Vanessa Paradis at Rockhal

In 1987, a 14-year-old from just outside Paris released “Joe le taxi”. It spent 11 weeks at number one in France and reached number three in Britain, where songs in French rarely charted. Serge Gainsbourg and Lenny Kravitz have since written albums for Vanessa Paradis.

Vanessa Paradis plays the Rockhal Main Hall on Saturday 7 November. Doors at 19:00, on stage at 21:00.

Paradis has been a public figure in France since she was fourteen. The new record leans on pop and soul, and the set runs alongside songs from across the career.

Two hours between doors and stage is unusually long for the Main Hall. There is no need to arrive at seven.

Who is Vanessa Paradis?

Vanessa Paradis was born in 1972 in Saint-Maur-des-Fossés, just outside Paris, and first sang on television at around eight, on the talent show L’École des fans. In 1987, aged 14, she released “Joe le taxi”, written by Franck Langolff and Étienne Roda-Gil. It spent 11 weeks at number one in France and reached number three in Britain, where a song in French rarely charted at the time.

Since then she has worked with some of the great writers of French and international pop: Serge Gainsbourg wrote her second album, Lenny Kravitz wrote and produced her third, Benjamin Biolay produced Love Songs, and Étienne Daho shaped her latest. She has a long screen career too, with a César for Most Promising Actress in 1990 for Noce Blanche.

Her records

• M&J (1988): her first album, named after the song “Marilyn & John”.
• Variations sur le même t’aime (1990): written by Serge Gainsbourg.
• Vanessa Paradis (1992): written and produced by Lenny Kravitz, it topped the French chart, and “Be My Baby” reached number five in France and number six in Britain.
• Bliss (2000).
• Divinidylle (2007): won two Victoires de la Musique.
• Love Songs (2013): a double album produced by Benjamin Biolay.
• Les Sources (2018): sung entirely in French.
• Le retour des beaux jours (2025): her eighth studio album, out on 10 October 2025, made with Étienne Daho and Jean-Louis Piérot, in a pop and soul mood.

Songs to know before the night: “Joe le taxi”, “Marilyn & John”, “Tandem”, “Be My Baby”, “La Seine” (with -M-), “Bouquet final” and “Le retour des beaux jours”.

Awards

• Victoire de la Musique for Best Female Artist in 1990 and again in 2008.
• Best Pop Album for Divinidylle in 2008.
• Best Music Video for “Tandem” in 1991 and for “La Seine”, with -M-, in 2012.

The tour

The tour for Le retour des beaux jours opened on 26 March 2026 at the Arena in Aix-en-Provence and travels through the big halls of France, plus Brussels and Geneva, before a final night at the Accor Arena in Paris on 17 November 2026. With a band of fine musicians, she sings the new songs alongside tracks from every stage of her career, from her debut to today.