by Evan C. Gutierrez
Cristophe Miossec was born to a working-class family in Brest, France, in 1964. In his early teens, he became a devout rock music fan, assembling a group of his own with whom he wrote and performed throughout his late teen years. When Miossec went to university, he turned his attentions away from music completely, studying history while balancing a journalism career. After a short time he tired of formal study and moved to Paris, where he held a series of unrelated jobs. Frustrated with the direction of his career, Miossec took up music again, little by little, eventually assembling his own studio. In 1995, with the help of friends Guillaume Jouan and Bruno Leroux, Miossec released an all-original record called Boire, which was showered with acclaim. The trio toured the country to support the release over the following year, drumming up sizable support. The group's follow-up, Baiser, reached an even wider audience and won a Victories de la Musique Best Newcomer of the Year award nomination in 1997. The group's third release, A Prendre, came out a year later to only lukewarm reception. Miossec's downward turn continued with 2001's Brule, which actually lost money. During the busy touring schedule that followed, Miossec and colleagues wrote a large amount of new material. While playing throughout the south of France, the group recorded a live record featuring their new compositions, entitled 1964. The record breathed new life into Miossec's career, marking a new artistic direction for the singer, ten years after his debut. In 2006, fans welcomed Miossec's sixth studio production, L'Entriente. The record generated a series of radio hits, reaching his largest listening audience to date.