Claude may refer to:

People with Claude as the full name:

People with the surname or given name Claude:

Claude Barzotti, (born 23 July 1953 as Francesco Barzotti) is a Belgian singer of italian origin of the 1980s. Barzotti recorded several songs which each sold hundreds of thousands of copies. He first achieved success in 1981 with his song "Le Rital."

Barzotti, whose real first name was Francesco, was born in Châtelineau, Belgium, but raised in Italy. Barzotti moved back to Belgium at the age of 18, settling in the town of Court-Saint-Étienne. Barzotti began his musical career in France in 1981 with his song "Madame," which sold 400,000 copies. However, later in the year, Barzotti found widespread success with his song "Le Rital," which propelled him to household-name status.

"Rital" is a difficult to translate French slang term used to refer in a derogatory sense to people of Italian descent, the song deals with Barzotti's experiences as a young child and how "he wanted to be named Dupont (a common French surname)," but the song also deals with his pride concerning the term, exemplified in lines such as "Je suis rital et je le reste," which translates to "I'm Italian and will so remain." Barzotti's career continued throughout the 1980s, and his last major successful song was in 1990s "Aime-moi" (English:Love Me), at which point many people believed his career was far from over. Although Barzotti profited from the wave of nostalgia which gripped France at the turn of the 21st century, he was unable to capture the musical prominence he had once held. Because of his distinctive voice and great successes in the French music industry, he is considered one of the most prominent French pop musicians of the 1980s. Barzotti's music was also popular in Francophone Canada, with songs such as "Je ne t'écrirai plus" (English: I Won't Write You Anymore), "Prends bien soin d'elle" (English: Take Good Care of Her), "C'est moi qui pars" (English: It's Me Who's Leaving), and "J'ai les bleus" (English: I Have the Blues).

Claude Kelly is an American singer-songwriter. He has a prolific discography, well known for writing for artists such as Britney Spears, Akon, Jason Derulo, Christina Aguilera, Toni Braxton, Tamia, Whitney Houston, Jordin Sparks, Kelly Clarkson, Jay Sean, Adam Lambert, The Wanted, Jessie J and Charice.

He began playing the piano at the age of 3 and by middle school was playing the flute. He attended Riverdale Country School and then Boston's Berklee College of Music. He then returned to New York City. Through networking and word of mouth, Kelly met as many producers as he could, and by 2002 had written a song that ended up a compilation by A Bathing Ape. "It was a lucky break," he said. "It boosted my confidence."

Kelly got his big break when he wrote the song, "Daddy’s Little Girl" for Frankie J’s 2006 album, Priceless. Although it didn’t chart well, he said, watching his song go from recording to mixing to mastering to music video was the confirmation that he needed to press on. Kelly’s work so impressed Akon that in late 2007, the singer suggested Kelly write to some of his music, one of which was "Forgive Me", written for Leona Lewis’ debut album and produced by Akon respectively. Another song he wrote was "Hold My Hand" which was set to feature on Akon’s third album, however the song leaked and it was decided not to be included in the album. The song, which features Michael Jackson, is the first single to be released from Michael (Jackson's first posthumous studio album). At present, he’s working with Whitney Houston; and Christina Aguilera .

Claude François (1 February 1939 – 11 March 1978) was a French pop singer, songwriter and dancer. He notably wrote and composed Comme d'habitude," the original version of "My Way" and Parce que je t'aime mon enfant, the original version of "My Boy." Some of his most famous songs are Le lundi au soleil, Magnolias for ever and Alexandrie Alexandra.

Claude François sold some 70 million records during his career (and after his death) and was about to embark for the U.S. when he accidentally electrocuted himself in 1978 at age 39. His place in the entertainment world was roughly analogous to Cliff Richard in Great Britain, with a dash of Tom Jones.In France, he is described as the French Elvis Presley. Live, Claude François was also seen as James Brown with a soul bypass. Former French President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing is quoted as saying Claude François was, to him, the equivalent of The Beatles.

The son of an Italian (Calabrian) mother and a French father, Claude François was born in Egypt, in the city of Ismaïlia, where his father, Aimé François (1908–1961), was working as a shipping traffic controller on the Suez Canal. In 1951 the job took the family to the city of Port Tawfik on the Gulf of Suez.

Jean-Claude Camille François Van Varenberg (born 18 October 1960), professionally known as Jean-Claude Van Damme, is a Belgian martial artist, actor, and director best known for his martial arts action films. The most successful of these films include Bloodsport (1988), Kickboxer (1989), Universal Soldier (1992), Hard Target (1993), Timecop (1994), Sudden Death (1995) and JCVD (2008). He is known as "The Muscles from Brussels".

After studying martial arts intensively from the age of ten, Van Damme achieved national success in Belgium as a martial artist and bodybuilder, earning the "Mr. Belgium" bodybuilding title. He emigrated to the United States in 1982 to pursue a career in film, and achieved success with Bloodsport (1988), based on a story written by Frank Dux. He attained subsequent box office success with Timecop (1994), which was his highest grossing film with over $100 million, until 2011's Kung Fu Panda 2, which grossed over $665 million.

Van Damme was born Jean-Claude Camille François Van Varenberg in Berchem-Sainte-Agathe, Brussels, Belgium, the son of Eliana and Eugène Van Varenberg, who was an accountant. He began martial arts at the age of ten, enrolled by his father in a Shotokan karate school. His styles consist of kickboxing, Shotokan karate, Muay Thai and Taekwondo. He eventually earned his black belt in karate. He started lifting weights to improve his physique, which eventually led to a Mr. Belgium bodybuilding title.