March 2, 1991just one month before celebrating his 63rd birthday, Serge Gainsbourg died of a heart attack. The singer, author of hits such as The Javanese, I love you neither or even The Lilac puncherhad been found naked, lying on the floor of his bedroom, at his home located at 5 bis rue de Verneuil, in the 7th arrondissement of Paris. A week later, his funeral was celebrated at the Montparnasse cemetery, in the presence of his loved ones. Her two youngest children, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Lulu Gainsbourg, obviously appeared devastated.
While the first had found comfort with her mother, Jane Birkin, the second had snuggled into the arms of her mother Caroline Paulus, known as Bambou, the singer's last companion. 33 years after her disappearance, she confided in the columns of Paris Match that she has never found love again since the disappearance of Serge Gainsbourg. A man who will forever remain her great love but who left her nothing financially, since it was not included in his inheritance.
Legacy of Serge Gainsbourg: why did Bambou, who was his last companion, not touch anything when he died?
In the columns of ParisianBambou revealed that she had not received a cent when Serge Gainsbourg died. Not even rights to the title Bamboowritten by Serge Gainsbourg and sung by Alain Chamfort, for whom she was the inspiration. “I have neither moral rights nor right of inspection. These are Serge’s four children (editor’s note: Natacha and Paul, born in the 1960s from his second marriage, Charlotte and Lucien) who share it”she explains. A logical situation according to Caroline Paulus, who never asked for money.
“I had Lulu's moral rights when he was little and he logically took it back when he came of age. It's normal, we were not married and Serge had not made a will. He died two weeks before his meeting with his lawyers. I got nothing after his death but I didn't ask for anything“underlined the one who still works as a model.
Heirs of Serge Gainsbourg: Natacha, Paul, Charlotte, Lulu, Jane Birkin… who inherited the singer's fortune and who receives his royalties?
It is difficult to assess the precise fortune of Serge Gainsbourg at his death, but one thing is certain: It was his four children who inherited everything. It was Charlotte Gainsbourg herself who explained it in the columns of Parisian in 2018: “It came back to the children, we shared everything… We manage moral rights all four of us. There is a person who centralizes the requests. Everything goes through the artist's publishing company, Melody Nelson Publishing, created by Gainsbourg in the early 1970s to manage the rights linked to his work.
During his lifetime, Serge Gainsbourg nevertheless sold 20% of the capital to his former partner Jane Birkin. Today the sums received are distributed equally between the artist's four children and these are not negligible since they can vary between 350,000 and 450,000 euros per year…
