Florent Pagny (; 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, 2022, 2025, and 2026. 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), Nour Brousse (from Season 11), Il Cello (from Season 14), and Lady O (from Season 15). In the All Stars format, he coached Anne Sila to victory. Thus, he holds the most wins as a coach.
Discography
Albums Studio albums Year Album Peakposition Certification NotesFRBEL (Fl)BEL (Wa)SWIhitparade.ch1990Merci10—1992Réaliste20—1994Rester vrai19— SNEP: 2× Gold1997Savoir aimer1—123 BEA: Platinum IFPI SWI: 2× Platinum1999RéCréation 1—494SNEP: Platinum 2000Châtelet Les Halles1—316 SNEP: 2× Platinum IFPI SWI: GoldDouble CD200123—38 BEA: Gold IFPI SWI: GoldCovers overdubbed as duets2003Ailleurs land1—12 SNEP: Diamond BEA: Gold IFPI SWI: Platinum2004Baryton1—119 SNEP: 2× Platinum BEA: Platinum IFPI SWI: Gold2006Abracadabra2—213 BEA: Gold IFPI SWI: Gold2007Pagny chante Brel3—128 BEA: Platinum11 covers of Belgian singer Jacques Brel2009C'est comme ça2—116 SNEP: 2× Platinum BEA: GoldAlbum in Spanish 2010Tout et son contraire1—131 BEA: Platinum2012Baryton. Gracias a la vida2176540Album in Spanish2013Vieillir avec toi19119 SNEP: Diamond BEA: Platinum2016Habana214646 SNEP: PlatinumAlbum in Spanish2017Le présent d'abord211011 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 2025 Grandeur nature 1 — 1 5
Live albums YearAlbumPeakpositionCertificationFRBEL (Wa)SWI1998En concert23 SNEP: 2× Platinum IFPI SWI: Gold2004Été 2003 à l'Olympia11437 SNEP: Diamond2005Baryton – L'intégrale du spectacle2412952012Ma liberté de chanter - Live Acoustic64422014Vieillir ensemble - Le live331330
Compilations YearAlbumPeakpositionCertificationFRBEL (Wa)SWI1995Bienvenue chez moi11—BEA: Platinum1999Les talents du siècle—47—2008Les 50 plus belles chansons—39—2008De part et d'autre – Triple Best Of—2—2014Integrale—19—2018Toujours et encore—1138
Singles YearSinglePeak positionCertificationAlbumFRBEL (Wa)SWIhitparade.ch1988"N'importe quoi"1-- SNEP : Platinum"Laissez-nous respirer"8---1989"Comme d'habitude"6---1990"J'te jure"16---Merci"Ça fait des nuits"17---"Presse qui roule"24---1991"Prends ton temps"42---1992"Tue-moi"2438--Réaliste1993"Qu'est-ce qu'on a fait?"46---1994"Est-ce que tu me suis?"45---Rester vrai"Si tu veux m'essayer"7---1996"Caruso"23--Bienvenue chez moi"Oh Happy Day"8---1997"Savoir aimer"11- SNEP : DiamondSavoir aimer1998"Chanter"1615- SNEP : Gold"D'un amour l'autre"83---"Dors"2928--1999"Jolie môme"1311--RéCréation2000"Les parfums de sa vie (je l'ai tant aimée)"3830--"Et un jour, une femme"31--Châtelet Les Halles2001"Châtelet Les Halles"455*--"Terre"371*--2002"L'air du temps" (with Cécilia Cara)2019--22003"Ma liberté de penser"118 SNEP : Platinum BEA : GoldAilleurs land"Je trace"2634652004"Y'a pas un homme qui soit né pour ça" (with Calogero und Pascal Obispo)20-45/"Io le canto per te"2812-Baryton2006"Là où je t'emmènerai"4739Abracadabra"Le mur"-8*-2007"À tout peser à bien choisir"-6*-"Un ami" (with Marc Lavoine)-25-Marc Lavoine albumLes duos de Marc2008"La chanson de Jacky"-6*-Pagny chante Brel"De part et d'autre" -13-De part et d'autre – Triple Best of2009"C'est comme ça"-11-C'est comme ça"Amar y amar"-12*-2010"Que nadie sepa mi sufrir"-17*-"Si tu n'aimes pas Florent Pagny" -46-Tout et son contraire"Te jeter des fleurs" -19-2011"8ème merveille"-3*-"Je laisse le temps faire" (with Pascal Obispo)-18*-"Tout et son contraire" -12*-2012"A la huella a la huella"-16*-Baryton. Gracias a la vida2013"Les murs porteurs"2325-Vieillir avec toi"Vieillir avec toi"682*-"Souviens-toi"147--2014"Le soldat"6150-2015"Nos vies parallèles"(with Anggun)4739-Toujours un ailleurs2017"Le présent d'abord"38--"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 Notes 1980 Inspector Blunder Michel's friend Claude Zidi1987 Les keufs Jean-Pierre Josiane Balasko 1987 François Villon – the vagabond poet Francois Villon Sergiu Nicolaescu
Awards Victoires de la Musique Male artist of the year (1998)
References
External links Official website Biography of Florent Pagny, from Radio France Internationale