French rock is a form of rock music

Rock music

Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

 produced in France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, primarily in the French language

French language

French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

.

In the 1970s, France saw the arrival of Alan Stivell

Alan Stivell

Alan Stivell is a Breton musician and singer, recording artist and master of the celtic harp who from the early 1970s revived global interest in the Celtic harp and Celtic music as part of world music.- Background: learning Breton music and culture :Alan was born in the Auvergnat town of Riom...

's Breton

Breton people

The Bretons are an ethnic group located in the region of Brittany in France. They trace much of their heritage to groups of Brythonic speakers who emigrated from southwestern Great Britain in waves from the 3rd to 6th century into the Armorican peninsula, subsequently named Brittany after them.The...

 folk-rock as well as a wave of progressive rock

Progressive rock

Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...

 bands like Ange

Ange

Ange is a French progressive rock band formed in September 1969 by the Décamps brothers, Francis and Christian .-History:...

, Shylock, Magma

Magma (band)

Magma is a French progressive rock band founded in Paris in 1969 by classically trained drummer Christian Vander, who claimed as his inspiration a "vision of humanity's spiritual and ecological future" that profoundly disturbed him. In the course of their first album, the band tells the story of a...

, Eskaton

Eskaton

Eskaton is a defunct vanity record label created by Coil, exclusively for albums put out by the group and their friends. Its brother labels are Threshold House and Chalice....

, Atoll

Atoll (band)

Atoll is a French progressive rock band.-Discography:* 1974 : Musiciens Magiciens* 1975 : L'Araignée-Mal* 1977 : Tertio* 1979 : Rock Puzzle* 1989 : L'Océan* 1990 : Tokyo, C'est Fini * 2003 : Illian - J'entends Gronder La Terre...

 and Pulsar

Pulsar (band)

Pulsar is a French progressive rock band whose influences include Pink Floyd and King Crimson, plus classical musicians such as Gustav Mahler.During the early 1980s, the group performed and composed the music for a Franco‑Austrian musical theatre production...

. French punk rock

Punk rock

Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...

 also appeared, including bands like Stinky Toys

Stinky toys

Stinky Toys were a punk band from Rennes, France which started in 1976 and featured Elli Medeiros , Denis Quilliard, alias Jacno, , Bruno Carone , Albin Dériat , and Hervé Zénouda ....

, Oberkampf

Oberkampf (band)

Oberkampf were a French punk rock band formed in 1979 by Joe Hell , Pat Kebra , Buck-Dali and Dominik Descoubes . Following the release of their first independent single "Couleurs Sur Paris" in February 1981, Oberkampf signed to Virgin records. They went on to record an album in 1982, followed by...

 and Métal Urbain

Métal Urbain

Métal Urbain was one of the first French punk groups, formed in 1976 in Paris.-Career:They were heavily influenced by The Clash and The Sex Pistols on one hand, and on the other by an electro approach related to "Metal Machine Music" by Lou Reed...

. It was during this period that a few other variety music artists - Catherine Ribeiro

Catherine Ribeiro

Catherine Ribeiro is a French singer. Born in Lyon in 1941, she is an experimental folk and avant garde performer. She released several albums in the late 1960s and early 1970s, including Catherine Ribeiro & 2Bis 1969, N.2 in 1970, Paix in 1972 and has continued to perform and release records ever...

, Jacques Higelin

Jacques Higelin

Jacques Joseph Victor Higelin is a French pop singer who rose to prominence in the early 1970s. Early in his career, many of Higelin's songs were effectively blacklisted from French radio because of his controversial left wing political beliefs, and his association with socialist groups...

, Bernard Lavilliers

Bernard Lavilliers

Bernard Lavilliers is a French singer.He was born Bernard Oulion in Saint-Étienne, Loire.The band Fatals Picards wrote a song Bernard Lavilliers, satirizing Lavilliers' image as a former adventurer.-Discography:...

 and others - flirted with rock, but without completely changing over.

Things changed course in the 1980s. The changing of the political culture was accompanied by an explosion in youth culture. This helped the emergence of a distinct French rock that could match the lucrativeness of American and British rock music. At this time, French progressive rock was peaking, with the bands Dün

Dün (band)

Dün was a French progressive rock band, active from 1978 to 1981, during which they played shows with Magma, Art Zoyd, Etron Fou Leloublan, and almost became a part of the short-lived Rock in Opposition grouping of bands in Europe...

, Terpandre and Emeraude achieving the most success. Téléphone

Téléphone

Téléphone was a French rock band formed in 1976 by Jean-Louis Aubert , Louis Bertignac , Corine Marienneau and Richard Kolinka ....

 (pub rock

Pub rock (UK)

Pub rock was a rock music genre that developed in the mid 1970s in the United Kingdom. A back-to-basics movement, pub rock was a reaction against progressive and glam rock. Although short-lived, pub rock was notable for rejecting stadium venues and for returning live rock to the small pubs and...

), and La Muerte (psychobilly

Psychobilly

Psychobilly is a fusion genre of rock music that mixes elements of punk rock, rockabilly, and other genres. It is one of several subgenres of rockabilly which also include thrashabilly, trashabilly, punkabilly, surfabilly and gothabilly...

) also took French rock to new levels.

In the following lists, artists and groups are classified by their decade of origin, even if their career spans multiple decades, or if they took time to become famous.

1960s

• Frank Alamo
• Richard Anthony
  Richard Anthony
  Richard Sidney Anthony was an Irish politician. A Linotype operator by profession, Anthony stood unsuccessfully for election at the 1923 general election. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann as an Labour Party Teachta Dála for the Cork Borough constituency at the June 1927 general election. He...
  
  
• Ronnie Bird
  Ronnie Bird
  Ronnie Bird, born Ronald Méhu, is a French singer born in Boulogne-sur-Seine on the 24 April 1946. As a student, he attended lycée Claude Bernard until he had an argument with a teach. He debuted his recording career in 1964 with Decca, with the title track Adieu à un ami, which was a homage to...
  
  
• Danny Boy et ses Pénitents
  Danny Boy et ses Pénitents
  Danny Boy et ses Pénitents is a French rock'n'roll, twist and beat band of the 1960s whose singer was Danny Boy, real name Claude Piron, born on 25 January 1936 in Saint-Pierre-de-Cormeilles . The four musicians who accompanied Danny Boy were wearing a balaclava.Claude Piron can be considered one...
  
  
• Les Chats sauvages
  Les Chats sauvages
  Les Chats Sauvages was a French rock and roll band, that was formed in 1961. Together with Les Chaussettes Noires, they were among the first outfits to perform rock and roll music in France.-Career:...
  
  
• Les Chaussettes noires
  Les Chaussettes Noires
  Les Chaussettes Noires were a French rock and roll band founded in 1960, that was among the pioneer of rock music in France, together with Les Chats sauvages....
  
  
• Serge Gainsbourg
  Serge Gainsbourg
  Serge Gainsbourg, born Lucien Ginsburg was a French singer-songwriter, actor and director. Gainsbourg's extremely varied musical style and individuality make him difficult to categorize...
  
  
• Danyel Gérard
  Danyel Gérard
  Danyel Gérard is a French pop singer and composer.Gérard was born in Paris to an Armenian father and an Italian mother, but grew up mainly in Rio de Janeiro. In 1953 he returned again to Paris and became a choir boy at Notre Dame. Following this he played in the rock and roll band The Dangers...
  
  
• Johnny Hallyday
  Johnny Hallyday
  Johnny Hallyday is a French singer and actor. An icon in the French-speaking world since the beginning of his career, he was considered by some to have been the French Elvis Presley. He was married for 15 years to one of the most popular French female singers: Sylvie Vartan...
  
  
• Françoise Hardy
  Françoise Hardy
  Françoise Madeleine Hardy is a French singer, actress and astrologer. Hardy is an iconic figure in fashion, music and style. She is married to the singer and movie actor Jacques Dutronc.-Biography:...
  
  
• Dany Logan et Les Pirates
• Gérard Manset
  Gérard Manset
  Gérard Manset is a French singer-songwriter, painter, photographer and writer, most well known for his musical work.Since 1972, the covers of his albums state his name as simply "Manset"...
  
  
• Jean-Pierre Massiera
• Eddy Mitchell
  Eddy Mitchell
  Eddy Mitchell is a French singer and actor. He began his career in the late 1950s, with the group Les Chaussettes Noires , taking his name from the American expatriate tough-guy actor Eddie Constantine...
  
  
• Dick Rivers
  Dick Rivers
  Dick Rivers is a French singer and actor who has been performing since the early 1960s. He was an important figure in introducing rock and roll music in France. He is known for being an admirer of Elvis Presley, who highly influenced both his singing and looks...
  
  
• Sylvie Vartan
  Sylvie Vartan
  Sylvie Vartan is a French singer. She was one of the first rock girls in France. Vartan was the most productive and active of the yé-yé style artists, considered as the toughest-sounding of those. Her performance often featured elaborate show-dance choreography. She made many appearances on French...
  
  

Before punk

• Alpes (with Catherine Ribeiro
  Catherine Ribeiro
  Catherine Ribeiro is a French singer. Born in Lyon in 1941, she is an experimental folk and avant garde performer. She released several albums in the late 1960s and early 1970s, including Catherine Ribeiro & 2Bis 1969, N.2 in 1970, Paix in 1972 and has continued to perform and release records ever...
  
  )
• Ame Son
  Ame Son
  Ame Son was a progressive rock band from France. They are notable for being featured on the Nurse With Wound list. Members of Ame Son also were in the band Red Noise and Komintern....
  
  
• Ange
  Ange
  Ange is a French progressive rock band formed in September 1969 by the Décamps brothers, Francis and Christian .-History:...
  
  
• Alice
• Art Zoyd
  Art Zoyd
  Art Zoyd is a French band formed in 1968, mixing free jazz, progressive rock and avant-garde electronica.Like other members of the Rock in Opposition movement, Art Zoyd fuses progressive rock and jazz with contemporary classical music. Like fellow RIO member Univers Zéro, they are also influenced...
  
  
• Atoll
  Atoll (band)
  Atoll is a French progressive rock band.-Discography:* 1974 : Musiciens Magiciens* 1975 : L'Araignée-Mal* 1977 : Tertio* 1979 : Rock Puzzle* 1989 : L'Océan* 1990 : Tokyo, C'est Fini * 2003 : Illian - J'entends Gronder La Terre...
  
  
• Au Bonheur des Dames
  Au Bonheur des Dames (band)
  This article is about the band. For the novel, see Au Bonheur des Dames.Au Bonheur des Dames is a group of french rock from the 1970s led by Ramon Pipin...
  
  
• Alain Bashung
  Alain Bashung
  Alain Bashung was a French singer, songwriter and actor.- Youth :Alain Bashung was the son of a Breton factory worker and French Kabyle father, whom he never knew. His mother remarried, and at the age of one, Bashung was sent to Strasbourg to live with his new stepfather's parents...
  
  
• Catharsis
• Chico Magnetic band
• Contrepoint
• Crouille Marteau
• Dynastie Crisis
• Ergo Sum
• Etron Fou Leloublan
  Etron Fou Leloublan
  Etron Fou Leloublan, also known as EFL, were a French avant-rock band founded in 1973 by actor and saxophonist Chris Chanet. They recorded five studio albums between 1976 and 1985, and released a live album, En Public Aux Etats-Unis d'Amérique recorded during a tour of the United States in 1979...
  
  
• Fille Qui Mousse
• Forgas
• Dashiell Hedayat (aka Jack-Alain Léger)
• Gong
  Gong (band)
  Gong is a Franco-British progressive/psychedelic rock band formed by Australian musician Daevid Allen. Their music has also been described as space rock. Other notable band members include Allan Holdsworth, Tim Blake, Didier Malherbe, Pip Pyle, Gilli Smyth, Steve Hillage, Francis Moze, Mike Howlett...
  
  
• Heldon
  Heldon
  Heldon is a French electronic rock band created in 1974. The name of the band was taken from the 1972 novel The Iron Dream by Norman Spinrad....
  
  
• Jacques Higelin
  Jacques Higelin
  Jacques Joseph Victor Higelin is a French pop singer who rose to prominence in the early 1970s. Early in his career, many of Higelin's songs were effectively blacklisted from French radio because of his controversial left wing political beliefs, and his association with socialist groups...
  
  
• Horde Catalytique Pour La Fin
• Komintern
• Lard Free
• Mahjun
• Magma
  Magma (band)
  Magma is a French progressive rock band founded in Paris in 1969 by classically trained drummer Christian Vander, who claimed as his inspiration a "vision of humanity's spiritual and ecological future" that profoundly disturbed him. In the course of their first album, the band tells the story of a...
  
  
• Albert Marcoeur
• Martin Circus
• Mona Lisa
• Mozaïc
  Mozaic
  Mozaic is a two-player abstract strategy board game, played with glass gemstones, using luck of the draw, placement and points accumulation. In the latter stages of play, a second tier within the game becomes apparent, demanding a change of tactics....
  
  
• Potemkine
• Pulsar
  Pulsar (band)
  Pulsar is a French progressive rock band whose influences include Pink Floyd and King Crimson, plus classical musicians such as Gustav Mahler.During the early 1980s, the group performed and composed the music for a Franco‑Austrian musical theatre production...
  
  
• Red Noise
• Rhésus O
• Trans Europe Express
• Triangle
• Variations
• Volcania
• Verto
• Wapassou
• Xalph
• ZNR

After punk

• Asphalt Jungle
• Bijou
• Dogs
• Little Bob
• Marie et les Garçons
  Marie et les Garçons
  Marie et les Garçons were a French new wave band formed in Lyon in 1976. After Marie Girard left, the remaining members continued as Garçons.-History:...
  
  
• Métal Urbain
  Métal Urbain
  Métal Urbain was one of the first French punk groups, formed in 1976 in Paris.-Career:They were heavily influenced by The Clash and The Sex Pistols on one hand, and on the other by an electro approach related to "Metal Machine Music" by Lou Reed...
  
  
• Starshooter
• Stinky Toys
  Stinky toys
  Stinky Toys were a punk band from Rennes, France which started in 1976 and featured Elli Medeiros , Denis Quilliard, alias Jacno, , Bruno Carone , Albin Dériat , and Hervé Zénouda ....
  
  
• Les Playboys

1980s

• Banlieue Rouge
  Banlieue Rouge
  Banlieue Rouge was a punk band from Montreal, Quebec active through the early to mid 1990s. They disbanded in 1999.Banlieue Rouge was formed in 1989 in Longueuil, a Montreal suburb. Heavily influenced by French punk rock bands such as Bérurier Noir, they started with a drum machine, which was...
  
  
• Bérurier Noir
  Bérurier Noir
  Bérurier noir is a French punk band formed in Paris in 1983 by Loran , François and Dédé . They called themselves "noir" for the color of mourning and for anarchy and "Bérurier" after the character from the novels of Frédéric Dard...
  
  
• Café Noir
• Charlélie Couture
  Charlélie Couture
  Charlélie Couture is a French musician and multi-disciplinary artist, who has recorded over 25 albums and 17 film soundtracks, and has held a number of exhibitions of paintings and photographs...
  
  
• Charlotte Gainsbourg
  Charlotte Gainsbourg
  Charlotte Lucy Gainsbourg is an Anglo-French actress and singer. After releasing an album with her father at the age of fifteen, more than twenty years passed before she released two albums as an adult to commercial and critical success...
  
  
• Dirty District
  Dirty District
  Dirty District is a French Fusion band, formed in 1985. They were one of the first French bands to attempt Fusion rock.-Early years:The band originally formed in Sèvres, France under the name of Great Gangsters From The Dirty District...
  
  
• Edith Nylon
  Edith Nylon
  Edith Nylon is a French rock band that was active from the end of the 1970s to the beginning of the 1980s.Certainly a part of the Punk movement, Edith Nylon was a precursor to New Wave music and Les Rita Mitsouko. Edith Nylon obtained a certain level of success in its time and even opened for The...
  
  
• Etienne Daho
  Étienne Daho
  Étienne Daho is a French singer, songwriter and record producer who has released a number of synth-driven and rock-surf influenced pop hit singles since 1981.- Career :...
  
  
• Gill Dougherty
  Gill Dougherty
  Gill Dougherty is a French singer and song writer, heavily influenced by 70s and 80s rock, who was born April 1961 in Toulouse.At the end of the seventies, punk rock was sweeping through France and he found inspiration with The Jam, The Clash, Sex Pistols, The B-52's, and The Ramones In France, he...
  
  
• Garçons Bouchers
• Indochine
  Indochine (band)
  Indochine is a French new wave/rock band, formed in 1981. The band was very successful in France in the 1980s, as well as other parts of continental Europe and Latin America, with songs like L'Aventurier and Canary Bay...
  
  
• Lili Drop
• Ludwig von 88
  Ludwig von 88
  Ludwig von 88 is a French punk rock and alternative rock band mostly active in the 1980s and 1990s, and which gained an important success in the underground scene of its country. The band has not released any new material since 2001, but has not disbanded and is thus officially still active...
  
  
• Mano Negra
  Mano Negra
  Mano Negra was a music band in France, during 1987–1995, fronted by Manu Chao.The band, founded in 1987 by Chao, his brother Antoine, and his cousin Santiago Casariego in Paris, France, was very influential in Europe during the early 1990s. Although it reached mainstream success in countries...
  
  
• Noir Désir
  Noir Désir
  Noir Désir was a French rock band from Bordeaux. They were active during the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s, and have had two albums certified double platinum in France and three certified gold. They have been an influence on numerous French musicians including Cali, Louise Attaque and Miossec...
  
  
• Pigalle
• Les Rita Mitsouko
  Les Rita Mitsouko
  Les Rita Mitsouko was a French pop rock group formed by guitarist Fred Chichin and singer Catherine Ringer. The duo first performed as Rita Mitsouko at Gibus Club, Paris in 1980...
  
  
• Taxi Girl
  Taxi Girl
  Taxi Girl were a French New Wave band, adopting the New Romantic aesthetics of the time, such as clashing red and black clothing, synthesiser-led songs, and taking influence from mythology and literature. The group existed between 1978 and 1986, producing 5 mini-albums, and one full-length album,...
  
  
• Téléphone
  Téléphone
  Téléphone was a French rock band formed in 1976 by Jean-Louis Aubert , Louis Bertignac , Corine Marienneau and Richard Kolinka ....
  
  
• Têtes Raides
• Les Thugs
  Les Thugs
  Les Thugs are a punk band from France. The band were formed in 1983 with five members and were soon reduced to four in the same year: Eric Sourice on guitar and lead vocals, Thierry Meanard on guitar, Christophe Sourice on drums, and Gerald Chabaud on bass up until 1983. Chabaud was replaced by...
  
  
• Trust
  Trust (band)
  Trust is a French rock band closely associated with both AC/DC and the New Wave of British Heavy Metal.-History:Trust was founded in 1977 by:* Bernard "Bernie" Bonvoisin * Norbert "Nono" Krief...
  
  
• Raoul Petite
• Les Wampas
  Les Wampas
  Les Wampas are a French punk rock/psychobilly band, who refer more exactly to their music as "Yé-yé-punk". The band was formed in Paris in 1983.-Les Wampas vous aiment:...
  
  

1990s

• Air (French band)
• Aston Villa
  Aston Villa (band)
  Aston Villa are a French musical group, named after the football club.-Singles:*Regarde moi - 2005*Invincible - 2002*Le chien -2002*Raisonne - 2001*Raisonne - 2001*Si les anges - 2001- External links :...
  
  
• Autour de Lucie
  Autour de Lucie
  Autour de Lucie is a French pop rock band, consisting of vocalist Valérie Leulliot, guitarist Olivier Durand and bassist Fabrice Dumont. Their albums are released in France on Le Village Vert, and in North America on Nettwerk....
  
  
• Daft Punk
  Daft Punk
  Daft Punk are an electronic music duo consisting of French musicians Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter . Daft Punk reached significant popularity in the late 1990s house movement in France and met with continued success in the years following, combining elements of house with synthpop...
  
  
• Daisybox
• Dionysos
  Dionysos (French band)
  Dionysos is a French rock band formed in 1993 in Valence, Drôme; they formed at their lycée. They perform songs in both French and English, and have released six studio albums. They are well known in France for their surrealism and eccentricity....
  
  
• Dolly
  Dolly
  Dolly may refer to one of the following:*Camera dolly, platform that enables a movie or video camera to move during shots*Dolly , a portable anvil*Dolly , for towing behind a vehicle...
  
  
• Eiffel
  Eiffel (band)
  Eiffel is a French rock group founded in 1998 around Romain Humeau.Their influences range from the Pixies to Léo Ferré, encompassing Jacques Brel, Sonic Youth, Serge Gainsbourg, The Buzzcocks, Noir Désir, the Stooges, David Bowie, Sixteen Horsepower the Kinks, the Beatles, Tears For Fears, Fugazi,...
  
  
• Elmer Food Beat
• FFF
• Freedom for King Kong
  Freedom For King Kong
  Freedom For King Kong is a fusion band, formed in 1994 in Lorient, France. The band members are African born Bring's , Ton , Bubu and Ben and Djey...
  
  
• Les Ogres de Barback
• Lofofora
  Lofofora
  Lofofora is a French metal band from Paris. They write songs of protest and denounce some of the failings of the French society. For example, the problems in the underdeveloped outskirts, the hypocrisy of the politics of the French extreme right leagues. Among their titles are "Buvez du cul" and...
  
  
• Louise Attaque
  Louise Attaque
  Louise Attaque is a French chanson/folk rock group founded in 1994. Several of the group's albums were produced by Gordon Gano, lead singer of The Violent Femmes, a band whom Louise Attaque often cites as an influence and for whom their own band is named....
  
  
• Matthieu Chedid
  Matthieu Chedid
  Matthieu Chedid is a French rock singer-songwriter and guitar player.-Biography:...
  
   also known as simply -M-
• Marcel et son Orchestre
• Matmatah
  Matmatah
  thumb|240pxMatmatah were a popular French rock band. Their popularity also extends to India, where they have played in many rock shows in Mumbai , Pondicherry and Chennai .-History:...
  
  
• Mass Hysteria
  Mass Hysteria (band)
  - History :Created in 1993, the band recorded their first album, Le Bien-être et la Paix , only four years later. After this album, Mass Hysteria gained an important audience for their kind of music in France.In the media, Mass Hysteria is known for some controversies and...
  
  
• Mickey 3D
  Mickey 3D
  Mickey 3D is a French rock group from Montbrison that was founded in 1997 when Mickaël Furnon alias Mickey and Aurélien Joanin alias Jojo parted from the local group 3Dk. They were supported by the group Louise Attaque, which had them play before their concerts. In 1999 they recorded their first...
  
  
• Noir Désir
  Noir Désir
  Noir Désir was a French rock band from Bordeaux. They were active during the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s, and have had two albums certified double platinum in France and three certified gold. They have been an influence on numerous French musicians including Cali, Louise Attaque and Miossec...
  
  
• No one is innocent
  No One Is Innocent
  "No One Is Innocent" was the fifth single by the British punk rock band Sex Pistols. It was released on 30 June 1978. The Sex Pistols had split up early in 1978, losing bassist Sid Vicious and original lead vocalist Johnny Rotten...
  
  
• Nuit-blanches
• The Needs
  The Needs
  Special Needs are a five-piece alternative rock group formed in London, England in 1998, disbanded in 2005 and reformed in 2011...
  
  
• Red Cardell
  Red Cardell
  Red Cardell are a Breton Rock band formed in 1992. Its members include Jean-Pierre Riou, as singer and guitarist, Jean-Michel Moal on the accordion, Manu Masko on Drums, and since spring 2011, Mathieu Péquériau on Harmonica.-Biography:...
  
  
• Rinôçérôse
  Rinôçérôse
  Rinôçérôse is a French band founded by Jean-Philippe Freu and Patrice Carrié that mixes rock music and electronic dance music. The duo of musicians also work as psychologists, calling themselves, "Psychologists by day, musicians by night". They compose music in English, French, and German...
  
  
• La Rue Kétanou
  La Rue Kétanou
  La Rue Kétanou is a French music between chanson and folk rock group with mixed elements of reggae music, bohemian style of life, theatre, poetry and humor...
  
  
• Les Satellites
  Les Satellites
  Les Satellites is a French alternative rock band that was formed in 1985 and split up in 1994.-History:The band was born in late 1985 on the ashes of underground acts Tonton est mort and Abject. They play a mix of 60’s influenced rock and funk with the addition of brass instruments. The lyrics are...
  
  
• Weepers Circus
  Weepers Circus
  Weepers Circus is a French musical group founded in 1988 by Franck George and Eric Kaija Guerrier.In October 1988 – in a secondary school in Strasbourg – Franck George and Eric K.Guerrier meet. So begins the musical adventure of the aforementioned Weepers Circus, "the circus of those who shed...
  
  
• Yan et les Abeilles

2000s

• 10 Rue d'la Madeleine
• AaRON
  AaRON
  AaRON ' is a French pop rock musical duo, consisting of Simon Buret and Olivier Coursier. Their debut album Artificial Animals Riding On Neverland was released in 2007 and made them popular in France and Europe...
  
  
• AqME
  AqME
  Aqme is a French hard rock /metal originating from Paris consisting of four band members. The band was part of the French nu metal movement, called "Team Nowhere", but they eventually split up with the Team in order to have more independence.-Biography:Aqme was created in the end of 1999 after the...
  
  
• Asyl
• AS Dragon
• Babylon Circus
  Babylon Circus
  Babylon Circus is a ten piece ska and reggae group founded in 1995 in Lyon, France. Since forming, they have released four full - length albums and one EP. They have played over 1000 shows throughout Europe, and have toured as far as Syria and Australia....
  
  
• The Black Noodle Project
• The Blueberries
• BB Brunes
  BB Brunes
  BB Brunes is a French pop rock band, part of the "new French rock scene" .In 2000, Adrien Gallo, Karim Réveillé and Raphaël Delorme, childhood friends, formed the band "Hangover" with songs exclusively in English. Some years later, Raphaël left the band at the moment when they were signing their...
  
  
• Boxon
• Café Bertrand
• Dahlia
• Debout Sur Le Zinc
  Debout Sur Le Zinc
  Debout Sur Le Zinc is a French music band.After their first 1999 self-titled album, their subsequent album L’homme à tue-tête released in May 2001 gained them media acclaim and public popularity. By the time their 2004 album Des singes et les moutons enhanced their repertoire, they were selling out...
  
  
• Déportivo
  Déportivo
  -About the band:There are three members in the band:* Jérôme Coudane — guitar, vocals* Richard Magnac — bass* Julien Bonnet — drumsThe trio mainly composes songs in French, though it has written several in English as well. Personal topics dominate....
  
  
• devianz
  Devianz
  - Biography :* September 2004: creation of Devianz by Guyom Pavesi, Maxime Decitre and Benoît Blin.* April 2005: the band enters the LB Lab studio with Stéphane Buriez .* December 2005: release of the first album Una Duna In Mezzo All’Oceano ....
  
  
• Dionysos
  Dionysos (French band)
  Dionysos is a French rock band formed in 1993 in Valence, Drôme; they formed at their lycée. They perform songs in both French and English, and have released six studio albums. They are well known in France for their surrealism and eccentricity....
  
  
• Eiffel
  Eiffel (band)
  Eiffel is a French rock group founded in 1998 around Romain Humeau.Their influences range from the Pixies to Léo Ferré, encompassing Jacques Brel, Sonic Youth, Serge Gainsbourg, The Buzzcocks, Noir Désir, the Stooges, David Bowie, Sixteen Horsepower the Kinks, the Beatles, Tears For Fears, Fugazi,...
  
  
• Eths
  Eths
  Eths is a French Metalcore band from Marseille.-The beginning:Staif joined by Greg, formed the band What's the fuck in 1996. The following year, Candice joined the band which was renamed Melting Point....
  
  
• Freedom For King Kong
  Freedom For King Kong
  Freedom For King Kong is a fusion band, formed in 1994 in Lorient, France. The band members are African born Bring's , Ton , Bubu and Ben and Djey...
  
  
• Gojira
  Gojira
  Gojira is a heavy metal band formed in 1996 in Bayonne, France. The band was known as Godzilla until 2001. Gojira is composed of Joe Duplantier on vocals and guitar, his brother Mario Duplantier on drums, Christian Andreu on guitar and Jean-Michel Labadie on bass...
  
  
• HushPuppies
  HushPuppies
  HushPuppies is a French garage rock band influenced by the various bands of the sixties. Members of the group live in Paris, France, although originate from Perpignan and Bordeaux.- Members :* Singer: Olivier Jourdan* Guitar: Cyrille Sudraud...
  
  
• Ipecacuana
  Ipecacuana (band)
  Ipecacuana is a French band playing an experimental fusion hardcore since 1998, and singing in French. The line-up is unique for a rock band because they use two bass and no guitar.- Discography :Ipecacuana have recorded three demo CDs and a two albums:...
  
  
• K
• Kaolin
• Kyo
  Kyo (band)
  -Biography:Since attending collège in Yvelines, the two brothers, Fabien and Florian Dubos, and two friends Nicolas Chassagne and Benoît Poher, discovered they had the same passion for bands such as Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Rage Against the Machine and Soundgarden. In 1997, they met their manager, who...
  
  
• The Little Rabbits
• Les Fatals Picards
  Les Fatals Picards
  Les Fatals Picards is a French rock/punk band, founded in 1996.The Fatals Picards are best known to general audiences because they represented France in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 with the song L'amour à la française , after winning the national selection.Their name means "the fatal [men]...
  
  
• Lex Riders
• Luke
  Luke (French band)
  Luke is a French rock band. The group was formed in Aquitaine in 1998 when Thomas Boulard joined the group Spring, consisting of Christophe Plantier and François Jugé. The band's name is derived from the American movie Cool Hand Luke. In 1999, Luke composed a number of demos and a seven track CD...
  
  
• Matthieu Chedid
  Matthieu Chedid
  Matthieu Chedid is a French rock singer-songwriter and guitar player.-Biography:...
  
   (aka -M-)
• Music Is Not Fun
• Naast
  Naast
  Naast is a French rock band. They are part of the nouvelle vague du rock français , which includes other bands like Les Plastiscines and Pravda. Their track "Mauvais Garçon" was included in Guitar Hero III : Legends Of Rock....
  
  
• Nosfell
  Nosfell
  Nosfell is a rock musician who performs in a group with Pierre Lebourgeois and Orkhan Murat . His full stage name, Labyala Fela Da Jawid Fel, means "The one who walks and heals"....
  
  
• Nude
• Pep's
  Pep's
  Pep's is a French artist based in Grenoble, with musical styles encompassing genres such as rock, R&B & reggae. The group was formed in 2001. The stage name of singer comes from a nickname inspired by the lead singer's name: Florian Peppuy...
  
  
• Phoenix
  Phoenix (band)
  Phoenix is a Grammy Award winning French indie rock band from Versailles, founded by Thomas Mars, Deck d'Arcy, Christian Mazzalai and Laurent Brancowitz.-Formation and early years:...
  
  
• Plastiscines
  Plastiscines
  The Plastiscines are an all-female French rock band who perform mostly in English. Their song "Barcelona" was featured on the NYLON Summer Playlist.-Formation and discovery:...
  
  
• Pleymo
  Pleymo
  Pleymo is a French nu metal and rapcore band. Pleymo have sold over 100,000 albums to date. The band's name apparently originates from the lead singer once having a haircut as a child that was similar to that of Playmobil figures....
  
  
• Quidam
  Quidam
  Quidam is the ninth stage show produced by Cirque du Soleil. It premiered in April 1996 and has now been watched by millions of spectators around the world...
  
  
• Raphael
  Raphaël Haroche
  Raphaël Haroche is a French singer who performs under the name Raphael.-Biography:...
  
  
• Saez
  Sáez
  Sáez is a surname that may refer to:*Iñaki Sáez, Spanish footballer*Irene Sáez, politician*Piru Sáez, actor and singer*Raúl Sáez, engineer*Damien Saez, songwriter...
  
  
• Shades
• Stuck In The Sound
  Stuck in the Sound
  Stuck in the Sound is a French indie rock band formed in Paris in 2002. The current band line up consists of José Reis Fontao , Emmanuel Barichasse , Arno Bordas and François Ernie...
  
  
• Stupeflip
• Subway
• Superbus
  Superbus (band)
  Superbus is a five-piece French pop/rock band formed in 1999.-History:After a trip to the United States to perfect her English in 1999, Jennifer Ayache went looking for musicians to make a group. She met Michel Giovannetti, a guitarist, and François Even, a bassist, who already knew each other from...
  
  
• Tahiti 80
  Tahiti 80
  Tahiti 80 are a French indie pop band from Rouen and Paris. The group was founded in 1993 by Xavier Boyer, Pedro Resende, Médéric Gontier and Sylvain Marchand....
  
  
• Tarmac
• Vanity Case
• Vegastar
  Vegastar
  Vegastar is a French Alternative rock band from Orléans which formed in 2003.Its members comprise mostly from former members of the French group Human Beat Box. Franklin is on vocals, Fabien and Jey on guitar, Vincent on bass and Jocelyn on drums...
  
  
• Wäks
  Wäks
  Wäks is an Electroclash and Punk rock group from Annecy in France, and Geneva in Switzerland. The group is led by vocalist and programmer Soph' who formed the group in 2003 with current members Dav Duckk and with Theo who was the bassist of the group until 2009.Today, the group is formed by...
  
  

External links

• Slipcue.com Guide To French Music (Artist profiles & record reviews in English)