# Florent Pagny

Florent Pagny (French pronunciation:; born 6 November 1961) is a French singer-songwriter, musician and actor. He records his work in French, as well as in Italian, Spanish and English. His greatest hits include "N'importe quoi", "Savoir aimer" and "Ma Liberté de penser"—all three were number one in France. As of 2018, he has sold more than 6 million singles and 10 million albums, becoming the 17th best-selling artist of all time in France.

## Early years

Florent Pagny began his artistic career as an actor in popular films and television dramas. He appeared in La Balance, L'As des as, and A Captain's Honor or Fort Saganne.
In 1987, he wrote his first song titled "N'importe quoi". Pagny's first album, Merci, was released in 1990. The album's songs, mainly written by himself, began to attract controversy, with the press eventually boycotting some of them. This led to a decline in sales, culminating in personal problems. His follow-up album, Réaliste, was also not as successful.
Jean-Jacques Goldman wrote three songs for Pagny under the pseudonym Sam Brewski, and presented to him a new staff. The album Rester vrai marked the beginning of his career as a performer only. Bienvenue chez moi, a semi-compilation released in 1995, was a smash success. Pagny also covered "Caruso", the hit originally performed by Lucio Dalla.

## Pagny as a performer

He decided to move to Argentinian Patagonia to flee the French tax authorities and to start a new life with his wife, Azucena, and their children. Recently, Pagny said he had enrolled his children in Miami because he didn't want them to speak Arabic while returning from school. His next album, Savoir aimer, was released in 1997. It was composed by a number of writers, including Jean-Jacques Goldman, Erick Benzi, Jacques Veneruso, Zazie and, Pascal Obispo, who also produced the album. "Savoir aimer" turned out to be an immediate success.
In 1999, Pagny released an album of cover versions of his old song, Recréation. From "Môme Julie" to "Antisocial", he mixed musical styles and dabbled with techno arrangements.
Pagny then alternated studios and cover albums (at least in part) and regularly changed his look. In 2000, he released the album Châtelet Les Halles, whose title song was produced by Calogero. He followed that with 2, an album composed of duets released in 2001. In 2003, he returned with Ailleurs land, whose first single, "Ma Liberté de penser", was composed by Pascal Obispo and Lionel Florence and deals with Pagny's problems with the French treasury. Finally, in 2004, Pagny released Baryton, an album composed of opera songs.
In 2007, Pagny released an album of covers of songs originally composed and performed by Jacques Brel entitled Pagny chante Brel.

## Personal life

At 26, Pagny started dating 15-year-old French singer Vanessa Paradis. The relationship ended in 1991.

## Other activities

In 2012, Pagny made his debut on the French version of The Voice. He has since remained as a coach until 2018 where he took a two season hiatus after that. He coached again in 2021 and 2022. He also participated in the All Stars format, alongside coaches Jenifer, Mika, Zazie and The Voice Kids coach Patrick Fiori. Throughout his time as a coach, he has coached several winners consisting of Stéphan Rizon (from Season 1), Slimane Nebchi (from Season 5), Marghe Davico (from Season 10) and Nour Brousse (from Season 11). In the All Stars format, he coached Anne Sila to victory. Pagny will return to the panel in 2025, alongside Vianney and debuting coaches Zaz and Patricia Kaas.

## Discography
### Albums
#### Studio albums

| Year | Album | Peak position | Peak position | Peak position | Peak position | Certification | Notes |
| Year | Album | FR | BEL (Fl) | BEL (Wa) | SWI | Certification | Notes |
| 1990 | Merci | 10 | — | | | | |
| 1992 | Réaliste | 20 | — | | | | |
| 1994 | Rester vrai | 19 | — | | | SNEP: 2× Gold | |
| 1997 | Savoir aimer | 1 | — | 1 | 23 | BEA: Platinum IFPI SWI: 2× Platinum | |
| 1999 | RéCréation | 1 | — | 4 | 94 | SNEP: Platinum | |
| 2000 | Châtelet Les Halles | 1 | — | 3 | 16 | SNEP: 2× Platinum IFPI SWI: Gold | Double CD |
| 2001 | 2 | 3 | — | 3 | 8 | BEA: Gold IFPI SWI: Gold | Covers overdubbed as duets |
| 2003 | Ailleurs land | 1 | — | 1 | 2 | SNEP: Diamond BEA: Gold IFPI SWI: Platinum | |
| 2004 | Baryton | 1 | — | 1 | 19 | SNEP: 2× Platinum BEA: Platinum IFPI SWI: Gold | |
| 2006 | Abracadabra | 2 | — | 2 | 13 | BEA: Gold IFPI SWI: Gold | |
| 2007 | Pagny chante Brel | 3 | — | 1 | 28 | BEA: Platinum | 11 covers of Belgian singer Jacques Brel |
| 2009 | C'est comme ça | 2 | — | 1 | 16 | SNEP: 2× Platinum BEA: Gold | Album in Spanish |
| 2010 | Tout et son contraire | 1 | — | 1 | 31 | BEA: Platinum | |
| 2012 | Baryton. Gracias a la vida | 2 | 176 | 5 | 40 | | Album in Spanish |
| 2013 | Vieillir avec toi | 1 | 91 | 1 | 9 | SNEP: Diamond BEA: Platinum | |
| 2016 | Habana | 2 | 146 | 4 | 6 | SNEP: Platinum | Album in Spanish |
| 2017 | Le présent d'abord | 2 | 110 | 1 | 1 | SNEP: 2× Platinum BEA: Gold | |
| 2018 | Tout simplement | 5 | — | 4 | 17 | | |
| 2019 | Aime la vie | 2 | 169 | 2 | 5 | SNEP: Gold | |
| 2021 | L'avenir | 1 | 183 | 1 | 8 | | |
| 2023 | 2bis | 1 | 40 | 1 | 1 | SNEP: Gold | |

#### Live albums

| Year | Album | Peak position | Peak position | Peak position | Certification |
| Year | Album | FR | BEL (Wa) | SWI | Certification |
| 1998 | En concert | 2 | 3 | | SNEP: 2× Platinum IFPI SWI: Gold |
| 2004 | Été 2003 à l'Olympia | 11 | 4 | 37 | SNEP: Diamond |
| 2005 | Baryton – L'intégrale du spectacle | 24 | 12 | 95 | |
| 2012 | Ma liberté de chanter - Live Acoustic | 6 | 4 | 42 | |
| 2014 | Vieillir ensemble - Le live | 33 | 13 | 30 | |

#### Compilations

| Year | Album | Peak position | Peak position | Peak position | Certification |
| Year | Album | FR | BEL (Wa) | SWI | Certification |
| 1995 | Bienvenue chez moi | 1 | 1 | — | BEA: Platinum |
| 1999 | Les talents du siècle | — | 47 | — | |
| 2008 | Les 50 plus belles chansons | — | 39 | — | |
| 2008 | De part et d'autre – Triple Best Of | — | 2 | — | |
| 2014 | Integrale | — | 2 | — | |
| 2018 | Toujours et encore | — | 11 | 38 | |

### Singles

| Year | Single | Peak position | Peak position | Peak position | Certification | Album |
| Year | Single | FR | BEL (Wa) | SUI | Certification | Album |
| 1988 | "N'importe quoi" | 1 | - | - | SNEP : Platinum | |
| 1988 | "Laissez-nous respirer" | 8 | - | - | - | |
| 1989 | "Comme d'habitude" | 6 | - | - | - | |
| 1990 | "J'te jure" | 16 | - | - | - | Merci |
| 1990 | "Ça fait des nuits" | 17 | - | - | - | Merci |
| 1990 | "Presse qui roule" | 24 | - | - | - | Merci |
| 1991 | "Prends ton temps" | 42 | - | - | - | Merci |
| 1992 | "Tue-moi" | 24 | 38 | - | - | Réaliste |
| 1993 | "Qu'est-ce qu'on a fait?" | 46 | - | - | - | Réaliste |
| 1994 | "Est-ce que tu me suis?" | 45 | - | - | - | Rester vrai |
| 1994 | "Si tu veux m'essayer" | 7 | - | - | - | Rester vrai |
| 1996 | "Caruso" | 2 | 3 | - | - | Bienvenue chez moi |
| 1996 | "Oh Happy Day" | 8 | - | - | - | Bienvenue chez moi |
| 1997 | "Savoir aimer" | 1 | 1 | - | SNEP : Diamond | Savoir aimer |
| 1998 | "Chanter" | 16 | 15 | - | SNEP : Gold | Savoir aimer |
| 1998 | "D'un amour l'autre" | 83 | - | - | - | Savoir aimer |
| 1998 | "Dors" | 29 | 28 | - | - | Savoir aimer |
| 1999 | "Jolie môme" | 13 | 11 | - | - | RéCréation |
| 2000 | "Les parfums de sa vie (je l'ai tant aimée)" | 38 | 30 | - | - | RéCréation |
| 2000 | "Et un jour, une femme" | 3 | 1 | - | - | Châtelet Les Halles |
| 2001 | "Châtelet Les Halles" | 45 | 5* | - | - | Châtelet Les Halles |
| 2001 | "Terre" | 37 | 1* | - | - | Châtelet Les Halles |
| 2002 | "L'air du temps" (with Cécilia Cara) | 20 | 19 | - | - | 2 |
| 2003 | "Ma liberté de penser" | 1 | 1 | 8 | SNEP : Platinum BEA : Gold | Ailleurs land |
| 2003 | "Je trace" | 26 | 34 | 65 | | Ailleurs land |
| 2004 | "Y'a pas un homme qui soit né pour ça" (with Calogero und Pascal Obispo) | 20 | - | 45 | | / |
| 2004 | "Io le canto per te" | 28 | 12 | - | | Baryton |
| 2006 | "Là où je t'emmènerai" | 4 | 7 | 39 | | Abracadabra |
| 2006 | "Le mur" | - | 8* | - | | Abracadabra |
| 2007 | "À tout peser à bien choisir" | - | 6* | - | | Abracadabra |
| 2007 | "Un ami" (with Marc Lavoine) | - | 25 | - | | Marc Lavoine album Les duos de Marc |
| 2008 | "La chanson de Jacky" | - | 6* | - | | Pagny chante Brel |
| 2008 | "De part et d'autre" | - | 13 | - | | De part et d'autre – Triple Best of |
| 2009 | "C'est comme ça" | - | 11 | - | | C'est comme ça |
| 2009 | "Amar y amar" | - | 12* | - | | C'est comme ça |
| 2010 | "Que nadie sepa mi sufrir" | - | 17* | - | | C'est comme ça |
| 2010 | "Si tu n'aimes pas Florent Pagny" | - | 46 | - | | Tout et son contraire |
| 2010 | "Te jeter des fleurs" | - | 19 | - | | Tout et son contraire |
| 2011 | "8ème merveille" | - | 3* | - | | Tout et son contraire |
| 2011 | "Je laisse le temps faire" (with Pascal Obispo) | - | 18* | - | | Tout et son contraire |
| 2011 | "Tout et son contraire" | - | 12* | - | | Tout et son contraire |
| 2012 | "A la huella a la huella" | - | 16* | - | | Baryton. Gracias a la vida |
| 2013 | "Les murs porteurs" | 23 | 25 | - | | Vieillir avec toi |
| 2013 | "Vieillir avec toi" | 68 | 2* | - | | Vieillir avec toi |
| 2013 | "Souviens-toi" | 147 | - | - | | Vieillir avec toi |
| 2014 | "Le soldat" | 61 | 50 | - | | Vieillir avec toi |
| 2015 | "Nos vies parallèles" (with Anggun) | 47 | 39 | - | | Toujours un ailleurs |
| 2017 | "Le présent d'abord" | 38 | - | - | | |
| 2017 | "La beauté du doute" | 66 | - | - | | |
*Did not appear in the official Belgian Ultratop 50 charts, but rather in the bubbling under Ultratip charts.

## Filmography

| Year | Title | Role | Director |
| 1980 | Inspector Blunder | Michel's friend | Claude Zidi |
| 1987 | Les keufs | Jean-Pierre | Josiane Balasko |
| 1987 | Francois Villon - le poéte vagabond | Francois Villon | Sergiu Nicolaescu |

## Awards

* Victoires de la Musique Male artist of the year (1998)
| Preceded byCharles Aznavour | Victoires de la Musique Male artist of the year 1998 | Succeeded byAlain Bashung |