Kendji Girac

**Kendji Girac** (born **Kendji Jason Maillié**, July 3, 1996) is a French singer. He is the winner of Season 3 of the music competition *The Voice: la plus belle voix* as part of Team Mika. He has released two studio albums, *Kendji* and *Ensemble* as well as a string of hit singles. On March 9, 2017, his wax statue at the Musée Grévin was revealed.

## Biography

### Beginnings

The youngest of a Catalan Gitano family, Kendji grew up in Saint-Astier and was taught to play the guitar and sing by his grandfather. He left school at 16 to follow the family business as an arborist. His first language is Catalan. He gained some fame through publishing materials online. His gypsy version of "Bella" by Maître Gims filmed by a friend went viral. His video garnered almost 3.8 million views. Another popular song he uploaded was "Si j'étais president" a cover of Gérard Lenorman.

### *The Voice: la plus belle voix*

For season 3 of *The Voice: la plus belle voix*, he auditioned with the song "Bella" by Maître Gims in the second episode of season 3 broadcast on January 18, with only judge Mika turning his chair, whereas the three others, Florent Pagny, Jenifer and Garou refrained.

In the Musical Battles Round broadcast on March 8, 2014, Mika put him against Youness both singing "Tous les mêmes" from Stromae. Kendji moved to "L'épreuve ultime" round where he performed "Hotel California from The Eagles in the 29 March 2014 emission.

In the live rounds he interpreted "Ma philosophie" from Amel Bent (5 April 2014), "Mad World" from Tears for Fears (19 April 2014) and "Allumer le feu" from Johnny Hallyday (19 April 2014). In the semi-final on 3 May 2014 he sang "Belle" from Garou and Daniel Lavoie qualifying for the finals as Team Mika's finalist.

In the final broadcast on Final: 10 May 2014, He sang "Amor de mis amores" / "Volare" from Gipsy Kings, "Temps à nouveau" from Jean-Louis Aubert and "L'Aigle noir" from Barbara. He won *The Voice* title for season 3 with 51% of the public vote against 21% for runner up Maximilien Philippe, with Amir Haddad finishing third with 18% and Wesley with only 10% fourth.

### Career

His first official single was the bilingual French/Spanish "Color Gitano", released in June 2014 from his EP, his official album released in September. In December 2014, he won two NRJ Music Awards for Francophone Breakthrough of the Year and "Color Gitano" as Francophone Song of the Year. His album *Kendji* sold 600,000 copies by January 2015, and over 1 million copies by October 2015, certifying Diamond and becoming France's second highest selling album of 2014 after *Racine Carrée* by Stromae. As of now, he is nearing 1.2 million copies sold. He is currently the biggest selling *The Voice* alumnus worldwide. His follow-up single "Andalouse" proved even more successful commercially. Other notable singles included "Conmigo" from the repackaged version of *Kendji* released on May 4, 2015.

A second album titled *Ensemble* was released on October 30, 2015. Notable singles from his second album include "Me Quemo", "Les yeux de la mama" and "No Me Mirès Màs" (jointly with Soprano).

He is also going to be a part of the movie "Chacun Sa Vie" directed by Claude Lelouch. The movie is set to release in theaters on March 15.

## Discography

### Albums

 *Kendji*Including 2015 reissue | * Released: 8 September 2014
* Label: Mercury Records
* Formats: CD, digital download
 *Ensemble* | * Released: 30 October 2015
* Label: Mercury Records
* Formats: CD, digital download

### EPs

 *Kendji Girac EP* | * Released: 1 January 2014
* Label: Mercury Records
* Formats: digital download

### Singles

#### As lead artist

\*Did not appear in the official Belgian Ultratop 50 charts, but rather in the bubbling under Ultratip charts. For Ultratip peaks, added 50 positions to arrive at an equivalent Ultratop position

#### As featured artist

List of singles, with selected chart positions
 "One Last Time (Attends-moi)"(Ariana Grande featuring Kendji Girac) | 2015

### Other charted songs

 "Amor de mis amores" / "Volare" (credited as Kendji) | 2014
 "Mi amor"
 "Baïla amigo"
 "Mon univers"
 "Ma solitude"
 "Besame"
 "Tu y yo"
 "Elle a tout"
 "Jamais à genoux"