Still alive, still standing, and now sober and in love: it’s yet another rebirth for Renaud, who is preparing to marry his new partner nicknamed “Cerise”. A look back at the singer’s journey, peppered with successes and downfalls.
Renaud seems to have (again) gained the upper hand over Renard. For several months, Renaud Sechan, his full name, stopped drinking, started singing again, abandoned bar crawls for concerts (with the “Dans mes cordons” tour, 2023). A new rebirth that he owes to his meeting with the woman he nicknames “Cherry” and whom he is preparing to marry. A look back at the journey of ups and downs, successes and falls, love and divorces of the melancholy singer.
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When did Renaud start writing songs?
In May 1968, Renaud participated in the demonstrations and the occupation of the Sorbonne. Inspired by the singer Evariste, encountered in a Parisian university amphitheater, he wrote his first song, “Die bitch”, taken over by the students from the barricades. And he took a liking to it: he wrote two other songs of revolt, “CAL en Bourse” and “Ravachol” (which were never recorded). But when the movement ended, Renaud abandoned music.
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Renaud, in 1979
SIPA / © DUPONT CATHERINE/SIPA
What job did Renaud want to do before becoming a singer?
Renaud did not dream of being a singer, but rather actor. During the May 1968 movement, he also tried his hand at the stage, reciting Guy Bedos’ sketches in the amphitheaters of the Sorbonne. But it was after his meeting in 1971 with Patrick Dewaere, who brought him to the Café de la Gare where he played with Miou-Miou and Coluche replacing an actor who had gone to the United States, that he really considered a career of actor. Renaud takes acting classes, goes through castings, lands small roles in television series or films. But success is not really there.
So, in the mid-1970s, Renaud returned to music. With the accordionist Michel Ponce, he began to sing in the street, in the courtyards of buildings, near the Porte d’Orléans, first traditional songs, then his own texts. When he returns to the Café de la Gare, it is to sing his songs in the courtyard where spectators who have come to see Coluche are waiting. Noticed by producer Paul Lederman, he found himself in the opening act of the comedian’s show. Then two producers who offered to make a record.
Renaud at the Zenith in Paris, in 1984
GOUDENEICHE/SIPA / © GOUDENEICHE/SIPA
How did Renaud start the song?
“Lovers of Paname”, Renaud’s first LP, carried by the eminently political song “Hexagone”, was released in 1975 and met with minor success. He followed this up with a second album “Laisse concret”, in 1977, which allowed the committed singer to make himself known. However, he continued to dream of cinema and went through castings alongside studio recordings, without succeeding in landing big roles.
Renaud, in 1996
SOULOY FREDERIC/SIPA / © SOULOY FREDERIC/SIPA
“Ma gonzesse” (1979) and “Marche à l’ombre” (1980) sold well – 800,000 copies for the first, 625,000 for the second – but it was thanks to ” Morgan of you “, a less political, more sentimental album, sold nearly 1.5 million copies, which Renaud enjoys recognition. He has since had a string of hits, from “Mistral Gagnant” (1985) to “Manhattan-Kaboul” (2002), including “Merchant de Cailloux” (1991). Marked by success, Renaud’s career was also punctuated by periods of absence, due to his fight against his alcohol addiction and his numerous relapses.
Renaud at the Vieilles Charrues Festival, in 2003
SIPA / © MAISONNEUVE/SIPA
Does Renaud still drink?
Renaud has tried to stop drinking several times, has relapsed several times, has spoken several times about his demons in his songs, such as “Doctor Renaud, Mister Renard” (2002), “Arrester la clope” (2006), “Still standing” (2016) marking each of his rebirths. “I drink because I don’t feel good about myself, about my skin,” he said in an interview with “Serge” magazine in 2010. “I have psychoses, anxiety, difficulty living, a nostalgia for my childhood. And it gets worse with all these friends dying around me. It depresses me, I’m all alone in my bistro. So rather than ruminating on my thoughts, I have a little drink and it feels a little better. »
But from now on, he drinks Bitter San Pellegrino at the bistro. “ I gave up alcohol two and a half years ago “, Renaud told “Parisien” in April 2023, and added: “I stopped smoking just two months ago. » If he switched to electronic cigarettes, it was to try to protect his “a little hoarse” voice, to be able to continue concerts: “When I sing, it’s a little laborious. I’m finding it more and more difficult to sing. » A burst of will that he owes to his meeting with “Cerise”, whom he will soon marry.
Who was Renaud in a relationship with?
For almost 25 years, Dominique Quilichini was the “chick » by Renaud. When they met in 1975, she was already married to the actor Gérard Lanvin whom she left for the singer. They married in 1980, just days before the birth of their daughter Lolita. But Renaud’s alcoholism got the better of their relationship. Dominique Quilichini left him in 1999, without abandoning him: she never stopped helping and supporting him, particularly during his relapses.
Installed with his brother Thierry, above the Closerie des Lilas, after his divorce, Renaud met the singer Roman Serda in the Parisian brasserie at the beginning of 2000. For her, he agreed to stop drinking. They married in 2005 and had a son, Malonein 2006. But Renaud’s demons also got the better of their relationship: seeing that he was unable to stop drinking, Romane Serda filed for divorce in 2011.
Renaud and Romane Serda in Paris, in 2006
Guignebourg Denis/ABACA / © Guignebourg Denis/ABACA
“We have just divorced but I love him”, explained Romane Serda to “ Paris Match “, in October 2011. “I am full of tenderness for him, I will always be there for him, I told him, he knows it. But I no longer want a relationship where I’m in demand, waiting for a situation that doesn’t get better. » She didn’t lie, Romane Serda and Renaud remained close, even years after their divorce.
Who is Cerise, Renaud’s new companion?
For several months, Renaud has been in a relationship with Christina, a young woman 27 years his junior whom he nicknames “Cherry”. “His arrival in my life changed everything. I’m madly in love,” he confided to “ Parisian » in April 2023. And to explain: “She has followed me for 30 years, but we met for the first time six years ago, on a TV set. She wore cherry earrings, unforgettable! That’s why I call her Cerise. » It was in the show “Merci Renaud”, broadcast in 2016, on France 2.
“We met again on May 12, 2022, the day after my 70th birthday. She had asked for my contact to give me a gift. She is a seamstress and made me a shirt out of bandanas. It touched me, we talked, I invited her to have coffee at home in Paris, then to Provence, then on vacation to Cap Ferret,” he said. Since then, Renaud and Cerise have never left each other. They are due to get married in early May 2024.
Where do Renaud and Cerise live?
Since a few months, Renaud settled in Trentmoult, near Nantes, where Cerise is from. He bought “a house of all colors” in the former fishing village. “We live there with my sons-in-law, the cat Cajou,” he said to the “ Parisian » in December 2023. A quiet setting where the singer can take care of his health: “There, I stopped smoking eight months ago. And I’m in love. You have to ensure. I am happy. I love him, we are accomplices. It’s a strength, it carries me. »
Previously, Renaud lived in Isle-sur-la-Sorguein Vaucluse, in his uncle’s house that he bought in the 1980s and renovated in the early 2000s with his partner Romane Serda.
