Joan Pau Verdier

French musician and revolutionary Joan Pau Verdier was a champion of the heritage of Occitania, a historic region encompassing portions of France, Spain, Monaco, and Italy. Before his music career began in earnest, he helped found the Anarchist-Communist Federation of Occitania in 1969, and regularly performed in the Occitan language once he debuted as a solo artist in 1973 with Occitania Sempre. Born on February 1, 1947, in Périgueux, Verdier and his parents moved to the communist commune Saint-Léon-sur-l'Isle, which had a profound impact on his priorities and perspective. Verdier recorded a series of albums in the 1970s for the Philips label, which had just been bought by PolyGram. After his debut, he released an album a year for the rest of the ‘70s, then took a hiatus from his own music before returning in 1987 with 5ème Saison. He would also collaborate with other musicians, notably when he teamed up with the members of Peiraguda to form the band Bigaròc in 1988, which resulted in the album Le Chant du Sud in 1990. He continued to release albums up through 2010, and died on June 21, 2020.

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