Bor ...
's "
Back to December
"Back to December" is a song written and recorded by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift for her third studio album, '' Speak Now'' (2010). Before the album's release, the track was released for download on October 12, 2010, through the iTun ...
",
Lana Del Rey
Elizabeth Woolridge Grant (born June 21, 1985), known professionally as Lana Del Rey, is an American singer-songwriter. Her music is noted for its cinematic quality and exploration of tragic romance, glamour, and melancholia, with frequent ...
's "
Born to Die" and
Harry Styles
Harry Edward Styles (born 1 February 1994) is an English singer, songwriter, and actor. His musical career began in 2010 as a solo contestant on the British music competition series ''The X Factor (UK TV series), The X Factor''. Following hi ...
's "
Sign of the Times".
Lemoine is also a
chamber pop
Chamber pop (or Chamber rock; also called baroque pop and sometimes conflated with orchestral pop or symphonic pop) is a music genre that combines rock music with the intricate use of string section, strings, horn section, horns, piano, and voca ...
musician. On 28 March 2011, he released his first
EP ''Iron EP''.
On 18 March 2013, he released his first album titled ''
The Golden Age'', which is an autobiographical record. He released his second album ''S16'' on 16 October 2020, more than seven years later, following some single releases.
Life and career
Early life
Yoann Lemoine was born in
Tassin-la-Demi-Lune
Tassin la Demi-Lune () is a commune in Lyon Metropolis in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of central-eastern France. In 2017, it had a population of 22,297. Its inhabitants are named ''Tassilunois'' in French.
Geography
The town of Tassin-la-De ...
, near
Lyon
Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...
to a mother of
Polish-Jewish
The history of the Jews in Poland dates back at least 1,000 years. For centuries, Poland was home to the largest and most significant Ashkenazi Jewish community in the world. Poland was a principal center of Jewish culture, because of the lon ...
origin. He studied illustration and animation at the Émile Cohl school, where he completed his diploma with honors. He then left for the UK to follow a silk screen printing process course at
Swindon College. In 2004, Yoann moved to
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 ...
. After a brief experience at
H5, he joined
Luc Besson
Luc Paul Maurice Besson (; born 18 March 1959) is a French film director, screenwriter and producer. He directed or produced the films '' Subway'' (1985), ''The Big Blue'' (1988), and '' La Femme Nikita'' (1990). Besson is associated with the ' ...
's crew and worked on the project ''
Arthur and the Invisibles
''Arthur and the Invisibles'' or ''Arthur and the Minimoys'' (French: ''Arthur et les Minimoys'') is a 2006 English-language French fantasy adventure comedy animated/live-action film directed and co-written by French filmmaker Luc Besson. It is ...
'' for a year. In 2006, Yoann directed a series of roughs for
Sofia Coppola
Sofia Carmina Coppola (; born May 14, 1971) is an American filmmaker and actress. The youngest child and only daughter of filmmakers Eleanor Coppola, Eleanor and Francis Ford Coppola, she made her film debut as an infant in her father's acclaimed ...
's ''
Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette Josèphe Jeanne (; ; née Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last queen of France before the French Revolution. She was born an archduchess of Austria, and was the penultimate child a ...
''.
2011–2019: Beginnings, ''The Golden Age'', and other ventures
His first musical project is about the transition from childhood to adulthood and his countryside background. The songs can be described as 'organic' and wooden. The project is about a kid, who starts organic and later turns himself into marble.
One explanation as to why Lemoine became a musician is that guitarist
Richie Havens
Richard Pierce Havens (January 21, 1941 – April 22, 2013) was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. His music encompassed elements of folk, soul (both of which he frequently covered), and rhythm and blues. He had a rhythmic guitar style ...
gave him a ukulele during a video shoot he was directing.
Woodkid released the ''Iron EP'' on 28 March 2011.
For the music video for the single "Iron" (composed by Yoann Lemoine), he collaborated with English model
Agyness Deyn
Agyness Deyn (; born Laura Michelle Hollins; 16 February 1983) is an English model and actress. She is best known for her successful modelling career in the 2000s, and has been called one of the decade's top models. Since her retirement from mod ...
.
The song was featured in trailers for
Ubisoft
Ubisoft Entertainment SA (; ; formerly Ubi Soft Entertainment SA) is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include '' Assassin's Creed'', ''Far Cry'', '' ...
's ''
Assassin's Creed: Revelations'' and the film ''
Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...
'' as well as the TV series ''
Teen Wolf
''Teen Wolf'' is a 1985 American coming-of-age romantic fantasy comedy film directed by Rod Daniel and written by Jeph Loeb and Matthew Weisman. Michael J. Fox stars as the title character, a high school student whose ordinary life is chang ...
''.
On 6 October 2011, during a live performance in
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
, he performed a cover of the
Katy Perry
Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson (born October 25, 1984), known professionally as Katy Perry, is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. Known for her influence on modern pop music and her Camp (style), campy style, she has been ...
song "
Teenage Dream" (whose official video he directed). On 15 October 2011, he sang on stage with
Lana Del Rey
Elizabeth Woolridge Grant (born June 21, 1985), known professionally as Lana Del Rey, is an American singer-songwriter. Her music is noted for its cinematic quality and exploration of tragic romance, glamour, and melancholia, with frequent ...
in New York City.
He co-created the video for her song "Born to Die". He performed at the
London Jazz Festival
The London Jazz Festival is a music festival held every November. It takes place in London venues such as the Barbican and the Royal Festival Hall and in smaller jazz clubs, such as Ronnie Scott's and the Vortex Jazz Club. It is produced by Ser ...
on 15 November 2012.
The French couture brand
Dior Homme
Dior Homme is the menswear division of Christian Dior SA, the French clothing retailer. Dior Men has been under the creative direction of Kim Jones since spring/summer 2019. It had been directed by Hedi Slimane since the fall/winter 2001-02 seaso ...
's fall-winter 2013 collection, "A Soldier on My Own", was inspired by Woodkid's "Iron", and is named after a phrase in the lyrics. The song was used as the soundtrack of the show.
![Woodkid and Philip Glass](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/Woodkid_and_Philip_Glass.jpg)
On 15 December 2012, Lemoine announced he was beginning recording of his debut album, to be named ''The Golden Age''. It was released on 18 March 2013 through independent label, Green United Music. Lemoine released the official album cover through a video he created himself on 14 December 2012 and released the album's corresponding track listing one week later on 21 December on his official Facebook page.
"
Run Boy Run" was directed by Lemoine himself and was used in several
O2 and
Science Channel
Science Channel (often simply branded as Science; abbreviated to SCI) is an American pay television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The channel features programming focusing on science related to wilderness survival, engineering, manu ...
adverts (those voiced by
Sean Bean
Sean Bean (born Shaun Mark Bean on 17 April 1959) is an English actor. After graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Bean made his professional debut in a theatre production of ''Romeo and Juliet'' in 1983. Retaining his Yorkshire ac ...
).
It was also used in the teaser trailers for the BBC's series
''Musketeers'', in January 2014. The music video for "Run Boy Run" was nominated for
Best Short Form Music Video
The Grammy Award for Best Music Video is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to performers, directors, and producers of quality short form music videos. Hon ...
at the
2013 Grammy Awards
The 55th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 10, 2013, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles honoring the best in music for the recording year beginning October 1, 2011 through September 30, 2012. The show was broadcast on CBS at 8 p.m. E ...
. The song was also used in the trailer for the game ''
Dying Light
''Dying Light'' is a 2015 survival horror video game developed by Techland and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. The game's story follows an undercover agent named Kyle Crane who is sent to infiltrate a quarantine zone in a ...
''. "Run Boy Run" and "
I Love You" were featured on the soundtrack of the 2014 film ''
Divergent''. During his Golden Age tour, Woodkid performed at the London
Brixton Academy
Brixton Academy (originally known as the Astoria Variety Cinema, previously known as Carling Academy Brixton, currently named O2 Academy Brixton as part of a sponsorship deal with the O2 brand) is a mid-sized concert venue located in South Wes ...
with the
BBC Concert Orchestra
The BBC Concert Orchestra is a British concert orchestra based in London, one of the British Broadcasting Corporation's five radio orchestras. With around fifty players, it is the only one of the five BBC orchestras which is not a full-scale sym ...
in November 2013,
and was invited by the
Montreux Jazz Festival
The Montreux Jazz Festival (formerly Festival de Jazz Montreux and Festival International de Jazz Montreux) is a music festival in Switzerland, held annually in early July in Montreux on the Lake Geneva shoreline. It is the second-largest annual ...
to perform for the second time with the Sinfonietta de Lausanne at the Stravinsky Auditorium.
The Golden Age tour performances were marked by a well-coordinated light show and visual projections that included imagery from his music videos. The song is also used in the Umbrella Academy, in connection to Number 5, and the episode was also called Run Boy Run.
In January 2014, Lemoine / Woodkid was invited to give a performance and talk about the New York minimalist movement with
Philip Glass
Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimal music, minimalism, being built up fr ...
by the Opéra and Museum of Modern Art of Saint-Étienne.
In February 2014, Woodkid received the award for best stage performer at the French equivalent of the Grammy Awards, Les
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 ...
.
In 2014, Woodkid / Lemoine worked as creative director for
Pharrell Williams
Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (; born April 5, 1973) is an American record producer, rapper, singer, and songwriter. Alongside close colleague Chad Hugo, he formed the hip hop and R&B production duo the Neptunes in the early 1990s, with whom he ...
' 24 Hours of
Happy music video concept, seen more than 600 million times on YouTube.
He also served as creative director of the video campaign for
John Legend
John Roger Stephens (born December 28, 1978), known professionally as John Legend, is an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and record producer. He began his musical career by working behind the scenes, playing piano on Lauryn Hill's " Ever ...
's album ''
Love in the Future'', produced by
Kanye West
Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer.
Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...
, including videos for "Who Do We Think We Are", directed by Paul Gore
and "Made to Love", directed by
Daniel Sannwald
Daniel Sannwald (born 1979) is a German photographer and director based in London.
Education
Sannwald studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp.
Career
Sannwald regularly contributes to fashion publications such as ''032c'', ''10 ...
.
In April 2014, Woodkid performed at
Coachella Coachella may refer to:
* Coachella, California
* Coachella Canal, in California
* Coachella (festival), an annual music and arts festival in California
* "Coachella – Woodstock in My Mind", a 2017 song by Lana del Rey
See also
* Coachell ...
. On 26 June 2014, Woodkid opened the
Montreal International Jazz Festival
The Festival International de Jazz de Montréal ( en, Montreal International Jazz Festival) is an annual jazz festival held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Montreal Jazz Fest holds the 2004 Guinness World Record as the world's largest jazz fest ...
with a free outdoor concert to an audience of 100,000+. In July 2014, Ubisoft released its second cinematic trailer for ''
Assassin's Creed Unity
''Assassin's Creed Unity'' is an Action-adventure game, action-adventure video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. It was released in November 2014 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One, and in December 2020 ...
'', where "The Golden Age" was played. In August 2014, Woodkid performed at the
FM4 Frequency Festival
The FM4 Frequency Festival, also Frequency Festival or just Frequency, formerly Vienna City Festival, is a music festival. Until 2008, it took place near Salzburg Austria, usually every August. In 2009, the Festival moved to St. Pölten. It is pr ...
in Austria. In December 2014, Woodkid performed at
Wonderfruit in Thailand. He also directed
Pharrell Williams
Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (; born April 5, 1973) is an American record producer, rapper, singer, and songwriter. Alongside close colleague Chad Hugo, he formed the hip hop and R&B production duo the Neptunes in the early 1990s, with whom he ...
's Coachella show, featuring
Jay Z
Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and founder of Manhattan-based conglomerate talent and entertainment agency Roc Nation. He is regarded as one of ...
,
Gwen Stefani
Gwen Renée Stefani (; born October 3, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, fashion designer and actress. She is a co-founder, lead vocalist, and the primary songwriter of the band No Doubt, whose singles include "Just a Girl", "Spiderwebs ...
,
Usher,
Pusha T
Terrence LeVarr Thornton (born May 13, 1977), better known by his stage name Pusha T, is an American rapper, songwriter and record executive. He rose to prominence as one-half of the hip hop duo Clipse, which was mainly active from 1994 to 20 ...
,
Busta Rhymes
Trevor George Smith Jr. (born May 20, 1972), known professionally as Busta Rhymes, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor. Chuck D of Public Enemy gave him the moniker Busta Rhymes, after NFL and CFL wide receiver ...
, and
Puff Daddy.
The Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps
The Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps (also known as "The Green Machine") is a World Class competitive junior drum and bugle corps based in Rosemont, Illinois. The Cavaliers were one of the thirteen founding member corps of Drum Corps Internationa ...
featured "Run Boy Run" as part of their 2015 repertoire, entitled "Game On".
On 15 July 2016, Woodkid performed at the
Montreux Jazz Festival
The Montreux Jazz Festival (formerly Festival de Jazz Montreux and Festival International de Jazz Montreux) is a music festival in Switzerland, held annually in early July in Montreux on the Lake Geneva shoreline. It is the second-largest annual ...
at a special "Woodkid and Friends" evening with a nearly all acoustic set. He was accompanied by the Sinfonietta de Lausanne orchestra and a choir of children from the Montreux Choral Festival. Among his friends who also performed at this event were
Son Lux
Son Lux is an American experimental band. Originally the solo project and moniker of founding member Ryan Lott, the band's first three albums, '' At War with Walls & Mazes'', ''We Are Rising'' and ''Lanterns'', shaped the band's unique sound th ...
,
The Shoes,
Ed Droste
Edward Droste (born October 22, 1978) is an American singer-songwriter and musician, formerly of the rock band Grizzly Bear. The group began as the solo effort of Droste with the release of 2004's '' Horn of Plenty'', originally released on Kan ...
,
Thomas Bloch
Thomas Bloch (born 1962 in Colmar, France) is a classical musician specializing in the rare instruments ondes Martenot, glass harmonica, and Cristal Baschet.
Receiving a First Prize for ondes Martenot at the Paris Conservatoire National Supà ...
, and actress
Elle Fanning
Mary Elle Fanning (born April 9, 1998) is an American actress. She made her film debut as the younger version of her sister Dakota Fanning's character in the drama film '' I Am Sam'' (2001). As a child actress, she appeared in several films, i ...
singing for the first time live on a stage. On 16 September 2016, Woodkid promoted
Mykki Blanco
Mykki Blanco (born April 2, 1986) is an American rapper, performance artist, poet and activist. She has collaborated musically with artists including Kanye West, Teyana Taylor, and Dev Hynes, Blood Orange.
Early life
Blanco was born in Orange ...
's debut album on his Facebook page. He is featured on the single "High School Never Ends" and helped produce the album. In March 2017, the second episode of ''
13 Reasons Why
''13 Reasons Why'' is an American teen drama television series developed for Netflix by Brian Yorkey and based on the 2007 novel ''Thirteen Reasons Why'' by author Jay Asher. The series revolves around high school student Clay Jensen (Dylan Mi ...
'' aired, featuring "Run Boy Run". In February 2019, the second episode of ''
The Umbrella Academy
''The Umbrella Academy'' is an American comic book series created and written by Gerard Way and illustrated by Gabriel Bá. The first six-issue limited series, '' The Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite,'' was released by Dark Horse Comics betwee ...
'' aired, which also featured "Run Boy Run" and used the song as the episode's namesake. In May 2022, the fifth episode of ''
The Pentaverate
''The Pentaverate'' is a Canadian comedy streaming television miniseries created by Mike Myers for Netflix, inspired by conspiracy theories from his 1993 film '' So I Married an Axe Murderer''. The series premiered on May 5, 2022, and consists of ...
'' aired, which also featured "Run Boy Run".
2019–present: Singles, ''S16'' and collaboration with Paris 2024
On 7 May 2019, Woodkid released the EP ''Woodkid For
Nicolas Ghesquière
Nicolas Ghesquière (; born 9 May 1971) is a French-Belgian fashion designer who has been the women's creative director of the house of Louis Vuitton (owned by LVMH) since 2013.
Early life
Ghesquière was born in Comines, Nord, the younger ...
–
Louis Vuitton
Louis Vuitton Malletier, commonly known as Louis Vuitton (, ), is a French high-end luxury fashion house and company founded in 1854 by Louis Vuitton. The label's LV monogram appears on most of its products, ranging from luxury bags and leather ...
Works One'', featuring
Jennifer Connelly
Jennifer Lynn Connelly (born December 12, 1970) is an American actress. She began her career as a child model before making her acting debut in the 1984 crime film ''Once Upon a Time in America''. After having worked as a model for several year ...
and
Moses Sumney
Moses Sumney is a Ghanaian-American singer-songwriter. His self-recorded EP, ''Mid-City Island'', was released in 2014. He released another five-song EP in 2016, titled ''Lamentations''. His first full-length album, ''Aromanticism'', was released ...
.
On 12 December 2019, Woodkid announced the production of a new album set to release in 2020. On 24 April 2020, Woodkid released "Goliath", the first single from his upcoming album. He released on 16 October 2020 his next album "S16".
In 2021, Woodkid teamed up with
Paris 2024
)
, nations = TBA
, athletes = 10,500 ''(quota limit)''
, events = 329 in 32 sports (48 disciplines)
, opening = 26 July 2024
, closing = 11 August 2024
, opened_by =
, stadium = Stade de France Jardins du Trocadéro and River Seine
, summer ...
to compose a new song called "Prologue", this song was featured in the
closing ceremony of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 and the
2020 Summer Paralympics closing ceremony and was released on digital platforms on 8 August of that year.
On 27 October 2021, Woodkid announced on Twitter that he had made an original song for the
Riot Games
Riot Games, Inc. is an American video game developer, publisher and esports tournament organizer based in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in September 2006 by Brandon Beck and Marc Merrill to develop ''League of Legends'' and went on t ...
series ''
Arcane
Arcane may refer to:
Books and comics
* Anton Arcane, a DC Comics character
* Arcane Jill Watson, a character in ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy''
* Arcane literature, such as in Cthulhu Mythos
Gaming
* Arcane magic (''Dungeons & Drago ...
''. The song in question, "Guns For Hire", was featured in the sixth episode of the series released in November 2021. On 30 November 2021, Woodkid made a post threatening legal action concerning the use of his music in propaganda from a group supporting politician
Éric Zemmour
Éric Justin Léon Zemmour (; born 31 August 1958) is a French far-right
Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political ...
. The post quickly gained popularity, gathering over 48,000 likes in just 7 hours.
In 2022, Lemoine collaborated with French singer-songwriter
Mylène Farmer
Mylène Jeanne Gautier (; born 12 September 1961), known professionally as Mylène Farmer (), is a Canadian-born French singer, songwriter, occasional actress, writer, and entrepreneur. Having sold more than 30 million records in France, she is ...
on her twelfth album, "
L'Emprise", producing more than half of the album. He also provided the artwork for the album.
Directing and awards
In June 2010, he received 5 Lions for his AIDS Awareness campaign ''Graffiti'' at the
Cannes Lions Advertising festival.
Lemoine's films are produced by Iconoclast.
In 2012, Lemoine received the award for Best Director of the Year at the MVPA Awards in Los Angeles
and was nominated for 6 MTV Video Music awards for his videos for Lana Del Rey, Drake, and Rihanna.
Personal life
Lemoine is openly gay.
Discography
Albums
Soundtracks
Extended plays
Singles
As lead artist
As featured artist
Notes
Music videos
Videography as director
Awards
References
External links
*
Woodkid on labelgum (Green United Music)Woodkid's Discography on discogs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lemoine, Yoann
1983 births
English-language film directors
French music video directors
French people of Polish-Jewish descent
Living people
French male singer-songwriters
French singer-songwriters
French pop musicians
LGBT singers from France
Gay musicians
21st-century French singers
21st-century French male singers
20th-century LGBT people
21st-century LGBT people
LGBT film directors