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The singer and actress Juliette Gréco dies, as reported by the AFP news agency and the French newspaper “Le Monde”. She died at her home in Ramatuelle, in southern France, on Wednesday at the age of 93, according to her family. With songs like “Je suis comme je suis”, “L’accordéon”, “La Javanaise” and “Déshabillez-moi”, Gréco became world famous in the 1950s and 1960s.
After Édith Piaf and Barbara, Gréco was the last great chansonnette in France to die. For decades he had performed the songs of the greatest singers such as Jacques Brel and Brassens and the most beautiful texts of writers such as Françoise Sagan, Jacques Prévert, François Mauriac and Albert Camus.
Gréco was born on February 7, 1927 in Montpellier, France. He spent most of his childhood with his grandmother and in a monastery, as he hardly knew that his father and mother had joined the resistance during World War II. Although her mother and sister were victims of the Gestapo, she was one of the first French singers to appear in post-war Germany in 1959.
Discovered in the 1950s
She was discovered by the French philosopher and existentialist Jean-Paul Sartre in a cellar bar in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, the intellectual quarter of Paris in the 1950s. Through him she was also introduced to the artistic and intellectual elite of The time. Like her, Gréco wore black. Pale face, black hair and black clothes: Gréco stayed true to this style all her life. Therefore, the little diva was often called “Muse of Saint-Germain-des-Prés” and “Lady in black”.
Gréco was married several times, including the late actor Michel Piccoli. Legendary jazz trumpeter Miles Davis was one of the first lovers. In 1988 she married the pianist Gérard Jouannest, her longtime musical partner.
His exit from the music world was well prepared: with a tour that began in 2015, he thanked his loyal fans. You have to know when it’s time to stop, he said. She has been singing for 65 years, it is a long working life. Her farewell tour “Merci” also took her to Germany.
