Another sometimes controversial theme found in some of his songs ("Les Ricains" and "Monsieur le Président de France" for example) is his respect and support for the culture and foreign policies of the United States of America.

A number of his hit songs were written in collaboration with Jacques Revaux and Pierre Delanoë, a few others (most notably "En chantant") with Italian singer Toto Cutugno.

In 1965, Sardou began his recording career with "Le madras", co-written with Michel Fugain and Patrice Laffont.

In view of the mitigated success of his singles, in 1969, Eddie Barclay decided to terminate his contract, estimating that Sardou was not cut out to be a singer.

Its title track "La maladie d'amour" ("The Disease of Love"), "Les vieux mariés" (which translates as "The old married couple", but adapted in English under the title "It's not too late to start again") and "Les villes de solitude" ("The Cities of loneliness") would eventually become great successes.

However, this last song triggered a controversy as Sardou takes the role of a man who, tired of his monotonous daily routine, drunkenly expresses his brutal fantasies (of robbing a bank and raping women), but never acts on them.

Even after the album was a real triumph (more than a million copies sold), other extracts, like "J'accuse" ("I charge men of...") or "Le temps des colonies" ("The Days of Empire") are about a singer who defends old conservative values.

In the wake of this, and other political positions expressed by him, Anti-Sardou campaigns were started; their demonstrations regularly disrupted the singer's tours, although other left-wingers felt that Sardou was entitled to his freedom of speech.

The album was a huge success, exactly like the next Je vole (1978), which gave him one of his biggest hits, "En chantant" ("Singing"), written together with the Italian singer Toto Cutugno.

Throughout the decade, Sardou had a lot of success : "Afrique adieu" ("Farewell, Africa") in 1982, "Il était là" ("He was here") in 1982, "Rouge" ("Red") in 1984, "Chanteur de jazz" ("Jazz Singer") in 1985, "La même eau qui coule" ("The same water flowing") in 1988... [citation needed] because his sales did not slow down, whereas a lot of his contemporaries had been forgotten during the disco boom.

At the end of the 1980s, Sardou received the recognition of his peers by being awarded a Music Victory for "Musulmanes" as the best song of the year.

Tracks include an electronic style remix by the DJ Laurent Wolf of his own 1980s hit "Être une femme", and a duet with Céline Dion, "Voler" ("To Fly").

In November 2022, Michel Sardou announced that he would return to the stage for a new tour with around thirty dates, exclusively in large venues, mainly Zénith arenas.

The tour, titled "Je me souviens d'un adieu" (after his 1995 song), runs from October 3, 2023, at the Zénith in Rouen until March 17, 2024, at the Paris La Défense Arena.

[11] In September 2023, Michel Sardou released a previously unreleased song, recorded in 1992, titled "En quelle année Georgia," co-written with Didier Barbelivien and composed by Jean-Pierre Bourtayre.

[12] On March 13, 2024, in an interview with Le Parisien, Michel Sardou announced his retirement from the world of music and theater.