French singer Juliette Gréco has died from a stroke aged 93, after rising to fame with a career that spanned eight decades.
The legendary songstress is said to have near St Tropez, in the South of France.
Her family confirmed the news of her death in a statement shared with AFP, writing: “Juliette Gréco died this Wednesday surrounded by her family in the house she loved so much.
“Her life was one like no other. She was still making French songs shine at the age of 89.”
Gréco’s meaning in life was to sing, as she confessed the restrictions of the Covid pandemic dampened her plans to perform in an interview back in July.
She told Telerama Magazine: “I miss it terribly. My reason for living is to sing! To sing is everything, there is the body, the instinct, the head.”
French singer Juliette Gréco has died from a stroke aged 93 (Image: Redferns via Getty Images)
Born in 1927, Juliette was imprisoned by the Nazis during the Second World War but afterward began performing in cellar clubs and cafes.
The singing sensation became a muse to philosophers and writers including Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus.
Juliette was also a celebrated actor, working with some of cinema’s greats, such as Jean Cocteau and Ingrid Bergman, Orson Welles and Ava Gardner.
In France she achieved great success in the mid-1960s, playing the role of a schizophrenic in the spooky TV miniseries Belphégor.
The singer’s career spanned eight decades (Image: The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images)
She sang with France’s best balladeers Jacques Brel and Georges Brassens, and her haunting rendition of Sous le Ciel de Paris (Under Paris Skies) is one of the classics of the French chanson.
She was loved internationally too, from Germany to Japan and beyond – in 1967, she sang in front of 60,000 people in Berlin and in 2005 released an album of songs in German.
Juliette only stopped performing aged 89 after a farewell tour.
The singer was also known as a style icon and an artistic muse to photographers and writers.
Juliette was imprisoned by the Nazis during the Second World War but afterward began performing in cellar clubs and cafes (Image: Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)
She dated Miles Davis, roamed the streets of St Tropez with Orson Welles, and spurred Darryl F. Zanuck to try to lure her to Hollywood.
Juliette’s only daughter, Laurence-Marie, died in 2016.
She was married three times, including to actor Michel Piccoli, and is survived by a granddaughter.
Fans have rushed to social media to pay tribute to the French icon.
Taking to Twitter, one fan penned: “Juliette Gréco died today and I can’t believe someone as dazzling as her was even still alive in this petty world.”
Another added: “Unforgotten to anyone who ever was so lucky to hear her live. Yesterday for no reason it seemed I listened to her wonderful rendition of “Parapluis De Cherbourg. Today we learn that yesterday she died. Quelle perte. R.I.P.”
A third posted: “Rest in Power Juliette Gréco. Greek fire extinguished – another icon of my aspirant youth.”
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
