For his detractors, the virtual retirement of Michel Sardou – he still played in the theater – was the certainty of seeing him much less on the media scene. But with the announcement of the new tour, he is back in the spotlight.
In an interview given to Actu.fr, Michel Sardou returns to the criticisms that have been made about him, starting with those related to his success “Les Ricains”, in 1968. This song had earned him vilification both by the left and by the right in France . “The left treated me as facho, the Gaullists as pain in the ass,” he admits. His text, it is true, had this very direct tone that the singer likes: “If the Ricans weren’t there/You would all be in Germany/Talking about I don’t know what/Greeting I don’t know who”.
”Reputations remain”, he adds, aware of having a label that sticks to his skin. It is true that thereafter, the interpreter of “Lakes of Connemara” has regularly been the subject of virulent criticism. He was called a homophobe after singing “The Sergeant’s Laughter” (“I heard a guy I didn’t know laugh / The laugh of the sergeant / The madwoman of the regiment / The favorite of the Captain of the Dragons”), sexist with his track “Ville de solitude” (“I want to rape women / To force them to admire me / To drink all their tears / And to disappear in smoke”) and even facho when he sang “I live in France”. Without forgetting “Chanteur de jazz” released in 1985 in which he sings: “Swarms of pedals came out of Carnegie Hall”.
In the interview given to Actu.fr, he insists: we can sing everything, even today. Even “Jazz Singer”. “I was in favor of marriage for all and everyone knows that I am not homophobic, everyone knows that I do not give a damn about people’s private life. We can always sing it, in any case I can sing it. I’m not going to change the lyrics to sacrifice the current good tone which I find very exaggerated. (…) There will always be people to call me a reactionary, which I have had the right to all my life I’ve always been called a reactionary, a fascist, yet I’m popular so that proves they’re wrong.” declares the singer in the interview published by Actu.fr.
Anyway, the public, he answers the call. Many dates of Michel Sardou’s tour are already sold out and additional concerts have already been added. It’s sold-out in Limoges, Poitiers Bordeaux, Grenoble, Brest, Pau, Dijon, Lyon, Toulouse, Saint-Etienne, Reims, Tours, Orléans, Montpellier, Toulon, Aix-en-Provence, Lille, Amiens, Angers, Le Mans…
For Forest National, his favorite room in Belgium where he holds the record for performances, the dates of October 10 and 11 are almost sold out. On the other hand, there are still places of choice for that of February 3, 2024.