50 Fun Facts About Jean-Michel Jarre

In which French city was Jean-Michel Jarre born and raised?

He spent half of each year at his grandparents' flat above the Cours de Verdun, watching street performers below.

Jarre's father, Maurice, was a film composer who won three Oscars for scores to films by which director?

Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago and A Passage to India; the parents separated when Jean-Michel was five and he did not see his father again until 18.

Jarre's mother, Francette Pejot, had done what during the Second World War?

She later sold antiques at the Saint-Ouen flea market and took him to a Paris jazz club run by a friend from her resistance days.

Which musique concrète pioneer, whose Groupe de Recherches Musicales Jarre joined in 1969, most influenced him?

There he met the Moog modular synthesiser and also spent time at Stockhausen's studio in Cologne.

Which French painter's textured canvases made Jarre think he could 'act as a painter with frequencies'?

Jarre also sold his own paintings as a young man at a Lyon gallery.

What was Jarre's first synthesiser, installed in a makeshift studio in his kitchen?

It sat beside an EMS Synthi AKS, both wired to Revox tape machines, in his flat on the Rue de la Trémoille.

What was Jarre's 1976 breakthrough album, recorded at home and selling about 18 million copies?

Several labels turned it down before Francis Dreyfus of Disques Motors took it; the first 50,000 were pushed through hi-fi shops and discos.

The Oxygène cover art, a skull inside a peeling Earth, was adapted from a watercolour by which painter?

The 30 by 40 cm original was itself titled Oxygène.

Which two sections of Oxygène were released as singles?

Part IV became his signature piece and one of the most recognisable synth melodies ever recorded.

What was the follow-up album to Oxygène, released in 1978?

It sold well but had less impact, until the 1979 Concorde concert sent both albums back up the charts.

Jarre's record-setting free concert on Bastille Day 1979 was staged at which Paris landmark?

More than a million people watched the 40-minute show of light, projections and fireworks; it became his blueprint.

Jarre was the first Western musician officially invited to perform in which country, in 1981?

Two concerts in Beijing and three in Shanghai; officials cut power to surrounding districts to run the first show.

Why did about half the audience leave Jarre's first Beijing concert before the end?

For the second night, Jarre's team bought tickets and handed them to children on the street.

Which signature Jarre instrument, played by breaking light beams, featured on the China concerts album?

The 1982 double LP The Concerts in China documented the tour.

Which new digital sampling instrument did Jarre pioneer on 1981's Les Chants Magnétiques?

By then Oxygène and Équinoxe had sold about 6 million between them; the new album shifted 200,000 in France in two months.

What did Jarre do with the master tapes of his 1983 album Musique pour Supermarché?

One LP was pressed and auctioned; the music was then broadcast once on Radio Luxembourg with Jarre urging listeners to tape it.

Jarre's 1984 album Zoolook was built around what kind of sampled material?

He recorded fragments of speech from around the world and edited them on the Fairlight; Laurie Anderson guested after he read about her in The Village Voice.

Jarre's 1986 Houston concert marked Texas's 150th anniversary and the 25th anniversary of what?

NASA asked him to build the anniversary into the show, and the audience of over 1.5 million broke his own 1979 record.

Which Challenger astronaut was to have played saxophone on 'Rendez-Vous VI' from orbit?

The piece was renamed 'Ron's Piece'; his friend Kirk Whalum played it live in Houston and Lyon.

Which astronaut urged Jarre to go ahead with the Houston show in memory of the Challenger crew?

Consideration had been given to cancelling the concert altogether.

Jarre's 1988 concert Destination Docklands was staged at which east London site?

Newham council dithered until the month of the show; the stage floated on four barges and Hank Marvin guested in awful weather.

Which guitarist appeared as a guest at Destination Docklands?

About 200,000 watched from the site with thousands more in surrounding streets and parks.

Jarre's 1990 album En Attendant Cousteau paid tribute to a French figure in which field?

That Bastille Day he played La Défense to about two million people, another world record.

Roughly how many people attended Jarre's 1990 Bastille Day concert at La Défense?

It beat his own Houston record; Moscow in 1997 would top even that.

Jarre's 1997 Russian concert, reputedly attended by about 3.5 million, marked what anniversary?

It was staged at Moscow State University and set his fourth outdoor-audience world record.

Where did Jarre stage The Twelve Dreams of the Sun on New Year's Eve 1999?

It previewed his 2000 album Métamorphoses.

Which actress was Jarre's second wife, whom he met at a dinner party in Saint-Tropez in 1976?

They separated in 1996 and divorced in 2002; he later married Anne Parillaud and dated Gong Li.

Jarre's 1993 album Chronologie was toured across the continent in 16 shows under what name?

He called the Moog 'the Stradivarius of electronic music' and mixed it with 90s dance beats on the record.

Which Danish percussion duo featured on the track 'Aero'?

The 2004 album Aero came with a DVD showing Anne Parillaud's eyes as she listened.

Which whistleblower's voice appears on the track 'Exit' on Electronica 2: The Heart of Noise?

The album's collaborators included Pet Shop Boys, Hans Zimmer, Yello and Gary Numan.

Jarre's 2015 collaborations album was titled Electronica 1: The what?

Its working title was simply E-Project; the sequel followed in 2016 and earned a Grammy nomination.

Which UN body made Jarre a Goodwill Ambassador, leading to his 2006 'Water for Life' concert?

The show marked the United Nations Year of Desertification.

In 2017 Jarre played a concert near which ancient fortress to campaign for saving the Dead Sea?

He also used the show to criticise Donald Trump's environmental policies.

On Christmas Day 2023, Jarre played in which room of the Palace of Versailles for its 400th anniversary?

It was another in a long line of shows staged in landmark settings.

Which British broadcaster used a remix of 'Fourth Rendez-Vous' as its theme for the 1998 World Cup?

Rendez-Vous 98 gave the 1986 track a second life across the summer.

What was Jarre's first solo album, released in 1972?

The same year he scored the film Les Granges Brûlées and wrote jingles for Pepsi, Nestlé and RTL.

Jarre's 1971 ballet AOR, staged at the Palais Garnier, takes its name from a Hebrew word meaning what?

Choreographer Norbert Schmucki commissioned it.

As of 2004, Jarre had sold roughly how many albums and singles?

Oxygène alone accounts for an estimated 18 million.

Which 1960s band did Jarre play guitar in, appearing in the film Des garçons et des filles?

He had earlier played in Mystère IV and mixed guitar and flute with tape effects.

Which German composer's Cologne studio did Jarre spend time working at around 1969?

It followed his introduction to the Moog at Schaeffer's GRM in Paris.

Which pop and consumer brands did the young Jarre write advertising jingles for?

He also wrote music for airports and North American libraries on the VCS 3 and a Farfisa organ.

Which record label boss finally agreed to release Oxygène after others had turned it down?

The label's director predicted in Billboard that Jarre would be 'recognised worldwide' by 1980.

For which artists did Jarre write music and lyrics between 1972 and 1975?

He also worked on an Olympia show and the International Festival of Magic in 1972.

Which Chinese actress did Jarre marry in 2019?

The couple began dating in 2016 and have kept the relationship private.

Jarre's 2022 album Oxymore was released as a tribute to which French composer?

The first single, 'Brutalism', came with a remix by Depeche Mode's Martin Gore.

Jarre's 1997 album Oxygène 7–13 was dedicated to which late mentor?

The album returned to the analogue synthesisers of the 1970s; Schaeffer had died two years earlier.

Jarre's 2001 album Interior Music was made in 1,000 copies for which company's stores?

It held two long pieces, including a 25-minute audio collage of voices speaking French, English and Danish.

Which French actress, Jarre's third wife, is seen listening to the album on the 2004 AERO DVD?

The DVD shows only her eyes, filmed in real time as she listened; the couple married in 2005 and divorced in 2010.

In 2013 Jarre was elected president of which international body of authors and composers?

The Confédération Internationale des Sociétés d'Auteurs et Compositeurs represents creators' rights societies worldwide.

Where did Jarre stage his 2006 'Water for Life' concert in Morocco?

About 25,000 people attended the free show, and permanent drinking fountains were built on the site.