Maurice Benguigui

Patrick Bruel, born on 14 May 1959 in Tlemcen (Oran Province, French Algeria), is a French singer-songwriter, actor, and poker player. In the 1990s, he was one of the most popular singers in France.

After a first single went unnoticed, the hits Marre de cette nana-là! (1984) and then Comment ça va pour vous? (1985), which he wrote with Gérard Presgurvic, launched his career. In 1986, he released his first album, De face.

His second studio album, Alors regarde (1989), featuring Casser la voix, Place des Grands Hommes, and J'te l'dis quand même, was a huge success, giving rise to what the media dubbed “Bruelmania” (a reference to Beatlemania). In 1990, Bruel won the Prix Raoul-Breton, and two years later the Victoire for male artist of the year at the 7th Victoires de la Musique ceremony.

Eight more albums followed: Bruel (1994), Juste avant (1999), Entre deux (2002), Des souvenirs devant (2006), Lequel de nous (2012), Très souvent, je pense à vous… (2015), Ce soir on sort… (2018), and Encore une fois (2022). Patrick Bruel has also released ten live albums, several compilations, and a partly Spanish-language album, Plaza de los héroes.

He began a film career as early as 1979, before his breakthrough in music, and drew attention for his roles in Les Diplômés du dernier rang (1982), Profs (1985), and Attention bandits! (1987). He went on to land major roles regularly in big productions, notably Une vie à t'attendre by Thierry Klifa (2004) and Un secret by Claude Miller (2007), for which he won the Swann d'Or for Best Actor at the Cabourg Film Festival. On stage, he appeared in Le Charimari by Pierrette Bruno (1981) and in Le Prénom by Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de La Patellière (2010).

Starting in 2019, Patrick Bruel was accused of sexual violence by numerous women. In early 2026, press investigations brought forward new testimonies: in total, around thirty women — public figures and private individuals, some of them minors at the time of the alleged events — accused the singer of acts committed between 1991 and 2019, which he disputes. Since then, the scale of the case has grown to the point that it is referred to as the Patrick Bruel affair. By May, he was the subject of at least thirteen complaints and five judicial investigations for sexual assault and rape. On 10 June, he was placed under formal investigation in four cases in which he is accused of rape, attempted rape, sexual assault, and sexual harassment. By August 2026, he faced a total of thirty-one complaints.