At the end of January, Grégoire returned to the stores with his new album “Vivre”, a record where the artist becomes more humanist than ever, evoking in particular the trials which have marked his life. For the general public, it is impossible to detach Grégoire from “Toi + Moi”, his first single which was one of the biggest hits of 2008. How was this song born, which has become a classic of French song? It all started with the death of his two brothers. “ At that time, I was tired of writing sad songs, about heartbreak, about absence… I wanted to write a happy song. I looked for a melody that held back and I wanted to start with a chorus, a song that was happy and made people want to get together » explains the singer in a new Face A format for Purecharts. This melody, which has become cult, came to him on “ a scooter » : « I never found a verse melody strong enough to move from one chorus to another, so I made a loop that went up in progression “.
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“A sign of destiny”
Grégoire recognizes it, he is “ very complicated to write a happy song without falling into clichés “. “ That’s why I say “I know, it’s true, my song is naive”, so as not to make it too light. But I know, it’s made for that! » he analyzes today, he who then had only one dream: “ Meet Jean-Jacques Goldman and work with him » : « The day I presented my demo to different record companies, I came across My Major Company, which is created by his son “. He sees there “ a sign of destiny » : « Asking people to judge me is the best thing for me because I make popular songs “. Even if it means sometimes creating a false rumor around the song: “ Many people thought that the song was written after knowing the principle of the site, but that’s not true it was written before “. He thus becomes the first artist to be produced by the general public!
For the clip that went viral (53 million views), Grégoire also invited all the producers of the record: “ We just put them in a room, we played the song for three minutes, they danced and we did it with 60 people “. And history does the rest. As soon as it was released as a single on June 30, 2008, “Toi + Moi” was a huge success throughout France. The title never reached the top of the traditional Top Singles, then squatted by Mylène Farmer (“Call my number”) and Johnny Hallyday (“It will never end”). But it stayed at first place on the Top Downloads chart for five weeks and sold more than 200,000 copies, becoming the best-selling digital song of 2008, ahead of Madcon’s “Beggin”, “New Soul ” by Yael Naïm or “Viva La Vida by Coldplay.
TO READ – Grégoire in interview: his new album, his relationship to success, the death of his brothers… Interview!
Which gives rise to a surreal scene behind the scenes of the NRJ Music Awards from 2009. There was a party in a suite at the Martinez. I am the best seller of the year in France, number one ahead Rihanna. There, JAY Z arrives and Thierry Chassagne, who was the director of Warner at the time, introduces us by saying “He’s the one who beat your foal” while talking about Rihanna. And he was with his wife Beyoncé. We took photos that I post from time to time on my networks » he recalls with humor. A crazy anecdote but one that proves to what extent Grégoire was a real star at the time. A success that he lives “ in a fairly simple way because it came gradually » : « People knew my song, people on the site knew me but hadn’t seen my face on TV every night. It happened little by little: a baker recognized me, then someone in the metro, then the metro became a little more complicated… I was really great thrilled “.
“The mother of all my songs”
For Grégoire, true consecration is when Jean-Jacques Goldman called his son Michael, then founder of My Major Company, to tell him: “ Grégoire’s song is great, we’ll take it for the opening of Les Enfoirés “. In the process, the album “Toi + moi” sold more than 1.2 million copies thanks to other successful singles like “Ta main” or “Rue desétoiles”. Thanks to the money donated by Internet users on My Major Company, the record brings in “ 20 times the stake of Internet users, knowing that there is one who put 6,000 euros “. For Grégoire, starting his career with such a big hit is “ awesome ” but sometimes ” a little bulky because it doesn’t necessarily leave room for all the others “. Today, he sees “You + Me” as “ the mother of all [s]the songs » : « This song opened the way, it allows me 20 years later to continue to make a living from my job “.
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