One of the most celebrated French singers, Françoise Hardy, died yesterday at the age of 80. The news was broken by her son, Thomas Dutronc, who simply said, "Mum is gone."
Hardy was born in January 1944 in Nazi occupied Paris (during an air raid alert), and was raised by her mother. She grew up, like many teenagers in the late 50s, listening to Elvis and Cliff Richard on Radio Luxembourg. By the age of 17 she had her first record deal.
Her break out hit in France came the following year, with 1962s Tous Les Garçons Et Les Filles (All The Girls And Boys). Her personal style also began to attract the attention of many of the hottest designers, and she also became a model for the likes of Yves Saint Laurent and Paco Rabanne (who designed a minidress made from gold plates for her).
Tous Les Garçons Et Les Filles (Video)
On the music front, her sentimental ballads put her at the front of the French Yé-yé (simply, Yeah Yeah) movement, which took a big influence from English music of the time. Her biggest global hit was 1965s Dans Le Monde Entier (All Over The World). She was feted by the great musicians of the time; Mick Jagger thought she was the "ideal woman", while Bob Dylan was moved to write love letters to her - in fact dedicating an entire poem on the sleeve of 1964s Another Side Of Bob Dylan.
She also dabbled in astrology, appeared in several films, and wrote both fiction and non-fiction books - her autobiography sold over 250,000 copies.
She was married once, to fellow musician Jacques Dutronc, the father of her one child Thomas, and while they went their separate ways in the late 1980s, it seems that Dutronc remained the one love of her life.
Ill health beset her in 2004, being diagnosed with lymphoma, while in 2015 she was put into an induced coma following a fall. In 2021, she said she felt close to the end after getting cancer in one ear.
Her career spanned five decades, which included 30 albums, up to her last, Personne D'Autre, in 2018. Tributes have poured in, with French Culture Minister, Rachida Dati saying on social media:
"How to say goodbye to her? Eternal Françoise Hardy, legend of French song, who entered, through her sensitivity and her melodies, into the heart of an entire country."
A statement from Blur, who Hardy worked with in 1995 on a French version of To The End, said, "Françoise Hardy was our introduction to French culture and she was hugely important to us. It was a real privilege to spend time with her and to visit her amazing, entirely black house, an experience which has stayed with me all my life…"
Blur (ft Françoise Hardy): To The End (La Comedie) - (Official video)
Iggy Pop said simply - "Françoise Hardy, I’ll be seeing you! All my love - Iggy Pop"
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