Jean-Michel Jarre
Birthday:
August 24, 1948 in Lyon, France
Birth Name:
Jean-Michel André Jarre
Height:
180 cm
Jean-Michel Jarre is a French composer, performer, music producer and designer. He is regarded as a pioneer in the electronic, synth-pop, ambient and New Age genres, as well as an organizer of spectacular outdoor events and concerts, which feature the latest and most innovative in lights, laser displays and fireworks as well as 3D animation and sou...
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Jean-Michel Jarre is a French composer, performer, music producer and designer. He is regarded as a pioneer in the electronic, synth-pop, ambient and New Age genres, as well as an organizer of spectacular outdoor events and concerts, which feature the latest and most innovative in lights, laser displays and fireworks as well as 3D animation and sound.Jarre has always been on the edge of innovation when it comes to his music and art which explains the many Guinness World Records for the largest outdoor concert audiences in the world, the ultimate one being when he played for an audience of 3,5 million, in Moscow. Having sold more than 70 million albums he remains one of the most successful entertainers in the world.Jarre's first mainstream success was the 1976 album Oxygene. It was recorded in a makeshift studio he had built in his home, the album went on to sell an estimated 12 million copies, and is the best-selling French record of all time. In 1979, Jarre performed to a record-breaking audience of more than a million people at the Place de la Concorde in Paris, this event set the stage for many more spectacular concerts and ultimately three more world records. Today, Jarre is as famous a performer as he is as a musician.By the time he released his third album "Magnetic Fields" in 1981 he was invited to be the first westerner to perform in the Peoples Republic of China. His concerts in Beijing and Shanghai made cultural history in China and were shared by over 500 million people via Chinese radio and television. The following year a double LP was released under the name "Concerts in China", a musical souvenir of the Chinese adventure.In 1983, Jarre provokes a stir when he decides to auction the unique copy of his new album "Music for Supermarkets" at a charity event (all the master tapes and the presses where destroyed by bailiff to guarantee that there was only one copy in existence). The album is still today one of the most desirable collector albums in the world.In 1986, Jean-Michel Jarre stages yet another memorable state-of-the-art concert in the USA when his collaboration with NASA and Houston City Hall turned the whole city into a spectacular once in a lifetime event for the pleasure of 1,3 million spectators earning him the second entrance to the Guinness Book of World Records.Jarre has always aspired to study and learn from different cultures and that is evident on his 1988 album "Revolutions", where he creates one of the first encounters of electronic music and the Arab world of instruments and sounds. That same year he also staged two sold-out concerts in London's Docklands, 250 000 tickets sold like lightning as the British, being among his most fervent supporters from day one, would not miss this event, including H.R.H. Princess Diana.In 1990, in the wake of the release of his 10th album, Jarre breaks his own record once again when 2.5 million fans show up at Paris-La-Défense to what was to be his most spectacular concert yet. In 1993, Jarre embarks on his Europe in Concert tour and becomes the first and only French artist to have played sold-out concerts in some of the biggest stadiums Europe has to offer. The following year, Jarre opens the brand new stadium in Hong Kong and brings some of his Chinese musical souvenirs back to China. Jarre has been a UNESCO Spokesperson and Goodwill Ambassador for more than 15 years and, in 1995, he staged his Concert for Tolerance at the Eiffel Tower in Paris under the high patronage of UNESCO. Always faithful, his audience counted 1.2 million. The same year, he was awarded the prestigious "Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur" by the French government.In 1997, Jarre released a long awaited sequel to his masterpiece Oxygene with Oxygen 7-13. The ensuing tour sold out 25 dates across Europe and Jarre was invited to stage a concert in Moscow celebrating the 850th anniversary of the city. This turned out to be his biggest concert yet and a new world record, as 3.5 million people came to witness and to share the unique "Jarre" experience and he made sure not to disappoint them when he introduced his special guests, the astronauts on-board MIR live on a video link direct from space.On December 31st 1999, Jean-Michel Jarre was commissioned by the Egyptian government to create and perform a historic Millennium concert, from sunset to sunrise, at the foot of the Great Pyramids near Cairo. He succeeds, during this concert, in catalyzing a realm of talent and instruments from different ages and civilizations; traditional Arabic, symphonic orchestra and electronic. An audience of 120 000 were privileged to share the event on-site, while over 2 billion people followed the concert on world television.In October 2004, Jarre returns to China for a historical concert in Beijing at the Meridian Gate of the Forbidden City and a performance on Tian'Anmen Square. An audience of over a billion people followed the events live on four CCTV channels, NHK Japan and French national TV.In 2006, Jarre once again manifests his role as UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador when he staged an amazing concert in the middle of the Sahara Desert at Merzouga, in Morocco, to promote the UN program "Water For Life". Over 60 of Morocco's finest musicians joined Jarre on stage.In 2009 - 2010, Jarre embarks on his first ever World Tour inviting the audience to journey into his singular universe; to immerse themselves totally in his world of timeless music and vision, in place and time. He promises with this unique and brand new super production to share the energy of his macro concerts with the emotions of an arena experience.With the fusion of analogue synthesizers, cutting-edge digital technology, oversize HD video projections, spectacular lasers design and lighting choreography, Jarre has conceived a show that encapsulates his signature expression and talent for creating milestone events. Show less «
I really didn't know my father well, because my parents separated when I was still very young. But my mother was a very important influence ...Show more »
I really didn't know my father well, because my parents separated when I was still very young. But my mother was a very important influence on me. She was an important figure in the French Resistance. I think she gave me a sense of tolerance and a sense of loyalty to your beliefs. When I was a child and even through my teens and as a young adult there was a profound anti-German feeling in France. My mother taught me the difference between Nazis and Germans, she taught me to never confuse a people with an idea. Show less «
Often what was described as avant-garde is 30, 40 years later considered to be classic. Stravinsky (Igor Stravinsky) was avant-garde, now he...Show more »
Often what was described as avant-garde is 30, 40 years later considered to be classic. Stravinsky (Igor Stravinsky) was avant-garde, now he is classic. But Stockhausen (Karlheinz Stockhausen) seems somehow stuck. I believe that this is due to their highly intellectual approach to music. The painting of Picasso (Pablo Picasso) was not purely an intellectual exercise, it was also immensely organic. But here's the important thing. The work of Stockhausen has never become classic in the way Picasso's work has. But his techniques, the innovations he and others of his generation introduced, became classic ways to work. The generations afterwards took those theories and turned them into something more obviously musical. I would never compare myself to these guys, but I have been influenced by their theory. Like The Beatles, like Pink Floyd, like The Chemical Brothers, like Daft Punk. We all owe so much to that heritage. Show less «
Is it too easy for the young to do what used to be so hard for me? My own view is that it's not so much difficulty that is important but rat...Show more »
Is it too easy for the young to do what used to be so hard for me? My own view is that it's not so much difficulty that is important but rather a framework - rules and boundaries which must be respected, but within which we are free. The thing is that these tools offer almost too much choice, they offer everything but with no boundaries. The tools are also the same the world over, they are easier to use in a practical sense, but harder because everyone uses them in oddly similar ways. Globalisation affects ideas too. Show less «
A man standing in front of a laptop is not very sexy. I think people expect a little more from a live show.
A man standing in front of a laptop is not very sexy. I think people expect a little more from a live show.
I made it to accompany the avant-garde art exhibition Supermarche. But I also wanted it to be an exhibit in its own right. It was made becau...Show more »
I made it to accompany the avant-garde art exhibition Supermarche. But I also wanted it to be an exhibit in its own right. It was made because of the advent of CDs and the terrible influence I correctly believed they would have on music. First, they were audibly inferior to vinyl. Second, the CD jewel case conspired to devalue the artefact by devaluing album artwork. Finally, CDs became marketed in supermarkets. Something you bought with your toothpaste and potatoes. I printed only one vinyl copy and then I auctioned it for charity. It fetched more than 70,000 Francs, making it the most collectable record of all time. I made my point. But we still have music in supermarkets and now we have MP3s, which are of an even worse quality than CDs. (On his 1983 album "Music For Supermarkets") Show less «
Coldplay is a definite sound, a definite world, whatever the sound is. They have almost a kind of scientific approach of emotions.
Coldplay is a definite sound, a definite world, whatever the sound is. They have almost a kind of scientific approach of emotions.
I think that it's a mistake when people think that an artist can renew himself. I think an artist has one thing to say.
I think that it's a mistake when people think that an artist can renew himself. I think an artist has one thing to say.
David [David Bowie] is really somebody who has major influence in so many fields as a multimedia artist, as a composer and also the work he ...Show more »
David [David Bowie] is really somebody who has major influence in so many fields as a multimedia artist, as a composer and also the work he did with Brian Eno was for obvious reasons quite close to my own field. Show less «
"Heroes" is a good mixture of what Bowie is: decadent, avant-garde, glam, popular, mysterious, obvious, all that.
"Heroes" is a good mixture of what Bowie is: decadent, avant-garde, glam, popular, mysterious, obvious, all that.
