On July 22, 2004, France lost one of its greatest artists. That day, Sacha Distel was died at the age of 71as a result of colon cancer. His widow, Francine Distel, has just passed away, twenty years later. The latter died at the age of 90 on Sunday December 29, 2024, following a heart complication. His funeral took place on Thursday January 9, 2025 at the Saint-Jean-Baptiste church, located in Megève. As part of her last wishes, her ashes will be distributed equally in two symbolic places for her.
The first half of the former skier’s ashes will be scattered at the top of a ski slope facing Mont Blanc. While the second half will be arranged for its part in the family estate of Rayol, in the crypt where Sacha Distel rests. Married to the singer in 1963, Francine Distel gave birth to two children during their union: Laurent and Julien. However, unlike many other children of stars, the two boys did not choose to follow in the footsteps of their illustrious father by launching a musical career. “Sacha tried to introduce my brother Julien and me to music theory and the piano, I exhausted two or three teachers, but I never had his gift for music”had notably indicated Laurent Distel in the pages of the magazine Gala in 2016.
Sacha Distel: his son Laurent today manages the company he created in 1962
The latter eventually embarked on a career as a mechanic. “Thanks to Jean Todt (motor sport team director, editor’s note), friend of my mother, I joined Peugeot before to join the holy of holies, the Peugeot Talbot Sport team as a mechanic. First for two months of training before following the Paris-Dakar, then the 24 Hours of Le Mans“, he also revealed. However, today he seems to have changed path. Indeed, according to his LinkedIn profile, Laurent Distel is now the manager of PROSADISwhich is none other than the music publishing and phonographic production company created in 1962 by his father. For his part, Julien Distel studied marketing before finally retraining in real estate. According to his LinkedIn profile, he is currently a property manager at Best Regards.
