France Gall, near and far

When it rains, it pours: a few weeks after having lost one of their most popular voices, France is weeping again at a huge name in French chanson. Like Johnny, France Gall, who has passed away at 70 years old, took off artistically during the ‘60s and remained for at the forefront of the scene for several decades. She disappeared for a while in the ‘90s, crushed by the premature death of her other half Michel Berger in 1992, followed by the death of her 19 year old daughter in 1997. Though France Gall had created enough hits to still be spiritually present on the radio waves…

There were of course her early years, enveloped with the sounds of Ne sois pas si bête, N’écoute pas les idoles, Jazz à gogo, Laisse tomber les filles, Sacré Charlemagne, Poupée de cire poupée de son or Sucettes; tracks that she would sometimes even sing in English, German, Italian and Japanese. In 1973, her career was relaunched when she crossed paths with a certain Michel Berger, whom she married three years later. What came next was a succession of singles and albums that sold thousands of copies… In 2012, after having avoided the spotlight since 1997, France Gall came out of her silence the day of the 20th anniversary of Michel Berger’s death to present Résiste, a musical comedy that she had written with Bruck Dawit, which paid tribute to the work of her deceased companion…

Here’s a little tribute video with two duos and "classics" sung in German, Italian and Japanese:

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