French Singers
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50 free French Singers trivia questions with answers — music quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
French song has travelled further than most people realise. Tunes first sung in Paris music halls became standards for American crooners, a teenage pop single could cross the Channel, and several of the country's best-loved voices were not born in France at all. This quiz covers the singers behind that story: the cabaret and chanson greats, the pop idols of the 1960s, the stars of disco and television variety shows, and the rappers and streaming-era names who fill arenas now. Expect questions on signature songs, nicknames, birthplaces, film roles, Eurovision wins and the odd scandal. It suits anyone who loves French music, is learning the language, or simply wants a music round with a continental accent. Every answer comes with a short explanation, so you pick up a story even when you miss.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which French singer, under five feet tall, wrote the words to her signature song 'La Vie en rose'?
Édith Piaf
Édith Piaf took her stage name from Paris slang for a sparrow, a nickname a nightclub owner gave her for her nervousness and tiny frame.
Q 02Which French pop star co-wrote 'Comme d'habitude', the song Paul Anka reworked into Frank Sinatra's 'My Way'?
Claude François
Claude François co-wrote the 1967 original, and David Bowie's English lyrics for the tune were turned down before Paul Anka's version reached Frank Sinatra.
Q 03Which French songwriter recorded the duet 'Je t'aime... moi non plus' with British actress Jane Birkin?
Serge Gainsbourg
Serge Gainsbourg's duet was denounced by the Vatican and banned from radio in several countries, yet it still topped the UK chart.
Q 04Which singer and former fashion model became first lady of France by marrying President Nicolas Sarkozy?
Carla Bruni
Carla Bruni had a surprise hit with her debut album 'Quelqu'un m'a dit', which sold two million copies five years before the wedding.
Q 05Which French Open tennis champion, discovered as a boy by Arthur Ashe, later became a popular singer?
Yannick Noah
Yannick Noah was living in Cameroon when Ashe spotted him at age 11, and in 1983 he became the first Frenchman in 37 years to win the title.
Q 06Which French singer was only 14 when her single 'Joe le taxi' became an international hit?
Vanessa Paradis
Vanessa Paradis went on to act in films and became a Chanel spokesmodel in 1991, chosen by Karl Lagerfeld for a perfume advert set in a birdcage.
Q 07Which actress won an Oscar for playing the singer of 'Non, je ne regrette rien' in a 2007 film?
Marion Cotillard
Marion Cotillard became the first actor to win an Academy Award for a French-language performance, and the director cast her before they had even met.
Q 08In which country was Jacques Brel, the singer and writer of 'Ne me quitte pas', born?
Belgium
Belgium produced Jacques Brel, who was born in Schaerbeek, Brussels. His best-known song reached English listeners as 'If You Go Away'.
Q 09Which American-born singer of 'J'ai deux amours' became the first Black woman inducted into France's Panthéon?
Josephine Baker
Josephine Baker also spied for the French Resistance in World War II, carrying secret notes pinned inside her clothing or written in invisible ink.
Q 10Which singer, credited with bringing rock and roll to France, drew about a million people to his funeral procession?
Johnny Hallyday
Johnny Hallyday was introduced abroad as the French version of Elvis Presley, yet he stayed little known outside the French-speaking world.
Q 11Which French-Armenian crooner, dubbed France's Frank Sinatra, topped the UK chart with his ballad 'She'?
Charles Aznavour
Charles Aznavour spent four weeks at number one with it, and Elvis Costello later recorded the same song for the film Notting Hill.
Q 12Which singer of 'Tous les garçons et les filles' had a poem dedicated to her on a Bob Dylan album cover?
Françoise Hardy
Françoise Hardy fascinated 1960s rock stars: Mick Jagger called her his ideal woman, and Dylan left drafts of the poem behind in a café.
Q 13Which straw-hatted French entertainer sang 'Thank Heaven for Little Girls' in the 1958 film musical 'Gigi'?
Maurice Chevalier
Q 21Which French pop star, born in Quebec to French parents, made 'Désenchantée' her signature song?
Mylène Farmer
Mylène Farmer moved to France at the age of eight and tried modelling and acting before music. The 1991 single became her most successful.
Q 22Which French teenager won the 1965 Eurovision Song Contest for Luxembourg with 'Poupée de cire, poupée de son'?
France Gall
France Gall was 17 when she won, and two decades later her tribute to Ella Fitzgerald, 'Ella, elle l'a', topped the charts in several countries.
Q 23Which Italian-born French singer and actor starred opposite Marilyn Monroe in the film 'Let's Make Love'?
Yves Montand
Maurice Chevalier made a boater and tuxedo his trademark, and he had been nominated for the Best Actor Oscar back in 1930.
Q 14Which singer, born in Cairo to Italian parents, became a French star who performed songs in eleven languages?
Dalida
Dalida first appeared in Egyptian films under the name Dalila, a stage name she soon changed by a single letter.
Q 15Which French star of the film 'And God Created Woman' also recorded pop songs such as 'Harley Davidson'?
Brigitte Bardot
Brigitte Bardot recorded more than 60 songs alongside her 47 films, then quit acting in 1973 to campaign for animal rights.
Q 16Which French stage musical, adapted from a Victor Hugo novel, launched the hit song 'Belle' in 1998?
Notre-Dame de Paris
Notre-Dame de Paris gave the song to three men, Quasimodo, Frollo and Phoebus, who each sing in turn of their love for Esmeralda.
Q 17Which French singer wrote 'La Mer', the tune Bobby Darin turned into the English-language hit 'Beyond the Sea'?
Charles Trenet
Charles Trenet was nicknamed the Singing Madman, and the English version of his tune later played over the end credits of Finding Nemo.
Q 18Which singer's 'Dernière danse' became the first French-language song to pass a billion YouTube views?
Indila
Indila calls herself a child of the world, with Algerian, Cambodian, Indian and Egyptian roots. The hit led off her album Mini World.
Q 19Which French singer performed in the streets of Montmartre before her jazzy 2010 single 'Je veux' became a hit?
Zaz
Zaz, born Isabelle Geffroy, mixes jazz, French variety and soul, and a magazine tipped her in 2010 as the revelation of the summer.
Q 20Which French singer starred in 'La Famille Bélier', the film later remade in English as the Oscar-winning 'CODA'?
Louane
Louane reached the semi-finals of The Voice in France before the role won her the César Award for Most Promising Actress.
Yves Montand was born Ivo Livi in a Tuscan village and grew up in Marseille, where he worked in his sister's beauty salon and on the docks.
Q 24Which singer of the French pop standard 'Les Champs-Élysées' was actually born in Brooklyn, New York?
Joe Dassin
Joe Dassin moved to Europe after his film-director father was put on the Hollywood blacklist. His signature hit began as an English song called 'Waterloo Road'.
Q 25Which Bamako-born singer of 'Djadja' performed at the opening ceremony of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris?
Aya Nakamura
Aya Nakamura comes from a family of griots, the storytellers and praise singers of West Africa, and Spotify named her its most-streamed French female artist of 2019.
Q 26Which French singer and actor, born in Algeria, also won a World Series of Poker bracelet in 1998?
Patrick Bruel
Patrick Bruel took the bracelet in a $5,000 Limit Hold'em event, and by 2009 he had earned more than $900,000 in tournament play.
Q 27Which one-name French singer performed 'Le Festin' on the soundtrack of the Pixar film 'Ratatouille'?
Camille
Camille also voiced the chef Colette in the French dub of the film, having earlier worked with the band Nouvelle Vague.
Q 28Which French disco singer of 'Born to Be Alive' picked a young Madonna as one of his tour dancers?
Patrick Hernandez
Patrick Hernandez dated her briefly after she was chosen at New York auditions, while his 1979 single became a worldwide hit.
Q 29Which singer-songwriter wrote Céline Dion's 'D'eux', the most successful French-language album ever recorded?
Jean-Jacques Goldman
Jean-Jacques Goldman also shared a 1997 Grammy for Album of the Year, as co-author of three tracks on her English-language album Falling into You.
Q 30Which Corsican-born tenor recorded the Christmas favourite 'Petit Papa Noël', France's best-selling single of all time?
Tino Rossi
Tino Rossi first recorded the song for a 1946 film, having started out singing with his guitar around his home town before moving on to Marseille.