You return seventeen years later to Brest, still within the framework of Tréteaux chantants, the “tele-hook” of the Brest region reserved for over 50s. Do you have a particular memory from 2007?
Sheila: “Oh no, I’ll be honest. You know, I must have done a thousand concerts since then! But I come back with great pleasure. It's been a long time since we last saw each other, so we're going to make the most of it. A word of advice to the public: come in sneakers, because it’s going to move and it’s going to dance! “.
Come in sneakers, because it’s going to move, and it’s going to dance!
It's almost three years since you celebrated your sixtieth career. Is this extended tour to better freeze the passing of time?
“It’s above all to share great moments with the loyal audience who follow me. I'm lucky, there are now four generations in my theaters. The return to favor of disco opened me up to a new audience.”
Is it really reasonable to sing “School is over” at almost 80 years old?
“It depends on how you sing it. Tuesday, you will be entitled to a rock'n'roll version, without the pigtails. I revisit all my hits with today’s tunes and tempos.”
Sylvie Vartan, another idol of the yéyé era, has just announced, at the age of 80, that she is stopping performing. And you, don’t you want to say “Hello friends” to your beloved audience?
“Unlike Sylvie, I took a seven-year break from 1989. So, as long as I have health and I have fun, and the public celebrates, sings and get up with me, I continue. I'm aiming for a seventy-year career! We have just mixed my latest album which will be released in February 2025. And I have another project but shush, it’s a secret.”
So you are not for the repeal of the latest pension reform?
“Retirement, what a horrible word. This word does not belong to my vocabulary. In my head, I'm still 40 years old. Sometimes I'm offered the senior card, but I don't want it. I want the major card. Like when you do well in college, you’re valedictorian.”
A few days ago, on your Instagram account, you defended the farmers who are mobilizing against Mercosur. Are you starting a political career?
“Politics doesn’t interest me. But we must stop sugarcoating our peasants who work twenty hours a day. Farmers are very courageous, they have a passion for the land and a job well done, and contribute to the quality of our landscapes. If France is a magnificent country, it is also thanks to them. We must be proud and grateful, instead of wanting to import meat stolen from who knows what.”
We must stop sugarcoating our peasants who work twenty hours a day.
You waited until 2023 to be on the bill at the Francofolies de La Rochelle. A consecration?
“You know, I didn't follow musical fashions, I created them. Disco was brought to France by me. I was the first to work with Nile Rodgers (the founder of the group Chic, Editor's note). I have long been too popular, too this, too that, but especially not the singer of the intellectuals. And today, the same people take out my records and listen to them in secret. It makes me really like it, but I'm not revengeful. Above all, it shows that I didn’t hang on for nothing.”
Practical
Grand final of the 2024 Tréteaux chantants, Tuesday November 26, at 2 p.m., at Brest Arena, headlined by Sheila. Doors open at 1 p.m., tram side entrance. Complete.
France
