France Gall French Singer (1947–2018)

Early life

France Gall was born Isabelle Geneviève Marie Anne Gall on 9 October 1947 in the 12th arrondissement of Paris. She grew up in a musical family. Her father, Robert Gall, was a lyricist who wrote for Édith Piaf and Charles Aznavour. She was the only daughter, with two older brothers who were twins. She attended the Lycée Paul-Valéry but left school after being told to repeat a year.

Career

With her father's encouragement, Gall began her recording career in 1963, signing with Philips Records after an audition at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées. Her artistic director suggested the stage name France Gall, partly to set her apart from another singer, Isabelle Aubret. Her first single, "Ne sois pas si bête", was an adaptation of an English-language song and was first played on French radio on her sixteenth birthday. Serge Gainsbourg then wrote for her, and his song "N'écoute pas les idoles" reached the top of the French charts in March 1964. He also supplied "Laisse tomber les filles" that year.

In 1965 Gall was chosen to represent Luxembourg at the Eurovision Song Contest, held in Naples. She selected Gainsbourg's "Poupée de cire, poupée de son" from ten proposals and won the contest on 20 March with 32 points. The win raised her profile outside France, and she recorded the song in German, Italian and Japanese. Gainsbourg also wrote "Les Sucettes" for her in 1966, and their work together led to the psychedelic-leaning album 1968. In the same period she recorded German-language songs with the producer Werner Müller.

Her contract with Philips ended at the close of 1968, and the early 1970s brought little chart success. She moved to the label La Compagnie, which went bankrupt, and in 1971 she became the first French artist to record for Atlantic Records. A turning point came when she began working with the singer-songwriter Michel Berger. He wrote the 1974 single "La Déclaration d'amour" for her, and the two married in 1976. She released the albums France Gall in 1976 and Dancing Disco in 1977, which included "Si maman si". In 1979 she played the role of Cristal in the rock opera Starmania, which Berger produced with the lyricist Luc Plamondon. In 1980 "Il jouait du piano debout" gave her her first French number one since her Eurovision song. Later releases include Tout pour la musique (1981), which contains "Résiste", and Débranche! (1984).

The album Babacar (1987) included "Évidemment", written by Berger as a tribute to their friend Daniel Balavoine, and "Ella, elle l'a", a tribute to Ella Fitzgerald that topped pop charts in several countries in 1987 and 1988. The title song "Babacar" recounted an encounter in Dakar, Senegal, and the couple used its proceeds to support the family involved. Gall and Berger released the joint album Double jeu in June 1992. Berger died on 2 August 1992, but she went ahead with the planned concerts at Bercy Arena. Her final solo album, France, appeared in 1996, and she performed at the Olympia that year. In 1997 she announced her retirement from the music industry and spent much of her time at a home on the island of Ngor in Senegal.

In retirement she made occasional appearances. The documentary France Gall par France Gall was filmed and broadcast in 2001, and the compilation Évidemment charted in France, Belgium and Switzerland in 2004. In 2015 she launched Résiste, a stage musical made up of Berger's songs, which she wrote with her partner Bruck Dawit. She died on 7 January 2018. A compilation titled Plus haut was released in late 2024 and included a previously unreleased 1974 recording.

Recognition

Besides the Eurovision victory in 1965, Gall was named female artist of the year at the Victoires de la Musique in 1987. She was made a Knight of the Legion of Honour in 2013 and an Officer of the National Order of Merit in 2017. Her discography runs to dozens of albums and singles between 1963 and 2005, most of them in the yé-yé and pop styles.

Personal life

Gall married Michel Berger in 1976, and the marriage lasted until his death in 1992. The couple had two children, including a son, Raphael Hamburger.