Grand Corps Malade

Fabien Marsaud better known by his stage name Grand Corps Malade, often abbreviated GCM, born on July 31, 1977 in Le Blanc-Mesnil, Seine-Saint-Denis, France is a French slam poet. Biography Fabien Marsaud was born in 1977. His father Jacques Marsaud was a communist activist, and a regional functionary and general secretary of the commune in Noisy-le-Sec and Saint-Denis and later on director general of services at Conseil général du Val-de-Marne and later in la Communauté d'agglomération Plaine-Commune. His mother was a librarian. They lived in Noisy-le-Sec. Fabien excelled in his classes, particularly in literary courses and in sports, with sports becoming a passion of his, particularly playing basketball. He received offers to be on the youth development team of Toulouse, but preferred to stay in Saint-Denis. After playing in basketball teams in Nanterre and Saint Denis, he signed with a basketball team based in Aubervilliers, a northeastern suburb of Paris that had a team playing in Division 3 French basketball. After his secondary education and baccalauréat, he got his Diplôme d'études universitaires générales (DEUG) in "Sciences et techniques des activités physiques et sportives" (Staps). On 16 July 1997, during a sports camp where he was a supervisor, he made a bad dive in a pool, he displaced his spine and was told he would never walk again. However, in 1999, after a year of intensive treatment, he was able to walk again, thus his alias Grand Corps Malade (meaning "Tall Sick Body" in French) in reference to his condition as well as his height (nearly 6'5" which is 1.95m). Career Young Fabien started writing poetry at the age of 15. He made his first appearance as a slam artist in a bar at place de Clichy in Paris on October 23, 2003, where he recited "Cassiopée" his first artistic piece. Choosing the alias Grand Corps Malade, he took part in many slam events with Collectif 129H, and with John Pucc'Chocolat. In 2004, he conducted "Slam'Alikoum", a monthly feature at the "Café Culturel de Saint-Denis" with his friend John Pucc' He co-founded « "Le Cercle des Poètes sans Instru" that included 7 slam artists including John Pucc’, Droopy, Techa, the 129H members and himself. He gained more fame in slam circles in 2005 through appearances at Reservoir, a club that featured upcoming artists like Jamel Comedy Club. He opened for Cheb Mami at Stade de France and for Mouss and Hakim at the "Boule Noire". Also in 2005, S Petit Nico, a friend of his, offered to make a musical track to accompany Marsaud's poetry. Fabien Marsaud signed with AZ French label where he debut album, Midi 20, was out on March 26, 2006 becoming a top 10 selling album for the year in France. He also started a grand tour with 120 dates to promote the album, including two sold-out concerts in La Cigale in Paris. Based largely on this success, on March 10, 2007, he won two Victoires de la Musique awards. He also appeared in many television shows and in Edouard Baer's Grand Cabaret.