French singer and actor, Marc Lucien Lavoine is best known for his musical performances. He began his brilliant singing career when the French single, “Elle a les yeux revolver…” reached number four on the French singles chart in 1985.
Wiki/Biography
He was born on August 6, 1962, in Longjumeau, Essonne. Raised in a music-loving family in Wissous, on the southern outskirts of Paris, he moved to New York in his early twenties. He attended the Les-Dînes-Chiens college in Chilly-Mazarin. He then entered the Maximilien Vox high school, where he studied the “printing” section, which is located on rue Madame in the 6th arrondissement of Paris. During his typography studies, he was particularly interested in the work of bookbinders using gold leaf.
In addition to acting in the cinema, he made a name for himself with performances in films such as L’enfer and Le Cœur des hommes. He has also known a grand success for television programs such as Coffee Break, Crossing Lines, and Kepler.
He has been passionate about comedy and song since he was very young. The credit probably goes to the influence of having a mother who dreamed of becoming a dancer and a jazz trumpeter father. During his adolescence, he began to create his own songs. His studies were abandoned at the age of 16 and he chose to stay in Paris to pursue a theatrical career. [1]Gala Then, he joined a troupe of amateur comedians on rue de Chabrol. He was hired as an usher at the Olympia in 1979 (thanks to a friend of his.) It was Patricia Coquatrix (artistic director), Bruno Coquatrix’s daughter, to whom he showed his first songs.
He then approached the producer Fabrice Aboulker and was offered the opportunity to record with the Lyon metalhead group, “Votre Vice”, in the early 1980s, but the experiment failed immediately.
Physical appearance
- Height: 5 ft 9 in / 176cm
- Weight: 154 lbs / 70 kg
- Eye color: Green
- Hair color: Black
Family and ethnicity
Parents and Siblings
His father was Lucien Lavoine (1934-1906), who was a PTT activist, atheist and communist. His mother was Micheline Collin (1936-2011), atheist and Catholic. Marc Lavoine also has an older brother, Francis, five years his senior who is known as his “protective big brother”. It was Francis who gave him his first guitar.
Relationships/ Affairs, Wife, Children
Marc Lavoine is the father of Simon Lavoine, born from his first marriage to former Vogue model Denise Pascale. She died of cancer in December 2017 [2]Marie Claire .
Denise Pascale
Childhood picture of Simon Lavoine
His second wife, Sarah Poniatowski, is from the Poniatowski family, originally from Poland. They have three children: Yasmine, Roman and Milo (born July 1, 2010). 2018 marked the year of their divorce. [3]Voici
Sarah Poniatowski with Marc Lavoine
His marriage to novelist Line Papin took place on July 25, 2020, in Paris. [4]Gala [5]Journal de Femmes
Line Papin
Career
Music Career
With his song “Elle a les yeux revolver…”, he released his first album, Le Parking des Anges, in 1985, becoming one of the favorites of teenagers.
The cover picture of the album “Le Parking des Anges”
Lavoine’s second album, Fait, was released in 1987 which included a duet he had with Catherine Ringer named, “Qu’est-ce que t’es belle”. In 1989, he released his third album, Les Amours Du Dimanche, which sold 300,000 copies.
1992 saw the success of the single “Paris”, which is also the name of his fourth studio album, and “L’Amour de trente secondes”. In Lavoine’s sixth album, Lavoine-Matic, released in 1996, there was a song called “C’est ça la France”, a song about tolerance that won a Video Victory of Music as best video.
Lavoie’s eighth album was released in 2001 and was untitled. Duets with popular female singers were also included on this album, including Italian actress and singer Cristina Marocco, singer Françoise Hardy and actress Claire Keim. The singer released a live album titled Olympia Deux Mille Trois in 2003 and a single titled “Dis-moi que l’amour.”
“Je me sens si seul”, “Toi mon amour” and “J’espoir”, a duet with Belgian singer of Vietnamese origin Quynh Anh, were all on Lavoie’s ninth album, L’Heure d’été. Several artists, including Cœur de pirate and Arthur H, contributed to the album Les Souliers rouges, released on September 16, 2016.
Marc Lavoine sat on the TF1 jury for the ninth season of ‘The Voice: La plus belle voix’ in 2020, alongside Pascal Obispo, Lara Fabian, and Amel Bent. The tenth season of The Voice saw him once again serve as a coach, alongside Amel Bent, Florent Pagny, and Vianney. [6]Centre Presse
Film career
Marc attempted a career in acting when he was 16 years old. The actor made his TV debut in numerous TV movies and landed a role in Pause Café (1981), a popular TV series.
The cover picture of Pause Café
Claude Chabrol directed L’Enfer in 1994, in which he appeared alongside Emmanuelle Béart and François Cluzet.
He is best known for his role as Alex, a cynical married man, in Le Cœur des hommes (2003), Le Cœur des hommes 2 (2007) and Le Cœur des hommes 3 (2013).
Marc Lavoine in a still from Le coeur des hommes 2
Prizes/Honors
1986: Raoul-Breton Prize from SACEM for the album Marc Lavoine
1997: Victory for the clip of C’est ça la France, during the 12th ceremony of the Victoires de la Musique
2007: Cosne-Cours-Sur-Loire Best Actor Award for the film ‘Si c’était lui…’
2021: Adami Citizen Artist Award
Autograph
The autograph of Marc Lavoine
Facts/ Trivia
- Lavoine has been involved with the charity, Les Enfoirés, since 1996. Besides this, the musician has no other known charitable interests. [7]Enfoires
Logo of Les Enfoirés
- In 1992, the single “Paris”, which is also the title song of his fourth album, and “L’Amour de trente seconds” was successful. Faux Rêveur, Lavoine’s fifth album, was released in 1993. A single from Lavoine’s sixth album, Lavoine-Matic, with the song “C’est ça la France”. It was recognized as best video at the Victoires de la Musique, appeared on the album in 1996. A version of the song “Les Tournesols” became the lead single from her seventh studio album Septième Ciel in 1999.
- Marc Lavoine is the brand ambassador and spokesperson of Mercedes-Benz. [8]Facebook – Mercedes-Benz France
Marc Lavoine posing with a Mercedes Benz
- He wrote a song called “Bonjour Vietnam” for Quynh Anh as a special gift. [9]Vietnam News
- On February 1, Marc Lavoine inaugurated his wax statue at the Grévin Museum in Paris, unveiled by Stéphane Bern, president of the Grévin Academy. [10]Paris Match
Marc Lavoine inaugurating his statue
- The lyrics of the song ‘Pour les gens du secours’ which accompanied the music of Pascal Obispo were written during the Covid-19 pandemic in France in 2020. With Florent Pagny on vocals, they form a powerful combination. All the money collected was donated to the Fédération hospitalière de France and the Hôpitaux de Paris-Hôpitaux de France foundation. [11]France Info
- A newspaper, Le Papotin, was founded in 1997 by Marc Lavoine and Driss El Kesri and written by autistic children. As a result, he created the association “Le Papotin”, whose aim is to help autistic children. His book “Toi et moi on nous appelle par nos prénoms” was published in 2011, again in collaboration with Driss El Kesri. [12]France Info TV
- Co-founder of the collective “Les cartables connectes”, Marc is also a successful entrepreneur. [13]Essentiel Santé Magazine
