Michel Fugain

Biography

Michel Fugain (French pronunciation: [miʃɛl fyɡɛ̃]; born 12 May 1942) is a French singer and composer. Fugain started composing after quitting medical school. He released his first album, Je n'aurai pas le temps, in 1967. The title track was later recorded in English by John Rowles as "If I Only Had Time". He formed a troupe of singers and dancers named Le Big Bazar in 1972. He has several hit songs in France, including "Une belle histoire×Une belle histoire1972 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracksA1Une belle histoire3:16B1Allez, bouge‐toi3:07," "Fais comme l’oiseau," "La Fête," "Bravo Monsieur le monde," "Les Acadiens," and "Le Printemps." He achieved success as a solo act, touring extensively and making regular appearances on radio and television shows dedicated to chanson and popular music between 1988 and 2002. His career went into a hiatus after the death of his daughter, but he resumed his career in 2005, and launched the project Pluribus in 2013.
Michel Fugain has sold ten million records over a fifty-year career. In 2025, he was awarded the rank of Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters.

Biography

Born in Grenoble, Isère, the son of doctor and resistance fighter Pierre Fugain, Michel Fugain grew up in the Isère countryside before studying at the Lycée Champollion in Grenoble. Passionate about New Wave cinema, he abandoned his medical studies to become a filmmaker in Paris. Starting in 1963, he became an assistant director to Jean-Michel Barjol, Guy Blanc, Yves Robert, and Jean Delannoy, and then took drama classes with Yves Furet. It was there that he met Michel Sardou, for whom he composed his first songs.
In 1965, Michel Fugain signed a publishing contract with Barclay and wrote melodies for Hugues Aufray, Marie Laforêt, and Dalida. He achieved his first success in 1967 with "Je n'aurai pas le temps" (I Will Not Have Time), based on lyrics by Pierre Delanoë, for the Festival record label. At the same time, he directed, with Pierre Sisser, a television musical entitled A Child in the City in 1971.
In 1971, Michel Fugain created the Big Bazar, a troupe of singers and dancers dressed in loose, colorful clothing, and driven by the post-1968 hippie and community spirit. For five years, he enjoyed a string of hits with "Une belle histoire×Une belle histoire1972 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracksA1Une belle histoire3:16B1Allez, bouge‐toi3:07," "Attention mesdames, and messieurs", "Fais comme l’oiseau," "Chante… Comme si tu avais mourir demain," "La Fête," "Les Acadiens," "Le Printemps," and several sold-out performances at the Olympia.
In 1974, his musical comedy project for the cinema came to fruition with Un jour, la fête. After the Big Bazar adventure, Fugain continued to perform, notably in 1977 for a major show in Le Havre, for which he created the activist song "Le Chiffon rouge." He continued his career as an acrobat, then as a teacher, founding a workshop for artists at the Victorine Studios in 1979.
The following decades were more difficult, both professionally and personally. Disappointed by his television show Les Fugues à Fugain on TF1, he nevertheless released solo albums and singles such as Viva la vida×Viva la vida1986 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracksAViva la vida3:52BViva la vida (instrumental)3:52 in 1986, Chaque jour de plus in 1989, and Forteresse in 1992, which earned him a media and stage following. He then embarked on numerous musical collaborations, notably with Belgian singer Maurane.
In 2001, his daughter Laurette was diagnosed with leukemia and succumbed to the illness in 2002. Following her death, Fugain went on a hiatus. Producer Jean-Claude Camus convinced him to embark on new musical projects, such as the show "Attention mesdames et messieurs…×Attention mesdames et messieurs…2005 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1Attention mesdames et messieurs3:062À nous 2 Paris3:223Chante comme si tu devais mourir demain3:174Quand j’ai vu pleurer mon père3:135Comme un soleil3:546Les Années guitare / Prends ta guitare, chante avec moi4:287Bluesy4:368Une belle histoire3:349Je n’aurai pas le temps2:4910Toi qui me ressembles4:1611Viva la vida3:47" directed by Roger Louret at the Folies Bergère in 2005 and 2006. He paid tribute to his fellow artists by setting their lyrics to music on the album Bravo et merci! in 2007. He announced that he was stopping studio recordings, but returned to the stage with his Projet Pluribus in 2013 and his Causerie musicale in 2017.
A popular variety singer, sometimes flirting with jazz and bossa nova, he expresses humanist and libertarian convictions in his songs.
He is married to former dancer and actress Stephanie Fugain.

Albums

Je n'aurai pas le temps (I won't have time, 1967)
Les fleurs de mandarine (Mandarin flowers, 1967)
Une belle histoire (A beautiful story, 1972)
Fais comme l'oiseau (Do it like the bird, 1972)
Attention Mesdames et Messieurs (Attention, ladies and gentlemen, 1972)
Chante (Sing, 1973)
Jusqu'à demain peut-être (Until tomorrow maybe, 1973)
La fête (The celebration, 1973)
Bravo Monsieur le Monde (Bravo, mister World, 1973)
Tout va changer (Everything is going to change, 1973)
Les gentils, les méchants (Good people, bad people, 1973)
Les Acadiens (The Acadians, 1975)
Ring et Ding (Ring and ding, 1976)
Le chiffon rouge (The red rag, 1977)
Des rêves et du vent (Dreams and wind, 1988)
Viva La Vida (Spanish title which means Live life, 1988)
Où s'en vont (Where do they go, 1989)
Petites fêtes entre amis (1996)
De l'air! (1998)
Encore (2001)
Attention mesdames et messieurs... (2005)
Bravo et merci! (2007)
Projet pluribus (2013)

Greatest hits

Fais Comme L'Oiseau - 1972
C'est pas de l'amour mais c'est tout comme - 2012 No. 72 CAN
L'essentiel (2002)
C'est pas de l'amour mais c'est tout comme (2005)
Platinum Collection (2008)
Hit Collection (2009)
Michel Fugain, Les années Big Bazar (2013) No. 54 FR

Singles

"C'est que je t'aime" (1966)
"Tu peux compter sur moi" (1966)
"Un moral d'acier" (1967)
"Daisy×Daisy1967 · EPSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 4 tracks1Daisy3:152Monsieur Schmitt2:453Si tu vas là‐bas2:344Les Poissons argentés3:12" (1967)
"Les fleurs de mandarine×Les Fleurs de mandarine1967 · EPSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 4 tracks1Les Fleurs de mandarine2:272Les Enfants trop grands2:503Le Faiseur de tendresse2:424À nous deux Paris (Je pars)2:56" Festival (1968)
"Je n'aurai pas le temps" (1968)
"Il tempo che ho non basterà" (1968)
"C'est pas ma faute" (1969)
"Le temps met longtemps" (1969)
"Balade en Bugatti" (1970)
"Le temps de ma chanson" (1971)
"Les rues de la grande ville" (1971)
"Une belle histoire×Une belle histoire1972 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracksA1Une belle histoire3:16B1Allez, bouge‐toi3:07" (& Le Big Bazar) (1972)
"Fais comme l'oiseau" (& Le Big Bazar) (1972)
"Chante... comme si tu devais mourir demain×Chante... comme si tu devais mourir demain1973 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracksA1Chante... comme si tu devais mourir demain3:10B1Jusqu’à demain peut-être3:23" (& Le Big Bazar) (1973)
"Als ginge morgen Deine Welt zugrund'" (& Le Big Bazar) (1973)
"La fête" (et le Big Bazar) (1974)
"Les acadiens" (et le Big Bazar) (1975)
"Le printemps" (et le Big Bazar) (1976)
"Ring et ding" (et le Big Bazar) (1976)
"Vis ta vie" (et le Big Bazar) (1976)
"Le chiffon rouge" (avec la Compagnie Michel Fugain) (1977)
"Papa" (et sa Compagnie) (1978)
"La vieille dame" (1978)
"Bonjour nostalgie" (1979)
"Loulou" (1979)
"Les ailes dans le dos" (1979)
"Le cœur au sud×Le Cœur au sud1983 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracksA1Le Cœur au sud4:10B1Casseur de pianos4:25" (1984)
"La fille de Rockefeller×La Fille de Rockefeller1985 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracksALa Fille de Rockefeller4:05BElle attend3:53" (1985)
"Viva la vida×Viva la vida1986 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracksAViva la vida3:52BViva la vida (instrumental)3:52" (1986)
"Des rêves et du vent×Des rêves et du vent1987 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracksADes rêves et du vent3:54BEn 20103:40" (1987)
"Librement×Librement1986 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracks1Librement (remix)4:292Saute !3:22" (1988)
"Les années guitare" (1989)
"Où s'en vont..." (1989)
"Chaque jour de plus" (1989)
"Comme une histoire d'amour" (& Véronique Genest) (1990)
"Alia soûza (& Véronique Sanson) WEA (1995)
"2000 ans et un jour×2000 Ans et un jour1998 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracks12000 Ans et un jour3:522Philo-Sophie2:52" (1998)
"Encore×Encore5 June 2001 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1Encore3:462Va vers le soleil3:383C’est toi que j’ai chantée3:254L’Eau qu’on boit3:205Madame4:006Dans la rue d’à côté3:427Toi que j’aime, j’aime3:138Les Pages People3:119Derrière une chanson3:2910Tout va bien4:2111Et plus si affinités (Ouverture)3:34" (2000)
Source