Sylvie Vartan talks about three final concerts in Paris

Farewell to the “irrevocable” scene. In an interview withAFP in November 2024, Sylvie Vartan declared having “lived on a volcano since [s]are beginnings. I did so much that at some point, you have to calm down a little. It’s time. This time has come: Friday January 24, 2025, the Yéyé icon and talented show-woman, 80, will give the first of his three farewell concerts at the Palais des Congrès in Paris (17th).

About fifty albums, 40 million records sold…

Titles “I bow my truth”these meetings will close a long career of sixty-three years, marked by sometimes provocative titles and often melancholy melodies recalling the exile of his native Bulgaria.

To the assets of one of the biggest French -speaking artists, who trained a legendary couple with Johnny Hallyday: around fifty albums, 40 million records sold and 2,000 magazine covers, more than the other French stars Brigitte Bardot and Catherine Deneuve.

Among his 1,500 songs, there are many hits: The most beautiful to go dance (1964), composed by Aznavour, at Love is like a cigarette (1981) passing through Boywhere she swaps the dress for “the jacket” and “the belt”, irreverent words for the time.

From “high school student” to beast of stage

Sylvie Vartan nevertheless came to the song by chance. “From the age of 6, I wanted to be an actress. And then here, life has led me elsewhere. In 1961, his brother Eddie made him dry the lessons to record Petrol failure With Frankie Jordan. Immediate success at 17 and first Olympia.

Rather introverted, the “high school student of the twist” quickly turns into a femme fatale and beast.
The Blonde with a serious voice was born on August 15, 1944 in Iskretz, village of Bulgaria. She grew up in Sofia, where her father works at the French Embassy.

She is 8 years old when her family flees the communist regime for France by the Orient-Express. A tearing that we feel in his songs as the most mythical, The Maritzaname of a Bulgarian river.

The beautiful songs are melancholy. Melancholy has been the body since childhood.

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In Paris, the beginnings are difficult for the Vartan, who live five years in a hotel room. “Fallen suddenly” in success, the teenager, perfectionist, is essential in this difficult job, “especially for women”.

A failed meeting with the cinema

Essuring a storm of criticism in 1965 by being the first to sing… in pants.
The couple she then trained with the idol of young people, Johnny Hallyday, father of her son, David, is the prey of the paparazzi.

They sometimes share the scene and record I have a problem (1973), duo that remained famous. “If you’re not really love, you look like it,” they hum. The Union of Terrible Children of Rock ends with a divorce in 1980.

She moved to Los Angeles for her third life. But regularly finds France and its audience.

Expected to play in Cherbourg umbrellasshe will have finally had a modest career in theater and cinema, with a single big role (The black angel1994).
“If I feel a lack, it’s on the cinema side,” she confessed.

In 2024, by announcing that she was bowing, she recalls that, if Johnny is “almost dead on stage”, it will not be “not the case” for her.

with AFP

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