Bénabar
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| Bénabar | |
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 Bénabar at the Fête de l'Humanité in 2006.
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Bruno Nicolini |
| Born | 16 June 1969 |
| Origin | Thiais, France |
| Genre(s) | Chanson |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, Song writer |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals |
| Years active | 1997–present |
| Website | benabar.com |
Bénabar (Bruno Nicolini, b. June 16, 1969) is a French songwriter and singer, who could be compared to Vincent Delerm and other singers from his generation. As many of them he was influenced by Georges Brassens, Renaud Séchan, Jacques Higelin and also Tom Waits. His songs describe day-to-day life events with humour and a tender cynicism. His songs draw influence from French Chanson and a heavy influence is placed on the piano or the accordion in his songs for most of them and on typical French fanfare for the most dynamic of them. This genre of music is very typically French and differs from most in that emphasis is placed on appreciation of the lyrics and that it is linked to a specific culture of modern "guinche" (slang for "guinguette") appreciated a lot by Bobos among others.
He began his career in the cinema, working as an assistant on Le Brasier (1991) and directed three short subjects Nada Lezard (1991), Sursum corda (1994) et José Jeannette (1992). He then turned to music, working for some time with his friend Patchol who gave him his nickname (Bénabar being the "verlan" of Barnabé, the name he was using on stage). With "Les associés" he sang for several years in small places in France, Belgium, Switzerland before becoming more and more popular after the release of Bénabar (2001) that enabled him to be the opening act for Henri Salvador. He was nominated as a Revelation for the "Victoires de la musique 2003" but did not win it. In 2004 he won the award for "album "chanson/variété" of the year". In 2007 he won the awards for "Male group or artist of the year" and "original song of the year" (for Le dîner).
He has two brothers called Patrick and Sébastien. He has a son born in 2004 and named Manolo.
[edit] Discography
- La p'tite monnaie (1997) by Bénabar et associés
- Bénabar (2001)
- Les risques du métier (2003)
- Live au Grand Rex (2004) - 1 CD + 1 DVD
- Couche-tard et lève-tôt (2004) compilation of some songs from Bénabar and Les risques du métier released in Québec
- Reprise des négociations (October 24th 2005)
- Best-of (Oct 2007) - 1 CD + 1 DVD (live tour 2006)
| Preceded by Raphaël |
Victoires de la Musique Male group or artist of the year 2007 |
Succeeded by Abd Al Malik |
[edit] See also
