Bio

There is only one Chilly Gonzales. For nearly twenty years, armed with only his piano and his genius, this composer, producer, performer, pianist, singer and rapper has been breaking down musical boundaries.

 

Nearly two decades, then, during which time this serial pop innovator has provided a constant stream of prestigious collaborations (from Daft Punk to Drake) and critically-acclaimed albums, redefining twenty-first century pop music in the process. His latest work – 2018’s Solo Piano III, the closing part of an instrumental trilogy – is as intimate and delicate as it is spontaneous.

 

Having once spent the small matter of 27 hours on stage, thereby becoming the holder of the world record for the longest ever concert, Chilly Gonzales is a figure who is as ready to embrace new challenges as he is to explore fresh musical territory. Capable of lurching from rap masterpieces (The Unspeakable Chilly Gonzales) to entire records covering artists as diverse as Lana Del Rey and Weezer (OPP, Other People’s Pieces), the multi-talented Canadian has even co-authored, produced and starred in his own film, Ivory Tower. Now based in Germany, following an extended spell in Paris, this cultural force of nature recently founded an entirely unique music school: opened for the first time in 2018, The Gonzervatory invited seven musicians to spend a week under the tutelage of professors including Jarvis Cocker and Peaches before giving them the chance to show off the fruits of their work in a special concert at Le Trianon in Paris.

 

Described in certain quarters as “a major artist and a minor celebrity”, Gonzales is first and foremost an essential figure of contemporary music. An irrepressible performer and entertainer who never takes himself too seriously, there is nothing that quite compares with the effortless blend of nonchalance and megalomania that this virtuoso talent conjures up each time he settles down on his piano stool in dressing gown and slippers.

 

His last performance at Nuits Sonores came at the triumphant finale to the 2011 edition of the festival. On that occasion, he presented The Unspeakable Chilly Gonzales in the company of nine classical musicians. Eight years down the line, he is returning to open the festival, this time in the pitch-perfect surroundings of the Auditorium de Lyon.