Christine Lidon

Contraband musician

By Tanja Stojanov

“If you’d told me 20 years ago that one day I’d be President of the Board of Directors at Sacem, I wouldn’t have believed it for a second,” says Christine Lidon openly. But that is the position she now holds, defending the rights of authors, composers and music publishers. Born in Nice, the rock singer made her debut on stage with Les Bandits in the 1980s. She was the leader, and the only woman in the band. “That’s why I went to Paris, then I stayed for 25 years and started a solo career. My mother always said that courage is doing something you are afraid of. I’m not always sure where I’m headed, but I always go full steam ahead,” quips this go-getter, now a chevalier des Arts et des Lettres. She performs a raging style of rock, always with a sentimental element to it. As a songwriter, Christine Lidon has created material for Axel Bauer, Les Natives, Calogero, David Hallyday, Lara Fabian and many others. When she moved back to Nice in 2008, she was one of the first to join La Station at Le 109. “I went back to my roots and set up my studio there. I began offering the first writing workshops for students from local schools,” continues Lidon, who now splits her time between the studio in Nice, and Paris. What does she want to achieve at Sacem? Ensure that in this age of artificial intelligence, the rights of authors are respected, that children experience the joy of writing songs or composing pieces and defending equal opportunities. “It’s incredible that there are lots of girls in music schools who later just seem to disappear from the scene. In terms of visibility, we’re way off equality targets.” After the ironic hits by her Riviera group Les Blondes, Christine also brought girls together in the multi-generational rock band Contrebande.