Isabelle Geneviève Marie Anne Gall (1947 - 2018)

Born 9 Oct 1947 in Paris XII, Seine, France

Ancestors

Wife of Michel Jean Hamburger — married 22 Jun 1976 in Paris XVI, Paris, Seine, France

Died 7 Jan 2018 at age 70 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine, France

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Biography

France Gall is Notable.

France Gall, born Isabelle Gall in 1947, was a French singer. She won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1965. France Gall remained very popular until the 1990s thanks to hits written by her husband Michel Berger. She sold over 20 million records worldwide.^[1]

Isabelle Genevière Marie Anne Gall was born on 9 October 1947 in the 12 arrondissement of Paris.^[2]. Her family was musical: her father, Robert Gall, was a singer and lyricist, and her maternal grandfather was one of the founders of Les Petits Chanteurs à la Croix de Bois. Her uncle Jacques Berthier was a composer and organist; two of her cousins are also notable musicians.

Gall started playing the piano at age 5, and later learned to play the guitar. By 14 she had started touring with her two elder brothers. In 1963, she recorded a few songs; she was just 16 when they started being played on the radio. By 1964 she had left school and given her first concerts. Unlike most of the other young "Yé-yé" stars of the 1960s, she had original songs, when her colleagues mostly sang covers of English songs.

In March 1965, she won the Eurovision song contest with Poupée de cire, poupée de son, a song written and composed by Serge Gainsbourg. She was representing Luxembourg. The song (which France Gall recorded in three additional languages) was very successful in several European countries. But after 1966, her success started to wane in France.

In 1973, Gall met singer-songwriter Michel Berger, and eventually convinced him to write for her. Their first song, La déclaration d'amour (1974) was an immediate success and relaunched Gall's career. France Gall and Michel Berger were married on 22 June 1976 in Paris. They had two children, including a daughter, Pauline, who would die of cystic fibrosis at age 19.

France Gall held the role of Cristal in the rock opera Starmania, written by Michel Berger and Luc Plamondon. It debuted in 1978 with a studio recording of the songs, before premiering on stage in 1979. The success of Starmania (including France Gall's hit Besoin d'amour) was followed by more successes, such as Il jouait du piano debout (1980), Résiste (1981), Débranche (1984), Hong Kong Star (1984). In 1987, Babacar was inspired by a trip to Mali. The album and the tour that followed were successful, but France Gall started to consider abandoning her career and recorded less.

On 2 August 1992 Michel Berger died suddenly at Ramatuelle, where he was vacationing with his wife. After her husband's death, France Gall kept touring, especially for charity with "Les Enfoirés" and recorded covers of her old songs. She eventually retired in 1997.

France Gall died on 7 january 2018 in Neuilly-sur-Seine.^[2] She was buried near her husband Michel Berger and her daughter Pauline in the Cimetière de Montmartre.^[3]

Sources

1. ↑ Contributeurs de Wikipédia, "France Gall," Wikipédia, l'encyclopédie libre, https://fr.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=France_Gall&oldid=185281941 (Page consultée le 8 août 2021).
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Fichier des décès (INSEE). Isabelle Genevieve Marie Anne GALL, Naissance le 09 octobre 1947, Paris 12E Arrondissement (Paris, Paris, Île-De-France, France), Décès le 07 janvier 2018, Neuilly-Sur-Seine (Neuilly-Sur-Seine, Hauts-De-Seine, Île-De-France, France), Numéro de l’acte : 14.
3. ↑ Tombe de Michel Berger, France Gall et leur fille au cimetière de Montmartre. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tombe_de_Michel_Berger_et_France_Gall.jpg

• France Gall