Barbara: the elfin singer, actress and french national treasure

Barbara (1930-1997) was an iconic French singer/songwriter. Born in Paris, her real name was Monique Andrée Serf. Incredibly famous in France, she is almost unknown abroad, although her

songs are instantly familiar even to people who do not recognise the singer. During WW2 the family moved to Roanne and then to Tarbes, until finally in 1943 they went into hiding for two

years. After the war the family returned to Paris. In her unfinished autobiography, Barbara detailed the incestuous abuse she suffered at the hands of her father from the age of 10. Despite

reporting him, the police did nothing and the abuse continued until her father finally abandoned the family when Barbara was 19. By this time she had already taken the first steps towards

what became an illustrious career. JACQUES BREL ENCOURAGED HER TO WRITE HER OWN SONGS Unable to pursue her dream of becoming a pianist due to repeated surgeries on her right hand, she

studied singing, but work was hard to come by. In 1950, she went to Brussels with a cousin who turned out to be violent, and found herself penniless and friendless. A chance meeting with a

commune of artists led to a few cabaret appearances singing Edith Piaf numbers. Every time, she was heckled by unimpressed audiences. READ MORE: FROM POVERTY TO GLORY: LIFE OF LEGENDARY

FRENCH SINGER EDITH PIAF Around this period she met Jacques Brel, who was also unsuccessfully playing the same cabaret circuit. Their friendship endured until his death in 1978, and Barbara

continued dedicating projects to him all her life. He encouraged her to write her own songs, which she did, in the popular style known as _Chanson Française_. In 1953, she married Claude

Sluys. The marriage only lasted for two years and there were no children. DRESSED IN BLACK, HER SONGS DEALT WITH HEARTACHE AND LOSS Barbara made her first recordings on ‘78s, and at the end

of 1955, she returned to Paris, where she finally managed to find work as a singer. She was a tall brunette with an elfin look; pixie hair and huge dark eyes. Deeply traumatised by her

father’s abuse and her wartime childhood, she often dressed in black, and her songs dealt with heartache and loss. She appealed to the student crowd in the Quartier Latin. She made her first

television appearance in 1958, and in the same year recorded her first ‘45, as well as her first album, _Barbara à l’Ecluse_. READ MORE: 6 SONGS TO CAPTURE THE RHYTHMS OF THE FRENCH

LANGUAGE THE SONG _NANTES _WAS ABOUT HER ABUSIVE FATHER In 1959, learning that her father was dying in Nantes, she hurried to his deathbed, but arrived too late. She expressed her mixed

emotions of panic, distrust, hatred and despair in one of her biggest hits – _Nantes_, released in 1963. In between times, she released two more albums, _Barbara Chante Jacques Brel_ and

_Barbara Chante Brassens_. In 1961, she met Hubert Ballay, an old flame, and wrote _Dis, Quand Reviendras-Tu?_ which, when she performed it alongside _Nante_s, propelled her to stardom.

Phillips signed her to their record label and Georges Brassens asked her to open his new show. HER SONG G_ÖTTINGEN _BECAME A UNITED EUROPE ANTHEM Engagements in the German cities of

Göttingen and Hamburg led to an album recorded in German, called _Barbara ‘Singt Barbara’_, and in the 1980s as Franco-German reconciliation gathered pace, her song _Göttingen_ was used as

something of a European anthem. The song was played on the eve of the Maastricht Referendum and in 2002 was even added to the official French education syllabus. Throughout the 1960s Barbara

enjoyed rave reviews for all her work. She recorded and toured in between television appearances. In 1967, she was in Italy when she heard that her mother had died. During this time she

wrote her massive hit _L’Aigle Noir_ about her father. Although he is not directly referenced in the song, which deals with death and forgiveness, in her autobiography she admitted that it

was about him. READ MORE: 10 FRENCH SONGS THAT HAVE SPARKED DEBATE OVER THE YEARS AWARDS, ACTING AND SELL-OUT CONCERTS In 1965, she won the _Grand Prix du Disque_ for her album _Barbara

Chante Barbara_, and at the presentation ceremony she tore up her certificate, distributing the pieces to her technicians as a sign of her gratitude for their work. In 1969, at the end of a

sell-out concert at the Olympia in Paris, she stunned France by announcing that she was retiring from touring. In the event, however, she decided to honour the contracts she had already

signed until 1971, and went on giving live performances after that date. It was at this point she tried her hand at acting, appearing in three feature films; _Aussi Loin Que l’Amour_ (1971)

directed by Frédéric Rossif, _Franz_ (1972) directed by Jacques Brel, and _L’Oiseau Rare_ (1973) directed by Jean-Claude Brialy. She also made a TV film called _J__e suis né à Venise_

directed by Maurice Béjart. Along with an appearance as a stripper in _Le Toubib, Médecin du Gang _(1956) directed by Ivan Govar, these were the only films she ever made. She hit the road

again, touring all over the world, including Japan, Canada, Belgium, Israel, Holland, and Switzerland. She made regular television appearances, including in 1972 singing a duo with Johnny

Hallyday. READ MORE: THESE 10 SONGS CAN HELP YOU IMPROVE YOUR FRENCH OVERDOSE IN 1974 WAS AN ACCIDENT Barbara had achieved her dreams, she was rich and famous. But contentment eluded her. In

1973, she bought a farmhouse in Précy-sur-Marne (30km east of Paris), where she transformed the barn into a theatre space in which to rehearse. In 1974, she took an overdose, but was

discovered in time and rushed to hospital in a coma. Later, she said that she had not intended to commit suicide, and that she had only wanted to sleep. By this time, her concerts had become

sell-out events, with every song receiving standing ovations. READ MORE: WHEN NAMING PLACES AND STREETS, FRANCE SHOULD HONOUR WOMEN TOO SHE SAID SHE OWED EVERYTHING TO HER FANS In 1981,

singing her song _Regarde_, which she had composed to celebrate Mitterand’s presidential win, her voice cracked, permanently damaging her vocal cords. Far from preventing her from singing,

however, her new dusky voice added to the emotional impact of her performances. The same year, she won another _Grand Prix du Disque_ for her album _Seule_ (Alone), which was one of the

highest-grossing albums of the year. She developed the habit of finishing her concerts with her song, _Ma plus belle histoire d’amour c’est vous_ (My best love affair is with you), which was

dedicated to her fans. In 1985, she co-wrote the musical play _Lily Passion_, an autobiographical tale of a singer who owed everything to her fans, and a murderer who killed someone every

time he heard her sing. The show was performed with Barbara in the leading role at the Zénith in Paris. At a Gala at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, she played the music while her friend

Mikhail Barychnikov danced. FREE CONDOMS AVAILABLE AT CONCERTS She was very active in the fight against HIV/AIDS when it broke out in the 1980s, becoming an effective fundraiser. She also

made a point of visiting AIDS patients in hospitals and prisons at a time when many people were frightened to touch anyone with HIV, let alone AIDS. She also made condoms freely available at

her concerts. Audience members could help themselves from baskets. In 1988, President Mitterand made her a _Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur_, the latest in a string of prestigious awards.

She continued to give concerts and tour all over the world until in 1993, she was forced to cancel a series of dates in Paris because of her deteriorating health. She was back at work in

1994, however, winning the _Victoire de l’Artiste Interprète Féminine de l’Année_ (she won it again in 1997), and kicking off yet another tour, in Dijon. In 1996, after a gap of 16 years,

she went back into the studio to record a dozen new songs for an album called _Barbara_. The album came out in November of the same year, and sold a million copies in the first 12 hours of

being on sale. DIED IN 1997 BEFORE FINISHING HER AUTOBIOGRAPHY Exhausted and ill from endless dieting and swallowing handfuls of uppers and downers alongside painkillers for her damaged

vocal cords, Barbara abandoned live performances and settled down to write her autobiography. It was never finished. She died from complications stemming from an infection in Paris in 1997,

and was buried in the family plot in the Cimetière de Bagneux, in southwest Paris. Two years after her death, her personal effects were auctioned off and dispersed, despite the efforts of

her fans to have them preserved as a museum collection. The nearby Line 4 metro station opened in 2022 and was named Barbara. RELATED ARTICLES ALAIN DELON: FRENCH CINEMA LEGEND DOGGED BY

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