Françoise Hardy, a figure of French song with an international aura, died at the age of 80, her son Thomas Dutronc announced Tuesday evening on his social networks.
In the ranking of the 200 best singers of all time by the American magazine Rolling Stone in 2023, she was the only representative of France. Cancer appeared in his life in 2004, taking several forms and giving him a nightmare.
The singer thus admitted to Paris Match in 2023 that she wanted to “leave soon and quickly, without too many challenges, such as the impossibility of breathing”.
It all started for the artist in 1962 with this instant success – more than 2 million copies sold – “All the boys and girls”, which she wrote and composed, a rare occurrence at the time.
She was then 18 years old, it was her first record. Françoise Hardy, all contradictions, is there: she breaks through in the middle of the yéyé wave, but does not really correspond to this label.
In this carefree period, her melancholy stands out: “Yes, but I go alone through the streets, my soul in pain/yes, but I go alone, because no one loves me”.
Apart from this hit, the public remembers her delicate voice, the intriguing celebrity couple she formed with Jacques Dutronc (from their union Thomas was born, who also became a singer like his parents). But not only.
She was also the ambassador of French and pop elegance internationally, a “feminine ideal” for Mick Jagger, a fantasy figure for Bob Dylan or David Bowie.
