Menu
Home
People
Places
Arts
History
Plants & Animals
Science
Life & Culture
Technology
Reference.org
Jean-Michel Jarre
open-in-new
<p>Jean-Michel André Jarre is a French composer, performer and record producer. He is a pioneer in the <a href="/facts/Electronic_music/zfGNfUvR">electronic</a>, <a href="/facts/Ambient_music/QNnE3krK">ambient</a> and <a href="/facts/New-age_music/RrrG7hlu">new-age</a> genres, and is known for organising outdoor <a href="/facts/Spectacle/4UjayPmC">spectacles</a> featuring his music, accompanied by vast <a href="/facts/Laser_lighting_display/YkI9btKB">laser displays</a>, large <a href="/facts/Projector/ucQKkpAS">projections</a> and <a href="/facts/Fireworks/sPEQcu3h">fireworks</a>. </p><p>Jarre was raised in Lyon by his mother and grandparents and trained on the piano. From an early age, he was introduced to a variety of art forms, including street performers, <a href="/facts/Jazz/lmUzXGq8">jazz</a> musicians and the artist <a href="/facts/Pierre_Soulages/Ig7CxQ39">Pierre Soulages</a>. His musical style was perhaps most heavily influenced by <a href="/facts/Pierre_Schaeffer/C0ya8Gu8">Pierre Schaeffer</a>, a pioneer of <a href="/facts/Musique_concr%25C3%25A8te/NkJW91oM">musique concrète</a> at the <a href="/facts/Groupe_de_Recherches_Musicales/NkJW91oM">Groupe de Recherches Musicales</a>. </p><p>His first mainstream success was the 1976 album <i><a href="/facts/Oxyg%25C3%25A8ne/Wl9sTDPk">Oxygène</a></i>. Recorded in a makeshift studio at his home, the album sold an estimated 18 million copies. <i>Oxygène</i> was followed in 1978 by <i><a href="/facts/Equinoxe/9fh8pwN4">Équinoxe</a></i>, and in 1979, Jarre performed to a record-breaking audience of more than a million people at the <a href="/facts/Place_de_la_Concorde/gtcP3f4M">Place de la Concorde</a>, a record he has since broken three times. More albums followed, but his 1979 concert served as a blueprint for his future performances around the world. Several of his albums have been released to coincide with large-scale outdoor events. </p><p>As of 2004, Jarre had sold an estimated 80 million albums and singles. He was the first <a href="/facts/Western_world/UQl4e7du">Western</a> musician officially invited to perform in the <a href="/facts/China/lTjIXY5p">People's Republic of China</a> and held the <a href="/facts/List_of_highest-attended_concerts/wAez1eHB">world record for the largest-ever audience at an outdoor event</a> for his <a href="/facts/Moscow/XUU6VkdY">Moscow</a> concert on 6 September 1997, which was attended by 3.5 million people. </p>