Étienne Daho

Étienne Daho (b. 1956, Algeria) is a French singer-songwriter who moved to France with his family in 1965 and grew up in Rennes. He is among the most significant figures in French popular music of the past four decades, with a body of work that has consistently engaged the influence of British post-punk and New Wave — particularly the sounds associated with Manchester and London in the early 1980s — within a distinctly French lyrical and melodic sensibility.

He made his stage debut in 1979 at a rock festival in Rennes, where the bands Stinky Toys and Marquis de Sade helped him record his debut album, Mythomane (1981). The records that followed established him as a central figure in French pop: La Notte, la notte (1984), Pop Satori (1986), Pour nos vies martiennes (1988), and Paris ailleurs (1991) each received platinum certification in France, the last selling more than 700,000 copies. His output has encompassed studio albums, collaborations, and duets with figures including Tracey Thorn, Kristin Hersh, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Françoise Hardy, Vanessa Paradis, and Jane Birkin. His 1995 collaboration with Saint Etienne, "He's on the Phone," reached audiences across Europe. Later albums — Eden (1996), Corps et Armes (2000), Blitz (2012) — continued to develop a practice that positions itself at the intersection of art pop, electronica, and chanson française.

In November 2023 he received the Grand Prix de la SACEM. His tour "Etienne Daho show" ran from November 2023 to August 2024, including a sold-out date at the Accor Arena in Paris on 22 December 2023; the concert was released as Etienne Live (2024) and screened in Dolby Atmos at Le Grand Rex.