Grégory Lemarchal French Singer (1983–2007)

Early life

Grégory Lemarchal was born on 13 May 1983 in La Tronche, in the Isère department of France, and grew up near Chambéry. As a boy he liked basketball and football and even thought about a career in sports journalism, but music and rock 'n' roll dancing took over. At fourteen he won the national competition France Rock 'N' Roll. In 1999 he auditioned for the talent show Graines de stars, singing a Daniel Balavoine song alone and a Alain Souchon song in a trio. He did not win, though the appearance made him known locally.

Career

In May 2003 he took the male lead, Adam, in a musical called Adam and Eve, a touring production with sixteen actors and dancers. The following year he joined the fourth season of the television singing contest Star Academy on TF1. Producers needed one more male contestant, and he was put forward on a friend's recommendation. During the programme he sang with guests such as Yannick Noah, Michel Sardou, Patrick Bruel and the tenor Andrea Bocelli. On 22 December 2004 he was named the winner with about 80 percent of the vote against Lucie Bernardoni, the first man to win the series.

His first single, "Écris l'histoire", came out in March 2005. It reached number two on the French singles chart, stayed on it for 21 weeks and went platinum. His first album, Je deviens moi, entered the chart at number one and also went platinum. Further singles from it were "Je suis en vie", which reached the low twenties, and "À corps perdu", which received little radio play.

In May and June 2006 he gave his first solo tour, through France, Belgium and Switzerland, and a recording of the concerts was issued as Olympia 06. That year he also recorded the bilingual duet "Même si (What You're Made of)" with Lucie Silvas, the original performer. It debuted at number two in France and spent 26 weeks on the chart.

Lemarchal died on 30 April 2007, aged 23. The news dominated French headlines for a week, more than five thousand fans came to Chambéry on the day of his funeral, and a television tribute, "Grégory: La voix d'un ange", broadcast by TF1 on 4 May 2007, was watched by more than 10.5 million viewers.

His record company, Universal Music Group France, released the album La Voix d'un ange about six weeks later. Proceeds were directed to a charity set up in his name. The release topped the French album chart and the chart in French-speaking Belgium, and it was certified platinum for sales above one million copies in Europe. Its single "De temps en temps" went to number one in both France and French-speaking Belgium, his first top position there, and stayed in the French chart for 21 weeks. A third single, "Restons Amis", reached number nine. A live album, Les Pas d'un ange, also appeared in 2007, and in November 2009 the compilation Rêves, which gathered his hit singles and two unreleased songs, opened at number one in France. He is credited with total sales above two million albums.

Recognition

At the NRJ Music Awards in January 2006 he received the award for francophone newcomer of the year. After the success of "De temps en temps", he was posthumously given a Vincent Scotto Award.

His family founded the Association Grégory Lemarchal on 7 June 2007; it provides information, research funding and support to patients and families. In 2010 the Minor Planet Center published the official name of asteroid 213637 Lemarchal, chosen in his memory, with the citation dated 23 September 2010.