Born in France with ancestry from Benin, West Africa, Badarou is known for his close association with the English group Level 42, and for his prolific work as a session musician with a wide variety of performers from around the world.

[1] Badarou's keyboard playing could also be heard on albums by Robert Palmer, Marianne Faithfull,[2] Herbie Hancock, M (Pop Muzik), Talking Heads, Foreigner, Power Station, Melissa Etheridge, Manu Dibango, Miriam Makeba, and Lizzy Mercier Descloux.

[3] So integral was his involvement on Lizzy Mercier Descloux's classic second album, Mambo Nassau, that he is tantamount to uncredited co-producer and unacknowledged co-songwriter.

The former included "Chief Inspector", "Mambo" (sampled for Massive Attack's "Daydreaming" (Blue Lines album)), and "Hi-Life".

[4] The Words of a Mountain album is believed to be one of the first fully tapeless recordings in contemporary/new-age history: co-pioneering the computerised home studio concept with other electronic musicians of his generation, Badarou established a reputation on the field with his extensive use of Sequential Circuits Prophet 5, New England Digital Synclavier, and custom voice-controlled Yamaha digital mixers.