B-side "Un Jour" Recorded France Length 3:26 | Format CD single Genre Pop | |
Released July 2000
July 2001 (Netherlands) | ||
"Les Rois du monde" is a 2000 song performed by Philippe d'Avilla, Damien Sargue and Grégori Baquet. It was the second single from the 2000 French musical Roméo et Juliette, de la Haine à l'Amour, featuring as the fourth track on the album of the same name. Released in July 2000, the single achieved a huge success in France and Belgium, topping the charts for many months.
Contents
Lyrics and music
The song was written and the music composed by Gérard Presgurvic.
Elia Habib, a specialist of the French charts, commented on this song: "its refrain, bewitching choirs chiselled in its words as much as in its melody", compensating for "the tasteless of the performance" and "the clumsiness of some of its verses".
In 2001, "Les Rois du monde" won a NRJ Music Awards in the category 'Francophone song of the year'.
In 2003, the song was covered by Marc Lavoine, MC Solaar, Pierre Palmade and Dany Brillant. It features as sixth track on the album La Foire aux Enfoirés, released on 24 February 2003.
Chart performances
In France, the single debuted at #30 on the French Singles Chart on 29 July 2000, before jumping to #12, then entering the top ten. It climbed to #1 in its fifth week, and there it stayed for 17 not consecutive weeks. The high sales of the single blocked Alizée's most successful single "Moi... Lolita" from the top position for thirteen weeks, which would be later ranked as the third best-selling single of the year. After that, the single of the trio dropped but quite slowly and managed to total 22 weeks in the top ten, 36 weeks in the top 50 and 40 weeks on the chart (Top 100). Certified Diamond disc by the SNEP, the song was sold about 1,410,000 copies and was the 21st best-selling single of all time in France, according to Infodisc website. To date, it is the song with the third most weeks at number one (behind "Mambo n°5 (a Little Bit of...)" and "Belle").
In Belgium (Wallonia), the single went to #27 on the Ultratop 40 Singles Chart, on 12 August 2000. It reached the top ten the week after and became number one two weeks later. It remained at the top for 14 consecutive weeks, and then almost kept on dropping (22 weeks in the top ten and 32 on the chart (Top 40)). As in France, the single was the second best-selling single of the year, behind "Ces Soirées-là", by Yannick, although this song spent less weeks at number-one.
In Switzerland, the single was charted for 23 weeks, from 24 September 2000 to 25 March 2001, peaking at #9 in its fourth week. It appeared for 11 weeks in the top 20.
The song was also released in the Netherlands, but in July 2001. It was briefly ranked on the Dutch Top 40, for four weeks, but remained in the bottom of the chart.
Track listings
- "Les Rois du monde" — 3:26
- "Un Jour" by Damien Sargue and Cécilia Cara — 3:44