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Dick Rivers Biography

dick-rivers
  • Born: April 24, 1946 in Nice, France
  • Years Active: 1960s-2000s
  • Genre: Rock & Alternative

Alongside the likes of Johnny Hallyday and Eddy Mitchell, Dick Rivers is widely regarded as one of the first musicians to introduce France to the sounds of rock & roll. Born Herve Fornieri in Nice in 1946, he developed a love of Johnny Cash, Gene Vincent, and Elvis Presley from a young age, naming himself after the latter's character in the 1957 film Loving You. After recording over 100 songs with the influential outfit Les Chats Sauvages, he went on to pursue a solo career in the early '60s, scoring hits with the likes of "Baby John," "Tu N'es Plus La," and "Rien Que Toi," before heading to Alabama in 1967 to work with some of America's biggest blues musicians on one of his most acclaimed records, Dick Rivers Story. Rivers became more experimental during the equally prolific but less successful '70s-'80s phase of his career, turning his hand to comedy (L'Interrogation), country-rock (Mississippi Rivers), and English-language material (Dick 'n' Roll), while also publishing an autobiography, landing a presenting role on Radio Monte Carlo, and briefly re-forming with Les Chats Sauvages for their 20th anniversary. His career was rejuvenated in the '90s thanks to the critically lauded Plein Soleil, several well-received national tours, and a first acting role in Jean-Pierre Mocky's La Candide Madame Duff, and the 2000s proved to be just as productive thanks to a stage debut in Jean Genet's Les Paravents, a successful greatest-hits album, and 2006's self-titled collaborative effort with -M-, Benjamin Biolay, and Francis Cabrel. In 2011, he celebrated the 50th year of his eventful career with the album Mister D. ~ Jon O'Brien, Rovi

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