Gérald Gardrinier (; born 14 October 1967 in
Saint-Denis,
Réunion
Réunion (; ; ; known as before 1848) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France. Part of the Mascarene Islands, it is located approximately east of the isl ...
), 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 from
Brittany
Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...
and his mother was a French teacher from
Réunion
Réunion (; ; ; known as before 1848) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France. Part of the Mascarene Islands, it is located approximately east of the isl ...
. At the age of 10, De Palmas' family left
Réunion
Réunion (; ; ; known as before 1848) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France. Part of the Mascarene Islands, it is located approximately east of the isl ...
, to live in
Aix-en-Provence
Aix-en-Provence, or simply Aix, is a List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, city and Communes of France, commune in southern France, about north of Marseille. A former capital of Provence, it is the Subprefectures in France, s ...
, France. At the age of 13, he discovered
ska music, and became a fan of the UK band
The Specials
The Specials, also known as the Special AKA, were an English 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 and Neville Staple on vocals, J ...
. Then he met
Étienne Daho 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 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 restored his confidence and wrote a song for him titled ''
J'en rêve encore'' (I still dream about it).
De Palmas composed and wrote 10 of the 12 songs on his third album ''
Marcher dans le sable'' (Walking in the sand). He was reborn as a star in 2002, as he won the
Victoires de la Musique and the
NRJ Music Awards, while playing more than 180 concerts. His songs even crossed the Atlantic, when
Céline Dion 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'' (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 :
**Best francophone male artist (2003)
**Best francophone album (''Marcher dans le sable'') (2002)
*
Victoires de la musique :
**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 media, state-owned international radio news network of France. With 59.5 million listeners in 2022, it is one of the most-listened-to international radio stations in the world ...
* 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
Singers from Réunion