Fabien Marsaud was born in Le Blanc-Mesnil, a suburb north of Paris, on 31 July 1977. But he grew up in a neighbouring suburb, Saint-Denis, where his father worked as a clerk at the local town hall. His mother was a librarian who encouraged her young son to read from an early age, but Fabien actually preferred records to books. He would spend many an afternoon going through his parents’ record collection, listening to French ‘chanson’ classics such as Barbara, Brassens and Renaud. But he was also a committed rap fan who soon succumbed to the prevailing influence of NTM (the star French rap group who came from his home Seine-Saint-Denis region).

Fabien, a tall lanky teenager, proved to have great talent on the basketball court. He actually envisaged a career in sport at one point, working towards becoming a P.E. teacher. But in July 1997, while he was working as an instructor at a children’s holiday camp, he suffered a serious accident after a bad dive into a pool. Fabien was rushed straight from the pool to the hospital but the accident left him partially paraplegic. He underwent a long and painful process of physiotherapy after his accident and eventually learnt to walk again, although to this day he still limps and walks with a stick.

In 2003, one of the friends Fabien had hung around with since his childhood days got him listening to slam, an urban poetry movement that had emerged in the U.S. some twenty years earlier. Blown away by what he heard, Fabien was inspired to start writing his own slam material and he went on to make his public debut in front of the microphone performing live at Le Théranga (an African bar in the 17^th arrondissement in Paris). Fabien wasted no time in finding himself an appropriate stage name: Grand Corps Malade (which roughly translates as ‘Tall Sick Body’). Working with the slam collective 129h, he began appearing at just about every slam night organised in Paris and the neighbouring suburbs. In 2004, he formed ‘Le Cercle des poètes sans instru’ and the following year he went on to set up an association called ‘Flow d’encre’ (Inkflow), organising writing workshops far and wide.

Fabien’s talent for wordplay and his impressive recital skills soon attracted him a growing fanbase. One fateful night in May 2005, the stand-up comedian Jean Rachid spotted him performing in a local bar. Rachid went on to listen to a series of demo tapes of Grand Corps Malade poems set to music and, impressed by what he heard, he promised to put his showbiz address book at the service of the young slammer. Thus it was that in September 2005, Grand Corps Malade took to the stage of the trendy Paris venue Le Réservoir, performing ‘a cappella’ in front of a carefully chosen celebrity audience. The show proved to be a major launchpad for his career. A few weeks later, Grand Corps Malade was invited to support the duo Mouss & Hakim (ex-Zebda) in concert in Paris. And at the start of 2006 he appeared as an opening act at shows by the comedian Elie Semoun and actor/comedian Edouard Baer.

In March 2006, Grand Corps Malade was supporting the comic double act Eric & Ramzy at the Olympia, in Paris, when his debut album, "Midi 20", hit record stores. Recorded on an extremely tight budget with a small group of musicians in just twelve days, "Midi 20" proved to be a surprise hit with the public. The album shot straight to number 8 in the official album charts the week of its release and went on to climb to number 3. Grand Corps Malade was catapulted into the public spotlight and French slam - which for many years had been a totally underground movement -  was suddenly catapulted onto the musical mainstream. Meanwhile, "Midi 20" went gold within a month of its release and ended up selling over 600,000 copies - an impressive feat for a debut album by a previous unknown!

Following the album release, Grand Corps Malade hit the live circuit with his backing musicians, playing two sold-out concerts at La Cigale, in Paris (on 15 and 16 May 2006). He went on to put in appearances at a number of major music festivals over the summer including Les Francofolies de La Rochelle and Le Paleo festival, in Nyons, Switzerland. And in October of that year he played nine dates at Le Bataclan, in Paris. Over the following eight months, Grand Corps Malade assured an intensive tour schedule, performing over 60 dates, including two performances at the Olympia, in Paris (on 9 and 10 February 2007) as well as shows in Belgium and Switzerland.

By the start of 2007, Grand Corps Malade had created quite a buzz. Fabien Marsaud’s newfound celebrity was confirmed at the 22nd edition of France’s ‘Victoires de la Musique’ awards. At the awards ceremony, organised in March of that year, the young slammer from Saint-Denis walked off with not one but two trophies, winning "Best Album by a New Talent" and "Best Live Show by a New Talent." Following this triumph, Grand Corps Malade went on to appear at a number of major music festivals including Les Vieillies Charrues, Solidays and Les Francofolies de Montréal. He returned to Paris in the autumn of 2007 to perform at Le Palais des Congrès (on 10 October).

Although Grand Corps Malade kept up an intensive live schedule following the release of "Midi 20", he still managed to find time to put in an appearance on various albums including the Georges Brassens tribute compilation "Putain de toi." The young slammer also guested on Dionysos’s "La Mécanique du Cœur", Rouda’s "Musique des lettres" and Ami Karim’s "Eclipse totale."

In March 2008, Grand Corps Malade released a second album, entitled "Enfant de la ville" (City Child). Recorded in Paris during the winter of 2007, this second album was produced by Feedback (who plays percussion with Grand Corps Malade live on stage). Working with his usual team of collaborators, Fabien Marsaud extended his ‘inner circle’ this time round, recruiting the services of a number of leading composers and musicians including Renaud’s pianist Alain Lanty and Thomas Fersen’s accordionist Alejandro Barcelona. On the track "A la recherche", he also invited rappers Oxmo Puccino and Kery James to join him at the mike. Grand Corps Malade kicked off another major French tour in April and is due to perform at the legendary Olympia, in Paris, on 22, 23 & 24 May 2008.

April 2008