July 14th is Bastille Day, it is a day where the French commemorate the storming of the Bastille. France has a long history rich in culture and art. Music has also played an important role in French history. In honor of Bastille Day, below are some of our favorite French musicians.
Daft Punk – Together Guy-Manuel de Homem-Cristo and Thomas Bangalter are the electronic duo Daft Punk. The band has had a big year so far with the success of their most recent album, Random Access Memories. Two hit singles have already been released from the album. Both of the tracks, “Get Lucky” and “Lose Yourself to Dance” feature Pharrell Williams. . The band famously known for performing live in costume, including robot costumes, has been around since the mid 90’s.
Phoenix – Phoenix is an indie-rock band from Versailles, France. They first became popular in the early 2000’s. One of Phoenix’s members, guitarist, Laurent Brancowitz was previously in a band with the guys from Daft Punk. The band’s latest album, titled Bankrupt! was released in April debuted at #4 on the Billboard charts. The band has been playing festivals and shows around the world the last few months, they are supposed to continue touring till November. Check out the video for their latest sing “Trying to be Cool” below.
Gipsy Kings – While all of the Gipsy Kings are from the South of France, their flamenco influence comes from their Spanish Romani heritage. The band’s self-titled album became an international hit in 1989. The band introduced flamenco-pop to mainstream audiences with singles like “Bamboleo”. They also did successful covers of the songs “Hotel California” and “You’ve Got a Friend in Me”.
Francoise Hardy – Francoise sings in French, English, Italian, Spanish, German and Portuguese. The singer grew up in Paris and began her career as a sing in the 1960’s. She recorded the song ”To The End (La Comedie)” with the band Blur in 1995, the song was a remake of the Blur song “To The End”.
You can get music from all your favorite French artists using iMesh. Click the Download Button below to start downloading all your favorite music. All free and legal!
About Nadine Segal
I am a writer and editor from New York with a passion for music. I write predominately about music, musical artists and the issues they face.