Yelle

Yelle are a French band founded by lead singer and namesake Yelle (Julie Budet) and GrandMarnier (Jean-François Perrier). A third member, Tepr (Tanguy Destable), joined the band before the recording of their debut album. Yelle and GrandMarnier began working on music together in 2000. The band came to prominence when it posted an early version of the song "Je veux te voir" on Myspace in September 2005, which later reached the top five in France. The success of the song on Myspace attracted the attention of a record label, which set them to work on their debut album, Pop Up, which was released in 2007. The group's second album, Safari Disco Club, was released in 2011 and the third Complètement fou in 2014.

They have enjoyed a significant following overseas in non-French-speaking countries as well. They toured internationally for three years in support of Pop Up.

History

Budet met and became good friends with producer GrandMarnier in 2000, and in 2005, they began making music together when both wanted to start an electropop band. The name of the band, Yelle, began as an acronym of the phrase "You Enjoy Life", "YEL", but was later feminised to "Yelle" because a Belgian band had the name already. Yelle rose to fame on Myspace when they posted a song titled "Short Dick Cuizi", which later became "Je veux te voir", in late 2005. The song's original title refers to Cuizinier of French alternative hip hop band TTC and was released as a mock diss track. It received a positive response and soon attracted the attention of record label Source Etc. The song later charted at No. 4 in France. Yelle then began working on and recording their debut album, Pop Up, in 2006. While performing at night, producer Tepr had been roped into the band in 2007 after meeting GrandMarnier while working as a journalist. They were in need of a keyboard player on tour.