French Singer France Gall Dies At 70 After A Long Battle With Cancer

Music has always been part of France Gall’s life

France was born in 1947 in Paris. In a family where composition and music was a gift for many. Her father was Robert Gall. He wrote songs for Édith Piaf and Charles Aznavour. Her maternal grandfather was Paul Berthier. The founder of a successful religious choir that inspired the film “The Boys of the Choir.”

Gall was noted for her debut in 1963 at age 16 with “Ne sois pas si bete”. It triumphed in the Salut les copains program. It then became part of the famous yeyé movement. A year later, her meeting with Serge Gainsbourg at that time not so well-known, was decisive. He wrote successes such as N’écoute pas les idoles and Laisse tomber les filles.  Sacré Charlemagne was an unusual song and something strange that her father wrote her. Even though he didn’t like it very much, he managed to sell two million copies.

Winner at Eurovision

She managed to win the Eurovision festival in 1965. She represented Luxembourg with another Gainsbourg theme, Poupée de cire, poupée de son. After this, her face became popular throughout the continent. The stage yeyé came to an end with the scandal caused by Les sucettes. A song also written by the composer Gainsbourg. It was about a girl addicted to sucking anise lollipops. Gall did not notice these little details and when the rumors began to run. She said she felt manipulated and humiliated. “I don’t like to provoke scandal. I want you to love me.”

Years later she didn’t hesitate to deny those years. “I would erase that period. I have kept a memory of discomfort from him. I had not chosen to sing or expose myself. The songs did not hit me, although I adored those of Gainbourg. For the others, he was a shady character, with his identity tangled. “ She explained to Le Monde in 2004.

Soulmates

The arrival of the seventies came accompanied by a deep questioning of itself. Most of the characters of the Yeyé era became obsolete. After a brief collaboration with Giorgio Moroder in the earliest stage of the album, she met with the composer Michel Berger. Distancing herself from the yeyé time. Giving her a boost in her career.

In 1974 “La déclaration d’amour” marked the beginning of a new musical and sentimental cycle. Two years later this unusual couple surprised us by getting married. What a surprise! Nothing better for music than the union of a composer and a singer! “I was born when I met Michel, a bit like Sleeping Beauty,” said the singer. The rest of her musical career was linked to Berger, with whom she would record great hits of the seventies and eighties. Such as the musical Starmania. Including songs such as Musique, Si maman si, Évidemment or Ella elle l’a, a tribute to Ella Fitzgerald.

From that time she not only stands out for her musical career but also for the more human side. Participating in numerous humanitarian causes in the African continent. So much so, that she bought a house in Dakar, where she spent long periods.

End of her career

The death of the love of her life in 1992, when Berger suffered a heart attack at age 44, gave a new twist to her life. That misfortune was followed, only a year after a breast cancer and in 1997 date of the death of her daughter Pauline. It was then that Gall made one of the biggest decisions of her life, which was to end her career. Shee never got back on stage, with the only exception in the 2000s, which agreed to sing with Johnny Hallyday. A song signed by her husband and composer Berger “Quelque chose de Tennessee.”

In 2015 she co-wrote the musical Résiste, a tribute to her love Berger. It took the title of their greatest joint success.

France Gall is an icon of French music. Along with the excellent compositions of her beloved husband. With the beautiful voice of the singer they undoubtedly made an exceptional doubt, that gave life to songs that not only make memories but are memories for different generations who love music.