[1] Lang is best known for originating the Fête de la Musique in 1982 as Culture Minister, an all day public music festival which occurs yearly on 21 June in France and throughout the world.

His father Roger was first mobilized in Luneville, and then joined his parents and his brother-in-law Luc Bouchet in Brive.

Berthe Bouchet (Boulanger) visited the Langs in April 1942 when her daughter was about to give birth to her third child, Marianne.

[5] Jack Lang studied political science at the Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris, and went on to receive a postgraduate degree in public law.

[1] In 1981, while Minister of Culture, he created the Fête de la Musique, a massive celebration of music held on 21 June each year, where many amateur musicians give free open-air performances.

While he had planned to stand for president in 2007, he ultimately decided not to register as a candidate in the Socialist primary for the sake of party unity.

[13] In 2007, Lang agreed to become co-chairman of a commission drafting changes to the Constitution that were supported by President Nicolas Sarkozy but opposed by the Socialist Party.

The Socialist Party denounced Lang for this vote; party spokesman Julien Dray said that he had "gone too far" and "no longer has his place in our political family", while Jean-Marc Ayrault, the President of the Socialist Parliamentary Group, said that Lang's vote was an act of "crossing the Rubicon".

[14] In late 2009, Sarkozy appointed Lang his special envoy to North Korea, following a similar assignment earlier in the year to Cuba.

Lang travelled to Pyongyang on 9 November 2009 for a self-described "listening mission" aimed at exploring bilateral ties and discussing the North Korean nuclear program, among other things.

Lang briefed American officials including Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg and special envoy Sung Kim, as well as ambassadors of countries involved such as Russia, before the assignment was publicly announced.