Released in late February 26 2002, Come Away With Me was just one more anonymous album released by one more an anonymous artist, Norah Jones. Entering the album chart at #143, it was still one of the rare countries where it debuted right from its release.
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If one wonder how massive Johnny Hallyday is locally, let put it that way: He sold more records in France than the Beatles or Elvis Presley did in the UK. Just that.
At first one wouldn’t compare Carla Bruni to Yannick Noah. Looking at it more closely, not many people have been able to be incredibly successful in a very exposed domain, then succeed in outstanding fashion in music area before representing France country at the highest level on the third part of their lives, as those two personalities did.
After a debut solo album that failed to reach the Top 50 and an entire career with his former band The Charts, expectations weren’t high for Calogero 2002 album titled simply Calogero.
If one start looking for the most widespread link between all French million selling albums of the last 20 years, his conclusion will definitely be a three-letter one: TF1. French Media environment has this particularity of being extremely dominated by the first TV channel. The only one available during many years in the past, the average 40+ music consumer of French variety has the habit of mixing “television” and “TF1”, there is no other channel for a large part of the country.
French music scene has always been massively dominated by solo artists. We just ended to study million selling album Le Chemin by Kyo in 2003, but that is the exception rather than the standard. In fact, no band, local or international, sold a million copies of an album in France since that date. The country had in all its history a mere four truly big and cult bands, those are Téléphone, Noir Désir, Louise Attaque and Indochine.
Being successful on his own way as always been the trademark of Yannick Noah. Pairing with successful author Robert Goldman, brother of French superstar Jean-Jacques Goldman, can’t hurt.
Just like Raphael, Calogero or Benabar, French Pop / Rock band Kyo released a debut album in 2000 that got unnoticed. Just like them yet, success wasn’t very far yet and times of massive sales came in 2003 thanks to the huge hit album Le Chemin.
After a pair of million selling albums in mid-90s, authentic French start Florent Pagny lost some ground releasing three decent selling albums that failed to reach blockbuster status yet.
A few years only after the huge worldwide success of Amélie Poulain soundtrack, another French soundtrack storm into the market in 2004. Composed by Bruno Coulais, Les Choristes OST became, among other achievements, the first French language album ever to reach #1 in Spain.