Benjamin Gérard Fabien Biolay (; born 20 January 1973) is a French singer, musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He is the brother of singer Coralie Clément—whose first three albums he wrote and produced—and the ex-husband of Chiara Mastroianni, the daughter of Catherine Deneuve and Marcello Mastroianni.
His low-key vocal style is somewhat similar to French pop star Étienne Daho. With the singer Keren Ann, whose first two albums he co-wrote and produced, he contributed several songs to Chambre avec Vue, the successful comeback album of singer Henri Salvador, and has since worked as a writer, arranger or producer for other icons of French music, including Juliette Gréco, Julien Clerc, Françoise Hardy, Vanessa Paradis and Nolwenn Leroy.
He wrote or performed most of the songs on the 2004 soundtrack to Clara et Moi by Arnaud Viard, and released the album Home with his wife the same year. After two more rock oriented albums in 2005 and 2007 he was dropped by his record company and began working on his first independent release, La Superbe, released on Naïve records in 2009. This was followed by the soundtrack album Pourquoi tu pleures in 2011 and Vengeance in 2012.
Personal life Benjamin was married to actress and singer Chiara Mastroianni from 2002 to 2005; they have a daughter, Anna, born 22 April 2003.
Discography
Albums Solo studio albums YearAlbumPeak positions FRA BEL (Fl) BEL (Wa) GER SPA SWI2001Rose Kennedy66–––––2003Négatif15–9–––2005À l'origine17–27–––2007Trash Yéyé11–23––722009La Superbe3–79897612011Pourquoi tu pleures?38–54–––2012Vengeance2956–42222015Trenet1917412–––2016Palermo Hollywood31076––172017Volver31291––122020Grand Prix11101––32022Saint-Clair1–1––72023À l'auditorium––19––902025Le disque bleu2–1––13
Joint albums YearAlbumPeak positions BEL (Wa) SWI2004Home (with Chiara Mastroianni)2698
Compilation albums YearAlbumPeak positions BEL (Wa)2011Best Of178
EPs YearEP title2001Benjamin Biolay Remix EP
Soundtracks YearAlbumPeak positions FR2004Clara et Moi163
Singles YearSinglePeak positionsAlbum FR BEL (Wa) BEL (Wa)Tip2008"Qu'est ce que ça peut faire?"––142010"La superbe"–38–"Si tu suis mon regard"––322011"Ton héritage"––28"Pas la forme"––252012"Aime mon amour"6039–"Profite"(feat. Vanessa Paradis)93–24"Ne regrette rien"(feat. Orelsan)157––2014"Ton héritage" (rerelease)80––"Pas besoin de permis" (with Vanessa Paradis)35––2016"Palermo Hollywood"161––2017"Roma (Amor)" (with Illya Kuryaki and the Valderramas)136––2018Paris Sur Mer (on Morcheeba's "Blaze Away" album)
Featured in YearSinglePeak positionsAlbum FR2003"L'hymne à l'amour" (Aznavour, Boulay, Eicher, Biolay, Macias, Maurane, Foly, Fontaine, Mami, Leroy, Pagny & Badi)50
Other charted songs YearSongPeak positionsAlbum FR2017"Retiens la nuit"80 On a tous quelque chose de Johnny
Selected filmography Year Title Role Notes 2008 Stella Stella's father Nominated—César Award for Best Supporting Actor 2010 The Pack The Spack's son 2013 Under the Rainbow Maxime Wolf 2014 The Easy Way Out Gérard 2015 The Lady in the Car with Glasses and a Gun Michel Caravaille2016 Encore heureux Antoine Faultless (Irréprochable) Gilles Fleur de tonnerre Mathieu Verron 2017 Number One Marc Ronsin 2017 Memoir of War 2019 Capitaine Marleau Philippe Louveau TV series (1 episode) 2019 Chambre 212 Richard Warrimer at 40 2020 The Eddy Franck Levy 2021 France Fred de Meurs 2022 The Line Julien Le Monde d'hier Didier Jansen Stella est amoureuse Serge Vlaminck Comme une actrice Antoine Un hiver en été Franck 2023 Rosalie Barcelin
Honours Officer of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (2010)
References
External links
Official website (in French) (in English) Official MySpace Benjamin Biolay discography
les insulaires ¤ non official message board (in french) Review of 'La Superbe' (English)