The French singer and songwriter born Christophe Miossec and known simply as Miossec was born in Brest on 24 December 1964, and captured an audience for the wry lyricism of his first album Boire in 1996. He brought in a band to build on his stripped-back sound, which included his previous two guitarists and Yves-André Lefeuvre on the drums, and Olivier Mellano on guitar and violin, which resulted in the creation of Baiser (a double entendre meaning both "a kiss" and "to fuck") in 1997. He was nominated for the 1997 Victoires de la Musique prize for Best newcomer, but he stated that he did not want to take part in the event. A prendre (English: To Be Taken) followed a year later and went to number four in France while he carried this success over to subsequent albums, with 2001's Brûle, 2004's 1964, 2006's L'Étreinte, 2009's Finistériens—produced by Yann Tiersen—2011's Chansons ordinaires, 2014's Ici-bas, ici même, and 2016's Mammifères all cracking the French top ten. After seven years out of the album game, Miossec returned in 2023 with his eleventh album Simplifier.