Marc Lavoine was born on August 6 1962 in Longjumeau in the Paris suburbs. His childhood was marked by his father's passion for jazz and his brother's propensity to listen to Dutronc and the Rolling Stones. From adolescence onwards, artistic leanings began to show, and he began writing songs, propelled by good school marks in French. At sixteen, however, he was tempted to become an actor.

He therefore joined an amateur theatre troupe in the rue Chabrol, Paris. One of his girlfriends found him a job as a receptionist at the Olympia music hall.

It was thus quite naturally that he showed his first songs to Patricia Coquatrix, the boss of the famous venue. She introduced him to Rideau rouge, Gilbert Bécaud's recording company. There, he met Florence Aboulker, the producer, who advised him to go and see her son Fabrice, Aboulker, artistic director of the Barclay recording company.

Their first meeting was a fiasco but Aboulker nevertheless sent Marc Lavoine to sing with a hard rock group from Lyons, Your Vice (!). This was a failure and the novice returned to Paris.

In 1981 he was cast for a part in "Pause Café", a very popular TV soap, but acting seemed more difficult than singing. He re-contacted Aboulker and persuaded him to write music to his words.

His first single was called "Je ne sais même plus de quoi j'ai l'air", and came out in 83. It was the following year, however, that success arrived with "Pour une biguine avec toi". His drop-dead looks were useful for the romantic songs.

His third single, which topped the charts, was followed by the 1985 album "Le Parking des Anges", with a notable participation of the London Symphony Orchestra.

During a program on TV Canal +, he met Catherine Ringer of the Rita Mitsouko group. They became friends and sang a duo "Qu'est-ce que t'es belle", which appeared on Marc Lavoine's second album, "Fabriqué". This second album, published in 87, included two tracks which became singles : "Le Monde est tellement con" and "Même si". A few concerts followed, at La Cigale in Paris, and then a tour, stamped by a certain determination to break the mould of the charming young man with a warm voice and good looks, as he was usually described by the press at that time. He even went on stage in a tutu a few times! A live album came out in 1988, and sold over 100,000 copies.

After a sabbatical year spent in Los Angeles with his friend Fabrice Aboulker, he returned in 89 with a new album, "Les Amours du Dimanche". The two tracks which sent the album over the 300,000 sales mark were "C'est la vie" and "Rue Fontaine".

His fourth album came out in 1991 and was called "Paris". The music was signed, again, Fabrice Aboulker. Love songs were still Lavoine's main stable. He sang "L'amour en 30 secondes" and dreamed in "Paris".

Once he hit thirty, Marc Lavoine's personality became stronger with each album. This is illustrated by "Faux rêveur", produced by the famous Tony Visconti, which came out in 93. "On n'ira jamais à Venise" gave a hint of the old-fashioned romanticism which was his hallmark.

This variety singer thirsted for other adventures and went back to the cinema in 1994, with a role in "L'Enfer" directed by Claude Chabrol. In 1995 he played in "Cabaret", directed by Jérôme Savary in Paris. Two other film roles followed, in "Fiesta" by Pierre Boutron, and "Les Menteurs" by Chouraqui. The same year he joined Véronique Sanson in a smoochy duo, "Une nuit sur ton épaule".

It was in the United States, at San Francisco, that he discovered the world of autism. Later, in Paris, he met some autistic children and offered to write them a magazine. This was how the "Papotin" adventure started, an exercise in how to write for and with different people (mostly children). This type of experience enriched Marc Lavoine's writing in his songs.

In October 96, he brought out a new album, "Lavoine Matic". His own comment was that in this album there were no love songs, only love in the songs. He thus indicated an about turn in his attitude. Turning towards other people's problems and the difficulties of life, he sang songs about the world about us. Prostitution, with "Myriam", bomb attacks with "100% Innocent", a portrait of France with "C'est ça la France" (the video clip of which won a "Victoire de la Musique" award), and the wicked duo with Princess Erika "Les hommes sont des femmes comme les autres", all indicated his new approach. Lavoine had clearly done away with his romantic, solitary hero image.

He returned to the stage in 1997 with a piano accompaniment. This idea came about when he did two concerts in Lebanon. Since there were no musicians available, he asked his friend Alain Lanty to accompany him on stage. This formula was repeated in Paris, at the Boule Noire in November. This is an underground venue near Pigalle, Paris, where he had not given a single concert for ten years.

Lavoine's seventh album, entitled "7ème ciel" (7th Heaven), was released in September 99. The singer enlisted the aid of his usual collaborators - Lanty, Jean-Pierre Lousteau and Richard Mortier - who helped him compose the musical arrangements, but Lavoine also ended up working with two absolute mega-stars on the French music scene: Jean-Jacques Goldman and Pascal Obispo. "Les Tournesols" was chosen as the first single release from "7ème ciel".

After having released four albums on the BMG label, Marc Lavoine signed a new contract with Mercury, a subsidiary of Universal. His eighth album, which did not have a title, came out in September 2001. Like the previous ones, it featured some duos with female singers. "Je ne veux qu’elle" (she is the only one I want) was recorded with actress Claire Keim, "J’ai tout oublié" (I’ve forgotten it all) with the Sicilian singer Christina Marocco, and, last but not least, "Chère amie" was sung with singer-song-writer Françoise Hardy.

Most of the tracks were penned and composed by such authors as Jean Fauque, Marc Esposito, Jimmy Kapler (aka Robert Goldman), Romano Musumara and Jacques Duvall. This long list of various collaborators did not however impede the coherence of the album. Lavoine was indeed able to endow the whole with a peculiar and rather ‘soft’ atmosphere, by using chords in a very sensitive manner. Besides the original tracks, it presented a few covers: a comical spoof of "Besame Mucho" that became "Mucho kiss me", an adaptation of "Moldau", the classical piece by the Slavic composer Smetana, entitled "I wish I had", and a new version of Appolinaire's poem "Le Pont Mirabeau". It was this last track that was chosen as the first single release from the album.

After notching up impressive sales figures of 300,000 copies of his latest album - and 600,000 copies of his chart-topping single "J'ai tout oublié"! - Marc Lavoine bowed to popular demand and returned to the live circuit. Fast approaching 40, but having lost none of his dark good looks and seductive charm, the singer proved a big hit when he took to the stage at the Théâtre de la Porte Saint Martin in Paris (14 - 25 May 2002). Lavoine's concerts, which included old favourites from his early days as well as more recent hits, attracted a massive turn-out of fans.

All in all, the tour took in 190 dates. A live album, entitled "Olympia deuxmilletrois", came out in June 2003.

At the same time, Lavoine continued with his acting career. His films included a role in Yvan Atal's "Ma femme est une actrice" (2001) and Bernie Bonvoisin "Blanche" in 2002. He also featured in Neil Jordan's international production "L'homme de la riviera", and in 2003 he played in Marc Esposito's "Le coeur des hommes", which was a box office hit in France.

Following these professional successes, the dashing fortysomething started work on a new album. It was entitled "L'heure d'été", and was released in June 2005. There are serious songs on it, but some with a lighter touch as well, although tinged with melancholy and a nostalgia for Lavoine's teenage years. He also uses retro eighties instrumentation, with synthesisers and other electronic effects, particularly on the first single, "Je me sens seul". On this album Daniel Darc and Frédéric Lô also composed a song for him, entitled "Ne m'en veux pas de t'en vouloir". Marc Lavoine has always been a fan of duets with female singers, and this album features a track where he sings with the young Vietnamese singer Quynh Anh.

On 15 November 2005, he performed at the Casino de Paris.

In 2006, Marc Lavoine starred in the film "Toute la beauté du monde" (all the beauty of the world), directed by Marc Esposito, with whom he was already friendly having appeared in Esposito’s 2007 film "Le Cœur des hommes 2" (the heart of men). That same year he became a Chevalier de la légion d’honneur, and his wife Sarah Poniatowski gave birth to Roman, their second child.

In 2009, Marc Lavoine starred in a number of films, including "Liberté", directed by Tony Gatlif, and "Celle que j’aime" (the one I love), by Elie Chouraqui. In August he released a new album based around acoustic guitars and very personal songs written between the death of his father and the birth of his son Roman. Recorded in a single take in Los Angeles,  "Volume 10" is about the passing time, love and solitude. The music was composed by Fabrice Aboulker and Christophe Cazenave (who also worked on Lavoine’s previous album), as well as Julien Clerc, Lulu Gainsbourg and Bertrand Burgalat, who each wrote a song for Lavoine.

Marc Lavoine began touring "Volume 10" in 2010, with concerts at his old haunt the Casino de Paris from the 19th to 31st January.

January 2010