Remembering Edith Piaf, born on this in 1915

Edith Piaf (short biography)

(Edith Giovanna Gassion; Paris, 1915 – Provence, 1963) French singer and lyricist. His life was marked by misfortune from his earliest childhood, which exerted a decisive influence on his interpretive style, lyrical and torn at the same time. Her helpless appearance earned her the name by which she is universally known: Piaf (“sparrow”).

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Daughter of an acrobat contortionist and a cabaret singer, her childhood was sad. His parents separated very soon; The mother, drunk and sick, left custody of Edith to her husband (also an alcoholic) and a paternal grandmother. Given the family’s precarious economic situation, Edith had to earn a few coins by singing in the streets and cafes of Paris.

The situation worsened when Edith, at 16, became pregnant. In 1932, he had a daughter whom she named Marcelle, but she died when she was two years old. The singer’s life was marked by this tragedy.Edith Piaf continued singing in cafes and clubs on Pigalle Street, in the world that surrounded the less desirable neighborhoods of Paris at the time.

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Her life changed when, singing in the street, a very elegant passerby stopped to listen to her. That man turned out to be Louis Leplée, owner of the Gerny’s cabaret, one of the best-known in Paris. After a short trial, Edith was hired immediately. Her success did not take long to come and she was known as “Môme Piaf” (“little sparrow”). Leplée himself instructed Edith to turn her into a great figure in cabaret. It was 1937, and a new star had been born: Edith Piaf.

However, life punished the young Piaf again, as Leplée was found shot dead in the club she ran; the singer was suspected of the murder. The press accused her and the elitist Parisian society turned its back on her. She mixed again with the worst of the slums of Paris, singing in slums and leading a disorderly life.

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Her consecration came after the Second World War , when she became the muse of poets and intellectuals of existentialist Paris and earned the unconditional admiration of the public. A lyricist known as Raymond Asso, who was her lover, helped her overcome.

Edith Piaf took flight and returned to the great stages of France, Europe and America. She became friends with the actress Marlene Dietrich and became the grande dame of French song, helping emerging talents such as Charles Aznavour , Georges Moustaki, Yves Montand and Gilbert Bécaud , and interacting with intellectuals such as Jean Cocteau .

In 1946, she traveled to New York and met the love of his life, the boxer Marcel Cerdan, who died in 1949 when the plane she was traveling in crashed. This plunged Edith into a deep depression again, which she overcame with alcohol and tranquilizers. It was also the time of his greatest hits: La vie en rose or Les trois cloches.

Edith Piaf – Non, Je ne regrette rien

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