Biography
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Born
14 October 1967 (age 56)
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Born In
Saint-Denis, Arrondissement of Saint-Denis, Reunion
Gérald De Palmas (born Gérald Gardrinier) is a French singer.
At the age of 10, De Palmas' family left Réunion, to live in Aix-en-Provence, France. At the age of 13, he discovered ska music, and became a fan of the UK band The Specials. Then he met Étienne Daho and formed a group called Les Max Valentins. But De Palmas was uncomfortable with this group, and went solo. After 7 years of writing and singing solo, Da Palmas won a talent contest on the French M6 TV network. In 1994, he released his first album La dernière Année (The Last Year), which contains the hit song Sur la Route (On the Road). He won a Victoires de la Musique award in 1996.
De Palmas released his second album Les Lois de la Nature (Laws of Nature) in 1997; during the same year his first child, Victor, was born. The album was less successful than his debut album, probably due to the dramatic change in his style. He was in the slumps for 2 and a half years, until 2000. That's when Jean-Jacques Goldman restored his confidence and wrote a song for him titled J'en rêve encore (I still dream about it).
De Palmas composed and wrote 10 of the 12 songs in his third album Marcher dans le sable (Walking in the sand). 2002 was the year he was reborn as a star, as he won the Victoires de la Musique and the NRJ Music Awards, while touring over 180 concerts. His songs even crossed the Atlantic, when Céline Dion sung his hit song Tomber (falling) in English, titled Ten Days. At the end of that year, Live 2002 was released on DVD and on CD, to commemorate his great tour of 2002.
Two years later, De Palmas returned with his fourth album Un homme sans racines (A man without roots), a more intimate album with less music, but still in the same melancholic style.
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