The former international footballer, well known to the general public, has become a rock star.
A man or woman can have several careers in a lifetime. Wanting to leave your office job to go into catering, the world of agriculture or something else, and even the other way around, is becoming commonplace in the 21st century. When you are a high-level athlete, retraining is even a necessary step: it is obligatory to find a plan B after your sporting career, which generally ends quite early. Obviously, depending on the role you have played, the doors open quite easily and you are spoiled for choice. But for other actors in this world, you have to embark on a completely different career and start again at the bottom of the ladder.
For this former French football international, the choice of post-career was guided by a passion: music. If we regularly find him on the microphone on the radio on RMC or on TV to comment in particular on Champions League matches, Eric di Meco has also become the singer of a rock group, Osiris.
Winner of the Champions League with OM in 1993, the former full-back is a bassist in this group which takes up the repertoire of Oasis, legend of Britpop from the 1990s, strongly attached to Manchester City in passing. An instrument played for several years by Eric Di Meco. “When I was in Monaco and with the French team, I took it with me during Euro 1996, in England (its bass, editor’s note).”
“When I stopped my football career, I had already set up a group with which we played for two years. In 2018, I was invited to a charity concert at the Olympia. When I got off the stage, I said to myself that I had to create a group again because I had really enjoyed it. With some friends, we first started having fun. Then, on the radio, I made a announcement because we were looking for a singer. Axel Rancurel then introduced himself. And it’s thanks to him that we went in the direction of the ‘tribute to Oasis'”, explained the former player for La Marseillaise.
Since then, the little band has been performing concerts in the Marseille region and filling venues there, as well as abroad. This was particularly the case in February 2024 in Scotland, not far from the Murrayfield Stadium where the XV of France played its 6 Nations Tournament match against the XV du Chardon.
In 2022, Eric di Meco and his group decided to participate in the French show The Voice in order to make themselves known. A good performance, but which did not convince the coaches at the time, who did not look back. “Our questions were musical and artistic. We were especially afraid of being ridiculous. Finally, we said to ourselves that the experiment was worth trying (…) we didn’t put a lot of pressure on ourselves either “The goal is not to reach the final. We are well aware that we do not have the level,” the former France team player explained at the time.