Michel Fugain

Michel Fugain (French pronunciation: [miʃɛl fyɡɛ̃]; born 12 May 1942) is a French singer and composer. Fugain started composing after quitting medical school. He released his first album, Je n'aurai pas le temps, in 1967. The title track was later recorded in English by John Rowles as "If I Only Had Time". He formed a troupe of singers and dancers named Le Big Bazar in 1972. He has several hit songs in France, including "Une belle histoire," "Fais comme l’oiseau," "La Fête," "Bravo Monsieur le monde," "Les Acadiens," and "Le Printemps." He achieved success as a solo act, touring extensively and making regular appearances on radio and television shows dedicated to chanson and popular music between 1988 and 2002. His career went into a hiatus after the death of his daughter, but he resumed his career in 2005, and launched the project Pluribus in 2013.

Michel Fugain has sold ten million records over a fifty-year career. In 2025, he was awarded the rank of Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters.

Biography

Born in Grenoble, Isère, the son of doctor and resistance fighter Pierre Fugain, Michel Fugain grew up in the Isère countryside before studying at the Lycée Champollion in Grenoble. Passionate about New Wave cinema, he abandoned his medical studies to become a filmmaker in Paris. Starting in 1963, he became an assistant director to Jean-Michel Barjol, Guy Blanc, Yves Robert, and Jean Delannoy, and then took drama classes with Yves Furet. It was there that he met Michel Sardou, for whom he composed his first songs.