Louis Bertignac was born in Oran (Algeria) on 23 February 1954. When Louis was three years old his family left Oran, however, and returned to Paris, fleeing the climate of insurrection which was brewing in Algeria at the time. Thus it was that Louis and his younger sister grew up in Paris, roaming the streets of the capital's 12th arrondissement. After settling into life in Paris, Louis soon developed a passionate interest in music so his parents enrolled him in a classical guitar course. The first lesson proved to be a complete disaster, however - indeed, at the end of the lesson Louis declared he was bored stiff with classical guitar chords! Although he soon dropped out of the course completely, Louis was inspired to go off and buy a chord book, and the enthusiastic young guitar fan promptly set about teaching himself to play the instrument from scratch.

From the age of 13 Louis attended the Lycée Carnot in Paris, where he soon proved himself to be a talented, hard-working pupil and an excellent football player. Music remained his great passion in life, however, and when he was not on the football pitch, Louis would shut himself away in his bedroom, practising his guitar chords as he listened to his favourite groups. (His main heroes at this stage were The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin and The Beatles). Louis would soon start to think about forming his own group and in the early 70's he met up with Corine Marienneau and Richard Kolinka (two future members of the group Téléphone). Louis would also hear talk of a singer called Jean-Louis Aubert and the teenage Louis actually bumped into Aubert one day in a record store near his school. (Aubert was destined to become the fourth member of Téléphone).

However, it would take a few more years before the foundations of the legendary group Téléphone were actually laid. In the meantime, Louis concentrated on his studies and went on to pass his science 'baccalauréat' with flying colours. Louis also continued to spend all his spare time practising his guitar, and he soon became a veritable virtuoso on his chosen instrument. In 1974 Louis got his first major break in the music world when his new girlfriend Valérie Lagrange (a young French singer who had launched her singing career in the late 60's) introduced him to Jacques Higelin. Impressed by Louis's talent, Higelin invited him to become guitarist in his backing group. Louis jumped at the chance and the young guitarist went on to accompany Higelin on his 1975 tour (the famous "BBH 75" tour). He then joined the singer in the studio, playing on Higelin's seminal album "Irradié".

Seventies 

After gaining valuable stage and recording experience with Higelin, Louis Bertignac decided it was time to branch out and form his own group. Teaming up with his old friend Corinne Marienneau and another musician, Eric Levy, Bertignac created the trio Shakin'Street. The group went on to score a hit with French music critics, but failed to generate any commercial success and the trio ended by splitting up a few months later.

In 1976 Bertignac's career was kickstarted into action once again, however, when he got involved with his second group, Téléphone. Marienneau and Bertignac teamed up with their old schoolfriend Kolinka and singer Jean-Louis Aubert and the legendary French group Téléphone came into existence in November 1976. The four young Parisians exploded onto the French music scene on November 12th, in fact, performing a memorable concert at the American Center in Paris. Over the next few years Téléphone would go on to become France's leading rock group and Louis Bertignac quickly established a reputation as one of the hottest guitarists on the French music scene. After ten years spearheading the French rock movement, however, Téléphone were torn apart by internal conflicts.

Split

In April 1986, much to the general surprise and disappointment of French music fans, Téléphone announced that they were splitting up. Some blamed the split on battles between individual egos, others pointed to artistic differences. But, whatever the real reasons behind the split, the result was the same : Jean-Louis Aubert and Richard Kolinka went off to work on their own projects, while Louis Bertignac and Corine Marienneau set about forming a brand new group, Les Visiteurs.

Les Visiteurs went into the studio to record their début album in 1987. Full of crashing guitar chords and anger-fuelled lyrics, this album was a reflection of Bertignac's general state of mind in the immediate post-Téléphone period. Yet, in spite of the album's raging guitars and virulent lyrics, the track which was best remembered from this period was Bertignac's slow-verging-on-tender ballad "Ces idées-là". In 1990 Les Visiteurs returned to the studio to record a second album, "Rocks", but unfortunately, this album met with a rather lukewarm reception from fans and music critics. Basically, Les Visiteurs never managed to generate the same success as Téléphone, but nevertheless the group proved to be an important transitional phase for Louis Bertignac who went from being a simple guitarist to guitarist/singer. (And even though at this stage in Bertignac's career his voice lacked real range and power, Bertignac certainly appeared to be happier in this role).

The next logical step after Les Visiteurs was for Bertignac to start moving towards a solo career. And this is exactly what he did. After Les Visiteurs split in the early 90's, Corinne left the music world to work in theatre and Bertignac took a complete break, trekking around India and Nepal. When he returned to Paris, Bertignac went straight into the studio to begin work on his début solo album "Elle et Louis". Released in 1993, the album was recorded between Paris and New York with the renowned American producer Tony Visconti. "Elle and Louis" also featured guest backing vocals from French pop star Vanessa Paradis and a valuable contribution from the talented drummer Manu Katché. As for Bertignac, he went wild on the guitar, throwing himself body and soul into the raging guitar solos of "Vas-y guitare" body and soul. Unfortunately, the lyrics on the album (written by Olivier Lorsac) were not up to the same standard as the music - which may have been one of the reasons why French music fans largely bypassed Bertignac's new album.

Undeterred by the commercial failure of "Elle et Louis" Bertignac set off on a tour of the provinces in the spring of 93, performing simple acoustic concerts with a small group of backing musicians. On his return to Paris, the singer locked himself away in his home studio with his computer and his trusty guitar and set to work on his new album. While Bertignac was satisfied with the music he wrote for his new album, he was far from happy with the lyrics. So Bertignac's record company, Columbia, put him in contact with the top French songwriter Etienne Roda-Gil who agreed to collaborate on the album. When music and lyrics were finally in order, Bertignac flew out to New York to work with the renowned producer and sound engineer Chris Kimsey (famous for his work with, among others, The Rolling Stones).

96

Bertignac's new album, entitled simply "96" (a reference to the year of its release) found the artist returning to his rock roots and paying a loud and vibrant tribute to his favourite instrument, the guitar. The album was, in fact, standard Bertignac, but it sold well with the singer's fans. Following the release of "96" Bertignac set off on an extensive national tour, recording a double live album which was released in March 98. Bertignac gave his new live album an interesting modern touch, releasing it together with a CD-Rom (which presents virtual images of the singer's home studio as well as providing lyrics and guitar chords to his most famous songs).

Téléphone left their mark on an entire generation, and Louis Bertignac considered reforming the group. Unfortunately this never happened due to contractual difficulties. Nonetheless he continued with his artistic activities, producing albums for two artists he knew well, since he had been in relationships with them both: Corine (former Téléphone bass player) who released a self-titled album, and Carla Bruni, the former model who had decided to go into the music business. The albums came out in 2002, with Carla Bruni hitting the big time and selling 2 million copies. This success reignited Bertignac's career, and he asked Carla Bruni to write lyrics for his next album. At the same time, he contracted hepatitis C, which laid him low. He left for Nepal, a country he had always appreciated, to recover from the illness. In 2004, his first child Lola was born.

A new life

While Louis Bertignac was recovering from his health problems, his first solo album in nine years was released in February 2005, with the very apt title "Longtemps" (a long time). Ten of the twelve songs were written by Carla Bruni. The album found a balance between feminine sensibility and guitar hero antics, and let Bertignac display  his real talent. The first single from the album was "Je joue" (I play). More at ease on stage than ever, Bertignac took to the road on a tour of France, playing to a full house at the Européen in Paris on April 12.

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In the course of his long and turbulent career, Bertignac has established himself as one of the greatest French guitarists of all time. He may not have been particularly adventurous when it comes to experimenting with new musical directions - indeed, some would say that Bertignac never really broke out of his 'Rolling Stones' mode - but Louis Bertignac certainly remains France's favourite "guitar hero". 

June 2005