Alan Stivell, whose real name is Alan Cochevelou, was born on January 6 1944 at Riom, Auvergne, France. His family, whose birthplace was Morbihan in Brittany, moved to Paris shortly afterwards. His father, Jord Cochevelou, was a civil servant in the French Ministry of Finance. His dream was to recreate a Celtic harp. After studying ancient documents, he reconstituted the long-forgotten instrument and gave the first prototype to his nine-year-old son Alan in 1953.

Alan thus learned the classical harp and the piano. He began classes with Denise Megevand in May 1953, helped by his father. He performed for the first time in November, before an audience at the Maison de la Bretagne, Paris, during a conference held by his professor to show the newly created Celtic harp. In 1955, he played 3 pieces in the introduction to the Line Renaud show at the Olympia in Paris.

In 1957, young Alan began seriously learning the Breton language. He also studied Celtic history, mythology and art, thus linking up with his ancestry. He also began playing the bombarde and the Breton bagpipes. He then joined the Bagad Bleimor (a traditional Breton music group), where he was the lead.

His first recording experience was in 1959, when he recorded a single. It was the following year, in fact, that his first real album came out. "Telenn Geltiek" was devoted to Celtic harp music.

His father built him another harp in 1964, a bardic one with bronze strings. Alan decided to launch into a new adventure, experimenting with modern music. In 1966, he started singing, performing in many clubs, festivals and Youth clubs (Maisons des Jeunes et de la Culture).

Two years later, he sang the opening part of the Moody Blues concert in London. It was in 1970, however, that the career of the singer now known as Alan Stivell began. His single, "Broceliande" came out in July under the Philips label, followed by a later album, "Reflets", and were his first hits. In the vanguard of the folk revival, Alan Stivell offered a version of Breton music which was resolutely modern and of the future, thus attracting a young public seeking assurance of their regional identity, while not becoming entrapped by it.

In 1971, Stivell brought out an album entitled "Renaissance de la Harpe Celtique", which was entirely instrumental, featuring traditional Celtic melodies and original compositions such as "Ys", a sort of precursor to the New Age. In 1972, he was acclaimed at his concert at the Olympia in Paris. With him were musicians such as Dan Ar Braz on electric guitar, Gabriel Yacoub (later known as Malicorne), and Michel Santangeli, a rock drummer. The live album recorded at this performance sold nearly one and a half million copies. Alan Stivell's growing success led purists to accuse him of making music just for the sales.

Alan Stivell established himself as a sort of modern bard travelling the world's highways and byways. In 1973, he embarked upon an extensive international tour, playing dates across the United States, Canada and England, where Melody Maker named his new album "Chemin de terre", Best Album of the Year. Recorded in the same vein as his previous album, "Chemin de terre" mixed traditional Celtic music with contemporary compositions.

After buying a house at Langonnet, Brittany, he recorded a far more intimate album there in 1974, "E Langonned". This interlude was sorely needed for him to show he was capable of developing another style. Yet when it came out, he went off on a series of concerts with his usual group of musicians, with electrical effect. Another live album, "E Dulenn", recorded in public at the National Stadium in Dublin, came out in 1975.

The following year, Alan Stivell brought out "Trema'n inis" ("to the island" in Breton) which was a collection of Breton poetry with his own and his father's musical arrangements (his father had died in 1974). This new experiment showed a new facet of Breton culture to his public. In 1977, it was Breton history that he highlighted, with his album "Raok Dilestra" ("Before landing"). The sixteen rock-influenced tracks on the album included a love song dedicated to his son, Ewan.

After a slightly quieter, more personal album in '78, "Un dewezh barzh ger" ("a day at home") and a live album in 1979, "Tro ar bed - International tour", mostly recorded in Germany, the famous "Symphonie Celtique" came out in 1979. A rock formation, a group of bombardes and bagpipes, a symphony orchestra, the Berber singer Djourha and the sitar music of Narendra Bataju were the stars of this great musical fresco. The symphony was played at the Inter Celtic Festival, Lorient, France, before an audience of 10,000.

Even though the decade began well for Alan Stivell, it was in fact a little less successful for him because the fashion for folk music began to fade, leaving the limelight to more electronic music. This did not prevent him from bringing out albums like "Terre des vivants" in 1981. That same year he gave a series of concerts at Bobino, Paris from 15 September to 11 October, then left on tour. In February in 1982 it was in the United States that he gave concerts, often to packed audiences like at the Beverly Theater, Los Angeles, or the Town Hall, New York.

After "Légende" in 83, the album "Harpe du Nouvel Age" came out in 85. This brought him an Indie Award, the American prize from the association of independent producers and distributors. The international career he had begun as a young singer, to publicise Celtic culture, thus bore its fruits. Indeed, it was this that allowed him to continue in the eighties. Apart from a few concerts in Paris in 1987, and a few dates here and there in France, Alan Stivell spent these years touring outside France, mostly the United States and Australia. In 1989, he participated in the recording of "Sensual World" by Kate Bush, the English singer.

His return to the French stage was in 1991, with a new album entitled "Mist of Avalon". This was confirmed two years later with "Again". Kate Bush, Shane Mac Gowan from the Irish group the Pogues, the Senegal singer Dudu Ndiaye Rose and the French singer Laurent Voulzy are also present on this album, with seventeen updated versions of his greatest successes since the seventies. The public immediately acclaimed the album and Stivell during his French tour, with two concerts at the Bataclan, Paris, in January 1994.

In 1995, Stivell brought out a new album, "Brian Boru", named after the great Irish chieftain who had vanquished the Vikings. The press was lyrical in its praise, judging it one of the Breton's best albums. It contained Celtic music standards and a few rock and roll touches. Martin Meissonnier, the French "Mr World Music", was the artistic director. On November 30th, Stivell performed at the Rennes Transmusicales, a rock festival if there ever was, and followed it with a French tour finishing in triumph with a concert at the Fete de l'Huma (French Communist Party get together in September at La Courneuve, Paris) with an audience of 60,000. The following year, he returned to the United States and Canada for a new series of concerts, one of which was at the Lincoln Center, New York, with an audience of 4,000.

Stepping up the rhythm at which his albums came out, Alan Stivell's offering in 1998 was a new venture in Celtic music. This nineteenth album, "1 Douar" ("One Earth"), featured songs with Youssou N'Dour, Khaled, Jim Kerr of the Scottish group Simple Minds, and Paddy Moloney of the Chieftains. Stivell has always tried to show that different styles or languages (Breton, English, Wolof, Arabic etc.) are the essential components of humanity and the album "1 Douar" demonstrated this to perfection.

Alan Stivell embarked upon another national tour in the autumn of '98, bringing the house down when he performed in Paris (on 8 and 9 December). Stivell also proved to be a big hit when he performed at Bercy stadium on 16 March 1999 at a huge Celtic music festival featuring a host of legendary French folk stars including Gilles Servat and the group Tri Yann. Stivell's ongoing success has opened doors for a whole generation of young French folk stars such as the group Armens.

Stivell re-emerged on the French music scene in April 2000, bringing out a new album entitled "Back to Breizh". At the ripe old age of 56, the French folk legend decided to add a new dimension to his music, introducing a touch of electro here and there. This new musical direction was encouraged by Franck Darcel, the producer of "Back to Breizh" (and ex-guitarist from the group Marquis de Sade who worked with Pascal Obispo in the early days of his career). Stivell went on to give a series of concerts in France in the spring of 2000 before heading off to the U.S. in the summer. Stivell made a comeback on the Paris music scene in January 2001, performing at La Cigale on January 25th and 26th. The Celtic legend introduced a new electro touch to his live show on this occasion.

In 2002, Alain Stivell went on to release "Au-delà des mots" (Beyond Words) - the 21st album of his career! The album, a purely instrumental work on which Stivell showed off his musical virtuosity playing six different harps, marked the fiftieth anniversary of  the Celtic harp revival. Fans would not see their idol out on the road again that year, however - Stivell's next tour was not due until 2003!

In June 2003, Stivell embarked upon a major international tour, marking the 50th anniversary of the revival of the Celtic harp. The tour continued well into 2004 with the Breton musician performing at major festivals such as "Celtic Connections" in Glasgow, Scotland, in January. Stivell also assured a run at La Cigale, Paris (19 - 21 March). The end of that year saw the simultaneous publication of a book "Telenn, la harpe bretonne" (co-written by Stivell and Jean-Noël Verdier) and a special CD/DVD boxed set, "Parcours", retracing the musician's career.

Stivell kept up his hectic live schedule in 2005, performing countless concerts across France and Europe between March and September of that year.

Fans had to wait a few more months before a new Stivell album arrived in record stores. "Explore", released on 17 March 2006, found the Breton star taking a break from purely instrumental works and bringing vocals to the fore, singing in English, French and Breton on songs which expressed more personal opinions and emotions than was his wont. "Explore" also flirted with contemporary electro beats, adding yet another dimension to Stivell's famous Celtic harps. 

April 2006