Gérard Palaprat

Singer-songwriter Gérard Palaprat was born in Issy-les-Moulineaux on June 12, 1950 . He studied the violin from the age of seven and entered a school specializing in the performing arts at twelve, before joining Mireille's Petit Conservatoire de la chanson. After his film debut in Alain Robbe-Grillet's Trans-Europ-Express (1966), he played in the musical Les Fantastiks, then recorded the confidential EP Public (1968) and appeared on television in Jean Prat's Le Grand Voyage. After appearing in the musical Hair, where he sang the song "Sodomie", Gérard Palaprat was signed by the Disc'AZ label and scored his first hit in 1970 with the song "Les Orgues de Berlin", followed by the EP Dostoïevsky. His popularity spread as far as Japan with the song "Fais-moi un signe" (1971), released in several versions. The song followed Gérard Palaprat throughout his career, which continued with the album of the same name, in which he adapted David Bowie's "Space Oddity" under the title "Un homme a disparu". Awarded the Prix de la Rose d'Or d'Antibes for "Fais-moi un signe", Gérard Palaprat added other popular songs to his repertoire, notably "Pour la fin du monde", in a repertoire dominated by themes of nature, spirituality and religion on the albums Vive la Terre (1973) and L'Homme Tu Ressembles à Dieu (1974). The singer travels to India to learn the sitar and plays in the musical Moses. He signed with CBS for the album Y'A des Jours (1978) and continued recording into the 1990s. Back on stage in 2010 with the Hit-Parade show, he joined the Âge tendre et têtes de bois tour and reinterpreted his hits on the self-produced album C'Est Pas la Fin du Monde (2011). Gérard Palaprat died of throat cancer on September 25, 2017 at the age of 67.