Loading title details…

Jacques Dutronc

Biography

Jacques Dutronc (born 28 April 1943) is a French singer, songwriter, guitarist, composer, and actor. Some of Dutronc's best-known hits include "Il est cinq heures, Paris s'éveille" (which AllMusic has called "his finest hour"), "Le Responsable", and "Les Cactus".

Dutronc played guitar in the rock group El Toro et les Cyclones. He wrote successful songs for singer Françoise Hardy in the 1960s before moving on to pursue a successful solo career. His music incorporated traditional French pop and French rock as well as styles such as psychedelic and garage rock. He was also very important in the yéyé music movement and has been a longtime songwriting collaborator with Jacques Lanzmann. According to AllMusic, Dutronc is "one of the most popular performers in the French-speaking world", although he "remains little known in English speaking territories" aside from a cult following in the UK.

Dutronc later branched out into film acting, starting in 1973. He earned a César Award for Best Actor for the leading role in Van Gogh (1991), which was directed by Maurice Pialat. He married Hardy in 1981 and together they have a son, guitarist Thomas Dutronc (born 1973); the couple separated in 1988, but never divorced.

Jacques Dutronc was born on 28 April 1943 at 67 Rue de Provence in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, the home of his parents, Pierre and Madeleine. His father was a manager for the state-run Office of Coal Distribution. Jacques was educated at Rocroy-Saint-Léon elementary school (now a lycée), the École de la Rue Blanche (now a drama school), and then at the École Professionnelle de Dessin Industriel, where he studied graphic design from 1959.

In 1960, Dutronc formed a band with himself as guitarist, schoolfriend Hadi Kalafate as bassist, Charlot Bénaroch as drummer (later replaced with André Crudot), and Daniel Dray as singer. They auditioned in 1961 for Jacques Wolfsohn, an artistic director at Disques Vogue, who signed them and gave them the name El Toro et les Cyclones. The group released two singles, "L'Oncle John" and "Le Vagabond", but disbanded when Dutronc was obliged to undertake military service.

After being discharged from the army in 1963, Dutronc briefly played guitar in Eddy Mitchell's backing band and was also given a job at Vogue as Jacques Wolfsohn's assistant. In this capacity, he co-wrote songs for artists such as ZouZou, Cléo, and Françoise Hardy.