Gérald de Palmas

Biography

Gérald Gardrinier (French pronunciation: [ʒeʁald ɡaʁdʁinje]; born 14 October 1967 in Saint-Denis, Réunion), better known by his stage name Gérald de Palmas, is a French singer-songwriter.

Early life

Gérald de Palmas was born in France. His father was a land surveyor from Brittany and his mother was a French teacher from Réunion. At the age of 10, De Palmas' family left Réunion, to live in Aix-en-Provence, France. At the age of 13, he discovered ska music, and became a fan of the UK band The Specials. 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×La Dernière Année1994 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1Sans recours3:592Sur la route3:423Si j’étais vous4:334Comme une ombre4:195Vérité4:046À peine de la peine4:467Mon alter ego4:058La Malédiction3:459La Dernière Année3:5510Ici ou ailleurs4:4111Le jour viendra3:47 (The Last Year), which contains the hit song Sur la Route×Sur la route1994 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracks1Sur la route3:412Vérité4:02 (On the Road). He won a Victoires de la Musique award in 1996.
De Palmas released his second album Les Lois de la Nature×Les Lois de la nature24 January 1997 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1Comme ça4:242Les Lois de la nature4:553Mary Jane4:074La Seule qui sait4:085Ma sirène4:166Laisse‐moi te dire4:157Johnny & Joe4:108Donneurs de leçons4:529La Plaine3:5810Six heures4:2511Rester calme3:4612… Comme ça3:07 (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×Marcher dans le sable16 October 2000 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 13 tracks1Une seule vie3:052J’en rêve encore4:013Tomber3:224Regarde-moi bien en face3:055Tellement3:496Tu finiras toute seule3:367Rien à faire ensemble3:368Déjà3:219Je te pardonne3:0510Le gouffre2:3811Trop tard3:3512Si tu veux4:4813Déjà (acoustique)6:20 (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×Un homme sans racines8 November 2004 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1Plus d’importance4:072Elle danse seule4:113Au paradis3:544Un homme sans racines3:075Elle habite ici3:086Dans la cour3:577Encore une fois3:338Dans mon rêve3:269Faire semblant4:0210Je ne tiendrai pas3:2111Silverado3:52 (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×Sortir1 January 2009 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1Au bord de l’eau3:222Dans une larme4:113Rose4:284Mon cœur ne bat plus4:005L’Ange perdu3:526Indemne3:367Qui s’occupe d’elle3:438Fais de ton mieux3:499Pandora’s Box4:0610Sous la pluie3:2911Sortir3:28" (Leaving) with the hit single "Au bord de l'eau".
His latest album is "La beauté du geste×La Beauté du geste1 April 2016 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Il faut qu’on s’batte4:072Le Jour de nos fiançailles3:423La Beauté du geste3:544Rose pleure4:205Bref3:176Mêmes causes, mêmes effets2:507T’es belle à en crever3:278Ma p’tite reine3:469J’ai envie de toi3:3110Lawrence d’Arabie4:30" released in the summer of 2016.