France Gall

Isabelle Geneviève Marie Anne Gall, known as France Gall, born October 9, 1947, in the 12th arrondissement of Paris and died on January 7, 2018, in Neuilly-sur-Seine (Hauts-de-Seine), is a French singer.

She began singing and making music as a child with her brothers before recording her first album at the age of fifteen. She then became the symbol of a gently irreverent youth with hits such as Sacré Charlemagne and Laisse tomber les filles, which were sung in chorales and schools. Her popularity crossed French borders starting in 1965, when she won first place as France's candidate at the Eurovision Song Contest with the song Poupée de cire, poupée de son, written and composed by her regular collaborator Serge Gainsbourg. This song was translated into many languages, and France Gall became famous in Italy and especially in Germany, but also in Spain, where she was very popular in the early 1970s.

She achieved great popular success in France after meeting songwriter Michel Berger, whom she married in 1976. Their collaboration produced a series of hits from 1974 until the early 1990s, composed by Berger and performed by France Gall: La Déclaration d'amour, Si, maman si, Il jouait du piano debout, Résiste, Débranche !, Diego libre dans sa tête, Babacar, Ella, elle l'a, Viens, je t'emmène, or Évidemment.

The couple also created the rock opera Starmania, bringing together a wealth of popular artists from the 1970s and 1980s. France Gall performed the character of Cristal, and her song Besoin d'amour became a major success.

France Gall was also involved in charitable work, particularly against famine and drought in Mali, with the NGO Action Écoles.

France Gall and Michel Berger had just co-written a new album when he suddenly died on August 2, 1992. After the death of their daughter Pauline in 1997, she permanently left the stage, dedicating herself to creating and organizing a musical comedy in tribute to Michel Berger, titled Résiste, beginning in 2015.

France Gall sold over 20 million records worldwide.