Romain Didier

Romain Didier appeared on the French music scene in the early 1980s, and went on to become one of the most important and influential songwriters, composers and performers of his generation. The son of composer Pierre Petit, director of the Ecole Normale de Musique in Paris, and singer Christiane Castella, Didier Petit was born at the Villa Medici in Rome, Italy, on November 2, 1949, during his father's artist residency. A self-taught musician, he refused to take music theory lessons, instead learning the piano to compose his first songs, which he began playing in bars. Eager to chart his own course, he took the stage name Romain Didier, inspired by his hometown, under which he composed and arranged songs for other artists such as Francis Lemarque and Nicole Croisille, before moving to the forefront of the music scene. Critically acclaimed as early as his first album, published in the Paroles et Musique series on the RCA label in 1980, he made a name for himself with the song "L'Aéroport de Fiumicino", taken from the follow-up Candeur et Décadence (1982), which received FM airplay. His observer's pen, oscillating between tenderness and irony, won over fans of chanson à texte who followed the release of his albums. After Le Monde Entre Mes Bras (1984), his first live album Piano Concert (1986) was awarded the Grand Prix de l'Académie Charles-Cros, as were Romain Didier en Concert (1997) and Pinocchio Court Toujours (2007), aimed at young audiences. His friendship with Allain Leprest, which began in 1985, led to a partnership that continued through the albums Romain Didier 88 (1988), Place de l'Europe (1989) and Maux d'Amour (1994), produced between collaborations with Pierre Perret, Yves Duteil, Isabelle Aubret, Kent, Enzo Enzo and Jean Guidoni. A discreet but no less appreciated artist, Romain Didier turned to jazz with the album J'Ai Noté (1998), followed by Délassé (2003), in piano-vocal mode, then Chapitre Neuf (2005) and Concert 2007, recorded live with a quartet including his sister Catherine Petit and guitarist Thierry Garcia (2008). After De Loin On Aurait Cru des Oies (20111), he took part in a tribute to Allain Leprest featuring Jean Guidoni and Yves Jamait. Released in 2016, Dans Ce Piano Tout Noir precedes Souviens-Moi (2021).

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