He became the most prominent successor to Jacques Offenbach in this sphere, and enjoyed considerable success in the 1870s and early 1880s, before the changing musical fashions of the late 19th century made his style of composition less popular.
His few serious works include the opera Plutus (1886), which was not a success, and the ballet Le cygne (1899).
Others of his more than forty stage works receive occasional revivals.
After study at the Paris Conservatoire, Lecocq shared the first prize with Georges Bizet in an operetta-writing contest organised in 1856 by Offenbach.
Although a few of his works in the early 1880s were well-received, and he continued composing for more than two decades afterwards, his later works never achieved the same admiration.