* En anglais uniquement
Dolly is a French alternative rock band that released several major-label albums from the late '90s to the mid-2000s. After the death of a bandmember in 2005, however,
Dolly was put to rest and the surviving bandmembers formed a new band,
Manú. Founded in 1989 in Nantes, Pays de la Loire,
Dolly was originally a trio comprised of Emmanuelle Monet (vocals, guitar), Mickaël Chamberlin (bass), and Thierry Lacroix (drums). After releasing an EP, No One No Feeling (1992), and a full-length album, Amours Lynchées (1994), under the billing
Dolly & Co., the band added Nicolas Bonnière (guitar) to its lineup in 1995 and changed its billing to simply
Dolly. Influenced by English-language alternative rock icons such as
Sonic Youth,
Pixies, and especially
PJ Harvey, the band made its eponymous full-length album debut as
Dolly in 1997 on the label East West. Featuring the breakout hit single "Je N'veux Pas Rester Sage,"
Dolly was a modest commercial success, reaching the Top 40 of the French albums chart. While the follow-up album
Un Jour de Rêves (1999) was similarly popular, reaching the Top 40 of the albums chart, successive albums Plein Air (2002) and
Tous des Stars (2004) signaled a growing fan base, both reaching the Top 20. Unfortunately, Chamberlin died in a car accident on May 25, 2005, and the remaining bandmembers put
Dolly to rest. In the wake of the band's breakup, Monet took a year off before putting together a new band,
Manú, along with the other surviving
Dolly bandmembers, plus Bayrem Ben Amor (bass) in the place of Chamberlin. Signed to a recording contract with Universal Music France,
Manú made its full-length album debut in 2008 with Rendez-Vous. Thierry Niro (aka Nirox; drums) subsequently took the place of Lacroix in the band. ~ Jason Birchmeier