Gims at the Fête de l'Huma, after a record-breaking summer

Gims didn't just leave his mark on the summer of 2025: he dominated it. From clubs to festivals, from playlists to radio stations, the choruses of his songs were played on repeat everywhere, saturating the airwaves and music charts.

With streaming records and certifications galore, more than 18 million monthly listeners on Spotify and eight tracks in the top 30 most-listened-to singles in France (according to SNEP ), the numbers speak for themselves.

Invited this Sunday, August 14, to the Fête de l'Humanité after performing at festivals all summer, the 39-year-old artist will thus mark the end of a triumphant summer season before going back on tour.

Since his solo debut, Gims has established himself as a hit-making machine. "J'me tire," "Bella ," and "Sapé comme jamais " are all choruses that have become classics of French urban pop. In his nearly fifteen-year career, he has also won two Victoires de la Musique awards and made history by becoming, in 2019, the first rapper to fill the Stade de France.

Despite these peaks, Gims has experienced a downturn. After the tidal wave of his album Ceinture noire (2018), which sold more than a million copies and was driven by his duet with Vianney on La même , the artist attempted a more rap-oriented turn with Le Fléau in 2020, then followed up with Les Dernières Volontés de Mozart in 2022. Two projects hailed by some audiences, but with much more discreet success: around 200,000 sales for the first and 100,000 for the second, far from the pharaonic scores to which Gims had accustomed the industry.

The year 2023 is also marked by controversy for Gims. Away from music, the singer ventured onto slippery ground. In an interview with a YouTube channel, he explained that the pyramids of Egypt were actually antennas. "Historians know that," he assures. Mocked and criticized, Gims says he is "shocked" that the controversy "has grown so much." He released a song surfing on the controversy, titled Hernan Cortès .

But in May 2024, Gims stormed the charts again with Spider. A subtle blend of Afro and reggaeton sounds, driven by a catchy gimmick and club-ready production, the track, a duet with Belgian-Moroccan artist Dystinct, exploded upon its release. As a result, it ranked number 1 in France for seven consecutive weeks and established itself as one of last summer's anthems, played on repeat at parties and on TikTok.

With this comeback in favor, Gims does not stop there and unveils his album Le Nord se souviens on which we find the song Sois pas timide but especially the hit Ciel . Viral on social networks, the title squatted the first place in the top 10 best-selling singles for months and has accumulated more than 72 million plays on YouTube to date.

Then comes 2025, where success continues unabated. Winner of the male artist of the year at the Victoire de la Musique, he delivers an almost melancholic speech. "I think this is my last tour," he says of his "Le Dernier tour" tour. "I've had great successes (but also) lows, we haven't always been as strong as we are now," he adds backstage to BFMTV.

Gims is certainly strong. The reissue of his EP Le Nord se souviens , entitled L'Odyssée , which features new hits, is shaking up the charts.

Among them, Ninao , a track with a catchy chorus that samples a Georgian folk classic, has been propelled into the top of the most listened to tracks in the world, ahead of artists such as Rihanna and Ariana Grande. The video has been viewed more than 154 million times on YouTube.

As proof of its success, Le Nord se souviens also held the top spot in the French albums chart for 13 consecutive weeks, a record previously held by Johnny Hallyday with his posthumous album Mon pays c'est l'amour , which remained at the top of the chart for twelve weeks.

But Gims isn't satisfied with his solo successes. In the process, he's also been involved in numerous prestigious collaborations: Piano with Werenoi, Air Force Blanche with Jul, Tu me rends bête with Damso, and Parisienne with La Mano 1.9, currently number one in the SNEP singles charts.

In July, a duet with Lara Trump - Donald Trump's daughter-in-law - was announced, sparking controversy . Gims denied the information and the song remained on the shelves.

These different pieces thus complete an already packed repertoire, which the artist will be able to perform on stage this Sunday, August 14th on the Fête de l'Humanité stage, before leaving for a tour of the United States and Canada in October, then traveling across France until the end of the year, and finishing four dates at Paris La Défense Arena in December. December 19, 20, 21 and 22, 2025. For the last tour, really?