In 1967, he recorded three singles (''Ne t'en fais pas petite fille,
T'as pas changé tu sais,
and Ne t'en fais pas petite fille).
In 1969, he recorded La Planète endormie
. These recordings remained relatively little-known, despite the success of Ne t'en fais pas petite fille''. At the same time as this, he wrote several novels. In 1971, he published
En couleur and ''L'homme arc-en-ciel,
which were met with success. He also worked for the magazine Actuel'' and for the radio station
Europe 1. Simon came to wide attention in 1972 with the release of
Les Gauloises Bleues. After this, he was booked as the opening act for major artists such as
Georges Brassens. His 1973 album,
Au pays des merveilles de Juliet, won the prestigious 'Grand Prix de l'Académie du disque'.
Respirer chanter was a success in 1974. He retired from live concerts in 1977 but continued to release successful albums displaying a wide range of musical influences. In 1977, his soundtrack to Diane Kurys's film
Diabolo Menthe was well received. His album
USA-USSR (1983) met with success, and
Liaisons was a hit in 1988. He also made some live concert appearances in Japan in 1982 and in France in 2007. Simon's first best-selling novel was
Océans in 1983. In 1991, Simon won the
Prix Médicis, for his novel
La Dérive des sentiments. His novel
Le Prochain amour (1997) became successful, and a short story collection,
Un instant de bonheur, published in 1998, won the 'Grand Prix de la chanson de l'Académie française'. In his later career, Simon continued to compose music, but at a less regular rate, preferring to devote more time to his writing. In 1999 he released
Intempestives, produced with Michel Cœuriot. The album is characterised by orchestral arrangements, and a mixture of rock, classical, and Arabian influences. His lyrics also became more engaged with real-world events. He told the story of Afghan women imprisoned by the
Taliban in
Kabul in
Les Souffrantes and defended the criminal
Florence Rey in
Pardonnez. He described life in the banlieues in
Des cités des pleurs, which speaks of dialogue between the East and the West. Other songs are more personal, such as ''Je te prie d'oublier
. Je me souviens'' is an hommage to
Georges Perec. In 2007, he released
Rumeurs. In July 2007, he reappeared on the live music scene after 30 years of absence at
Francofolies de La Rochelle, and then at
Spa. On 12 March 2008, he played at the
Olympia, giving a concert of more than two hours, mainly made up of the songs on his most recent album but also including classics such as
Amazoniaque,
J’ai rêvé New York,
Diabolo menthe and
Au pays des merveilles de Juliet. He paid homage to his influences:
Georges Brassens,
Serge Gainsbourg,
Bob Dylan,
The Rolling Stones and
The Beatles. Serge Perathoner, his longtime collaborator, played the piano and the keyboard. In 2011 he was one of the members of the jury for the
Prix Françoise Sagan. In 2014,
Christine and the Queens covered his song
Amazoniaque and sent Simon a copy. He played it to the head of Because Music, who proposed that he make an album of covers. In 2018 he released
Génération(s) éperdue(s), a double album made up in part of his concert at the Olympia, and finished by his covers of the biggest hot songs of the new generation:
Christine and the Queens,
Woodkid,
Clou,
Flavien Berger,
SoKo,
Moodoid,
Juliette Armanet,
Lilly Wood and the Prick,
Radio Elvis. == Private life ==