Yarol Poupaud

Guitarist, singer and songwriter from Paris, Yarol Poupaud emerged on the French rock scene in the early 1990s with the band FFF, where his playing — blending funk, rock and rhythm-and-blues influences — quickly made an impression. After that defining period, Yarol pursued numerous projects, ranging from garage rock to more soul- and blues-oriented formats, founding several groups and working in parallel as a studio producer for other artists. He later became a close collaborator of Johnny Hallyday, serving for several years as his on-stage guitarist and musical director, which placed him at the heart of the live apparatus of French chanson and rock. Under the name Black Minou, Yarol continued group work characterized by incisive riffs, rock’n’roll energy and nods to funk and boogie, before releasing his first self-titled solo album, Yarol, in 2019, which synthesizes these facets in a rock-song format in both French and English. Alongside his stage activities, he regularly composes for film and television and continues to alternate tours, group projects and occasional collaborations, with the guitar remaining his centre of gravity between rock, funk, blues and French pop culture.