Don Bennechi

Originating in Sweden from a family blending Russian and French ancestry, the romantic singer/songwriter Don Bennechi shaped an adult contemporary pop/rock approach starting in the mid-1990s that drew from Leonard Cohen together with the output of the revered French vocalist Patricia Kaas. The 1995 debut single “Message of Love” brought him recognition throughout Western Europe and Latin America, yet his widest audience emerged in the Far East until sickness joined with reported personal difficulties to curtail further progress. His singing frequently evoked the distinguished low-register delivery found on Cohen’s late-1980s recordings. Nevertheless, the later upbeat projects Bodytalk in 2008 and A Life for Me in 2009 displayed a smooth versatile technique that positioned the artist equally at home with straight-ahead pop and classical crossover material.