Chanson’s legend, Juliette Gréco, has died

Juliette Gréco was the great lady of the French chanson. For decades she sang about life and love. Now the Lady in Black is dead.

With her dark voice, Juliette Gréco breathed the most beautiful songs about love and suffering on the microphone. Now, at the age of 93, the great lady of the French chanson has said goodbye to the world of music forever. The French singer died on Wednesday at her home in Ramatuelle, in southern France, according to the French news agency AFP, citing the family. She left hundreds of songs and performances for posterity, including “Sous le ciel de Paris” or “Deshabillez-moi”.

After Édith Piaf and Barbara, Gréco was the last great French chansonnette to leave the stage. For decades he has 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. “Si tu t’imagines” or “L’Éternel féminin” were some of her greatest hits at the end of the 1940s.

It was discovered by the French philosopher and existentialist Jean-Paul Sartre in a basement of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, the quintessential Parisian intellectual neighborhood, in the 1950s. Through him it 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 the muse of Saint-Germain-des-Prés and Lady in Black.

Gréco was born on February 7, 1927 in Montpellier, France. He spent most of his childhood with his grandmother and in a monastery, because 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.

It wasn’t just in his songs that he was gripping and stormy. Gréco was married several times, including the late actor Michel Piccoli. Legendary black jazz trumpeter Miles Davis was an early lover. In 1988 she married the pianist Gérard Jouannest, her longtime musical partner.

He had prepared well for his exit from the world of music. 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 “Merci” farewell tour had also taken her to Germany.

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