What did France Gall died of? Death, Musics, Family

France Gall was a French yé-yé singer who rose to fame from her teenage and won the Eurovision Song Contest for Luxembourg.

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Early Life

France Gall was born as Isabelle Geneviève Marie Anne Gall on October 9, 1947, in Paris.

What did France Gall died of? – Image source: twitter/tnpcollection

Her parents were famous lyricist, Robert Gall and singer, Cécile Berthier, the daughter of Paul Berthier (the co-founder of Les Petits Chanteurs á LA Croix de Bois).

Did France Gall have siblings?

Gall was the only daughter of her parents with two brothers: Patrice and Philippe. Her father encouraged her to record songs and send demos to music producer Denis Bourgeois at an early age.

She, however, got his attention after auditioning for Bourgeois, at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris.

Subsequently, she got signed to Philips, where the Bourgeois worked as an artistic director for Serge Gainsbourg.

He encouraged her to record four tracks with Alain Goraguer, a French jazz musician and composer.

What did France Gall do?

France Gall’s first single, “Ne sois pas si bête” (“Don’t Be So Stupid”), was first airplay on her 16th birthday and soon became a hit with 200,000 copies sold.

Gainsbourg, a songwriter who had written songs for many top French singers, was asked by Bourgeois to write songs for Gall.

He wrote, “N’écoute pas les idoles” (“Don’t listen to the idols”), which was her second single. The song was a huge success reaching the top of the French Charts in March 1964 and staying there for three weeks.

Gall’s live debut took place at the opening for Sacha Distal in Belgium.

Unlike the majority of her contemporaries who sang an adaptation of Anglophone hits, Gall teamed up with Distel’s business manager, Maurice Tézé, in other to create an original repertoire.

Her association with Gainsbourg produced many hit songs, the likes of 1964 “Laisse tomber les filles” (“Leave the girls alone”), among others.

In 1965, after much persuasion, She gave in to her manager and recorded a single intended for children—the song “Sacré Charlemagne,” written by her father. The song soon became a hit, peaking at number two in France and five in Turkey.

France Gall was selected to represent Luxembourg in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1965.

She choose the song “Poupée de cire, poupée de son.”, by Gainsbourg to present at the finals of the contest.

The song was allegedly booed in reversals for being different from the songs usually sang in the contest.

However, the jury was impressed by it, which lead to her winning the grand prize. Winning the competition made her more famous outside Europe.

She went ahead to record the song “Poupée de cire, poupée de son” in French, German, Italian and Japanese.

She also recorded a hit by Eddy Marnay and Guy Magenta titled “L’Amérique” (“America”) In 1965, and other singles that chart successfully.

Gall went on tour for several months around France.
In 1966, she appeared in the television film “Viva Morandi,” where she played “La Grâce” and sang “Le’s Sucettes” alongside Christine Lebail.

France Gall Bio | Controversies

In 1966, France Gall’s children song “Les Leçons particulières”, was subject to public displeasure. The song, which means ” Private Lessons,” was said to have carried a sexual undertone.

The same issue applied to another of her children’s music J’ai retrouvé mon Chien”.

That same year, she released another song, “Les Sucettes,” written by Gainsbourg.

France, who was 18 at that time, revealed that she had no idea of the song’s double meaning and felt betrayed by her adults.

As a result of this, she refused to sing any of her songs written by Gainsbourg. Gall left for Japan shortly after the release of the song.

France Gall Bio | Personal Life

France Gall, in June 1976, married her collaborator and songwriter, Michel Berger, together they had two children: Pauline and Raphaël. Pauline was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis after her birth.

Gall decided to alternate her career in other to take care of her daughter. Her husband Michel, in 1992, died of a heart attack, while her daughter Pauline was killed in December 1997.