Although he recorded a single in 1972, it wasn't until 1974 that Yves Duteil released his first album. His second album, from 1976, won the Jeune Chanson prize from the Haute Comité de la Langue Française, the first of many awards for preserving the French language. Duteil's star continued to rise through the mid-'80s. La Langue de Chez Nous (1985) was awarded both Best French Song by SACEM (the Society of Composers and Authors) and the Silver Medal of the Académie Française, France's leading French-language institution. "La Fleur de l'Impossible" was chosen to represent France during the 1992 Olympic Games in Albertville. ~ Sean Westergaard