Gilbert Bécaud

Gilbert Bécaud earned the nickname "Monsieur 100,000 Volts" through his electrifying stage energy, rising to become one of France's foremost vocalists throughout the 1950s and 1960s while maintaining a show-business presence that stretched across more than four decades. His signature 1961 release "Et Maintenant" stands as his defining achievement, later transformed into the enduring pop standard "What Now My Love" for English-language audiences. Additional pursuits included occasional film roles, songwriting credits exceeding 150 titles, and ambitious compositional projects such as a Christmas cantata, an opera, and a Broadway musical, yet his greatest influence remained as a performer. Unlike the static cabaret singers of his time, Bécaud's vigorous delivery routinely whipped crowds into a matching frenzy of excitement. He established himself as a fixture at Paris's historic Olympia concert theater, logging more than 30 appearances there—surpassing every other artist. A lifelong heavy smoker, he died of lung cancer in 2001 yet continued performing until nearly the very end.

Born François Gilbert Léopold Silly on October 24, 1927, in the Mediterranean port of Toulon, France, he displayed early piano talent and entered the Conservatoire de Nice at age nine. World War II interrupted those studies; he departed school in 1942 to rejoin his family in Albertville and assist the French Resistance. Once the conflict ended, the family relocated to Paris, where the twenty-year-old began accompanying cabaret and nightclub acts at the keyboard. Around the same period he started scoring films under the name François Bécaud and crossed paths with songwriter Maurice Vidalin, whose influence steered him toward traditional chanson material. In 1948 he began supplying songs to vocalist Marie Bizet; through that connection he encountered Pierre Delanoé, forming a lasting and fruitful creative alliance with both writers.

By 1950 Bécaud had secured a touring pianist position with Jacques Pills via Bizet. During an American engagement the pair met Edith Piaf and supplied her with the hit "Je T'Ai Dans la Peau." After Piaf and Pills wed, Bécaud briefly served as her accompanist and manager. In 1952 he adopted the professional name Gilbert Bécaud, made his singing debut, married, and forged songwriting ties with Louis Amade and the young Charles Aznavour. Piaf's support helped him land his first recording contract, yielding the 1953 singles "Mes Mains" (by Delanoé) and "Les Croix" (by Amade) that marked him as an emerging talent. Early the following year he opened the re-launch night at the Olympia; his February 1955 headlining return produced a rapturous response from teenage fans that damaged theater seating. French journalists seized on the commotion, dubbing him "Monsieur 100,000 Volts" and propelling him to national prominence.

Further successes arrived through the rest of the decade, among them "La Corrida" (1956), "Les Marchés de Provence" (1957), "Le Jour où la Pluie Viendra" (1957, co-written with Delanoé), and "C'est Merveilleux l'Amour" (1958). The latter title reached English-speaking listeners when Jane Morgan's version, "The Day the Rains Came," topped British charts in 1958, inaugurating a pattern of Bécaud compositions gaining wider traction through translations. Extensive international touring reinforced his expanding reputation. Film appearances also began, starting with Le Pays d'où Je Viens in 1956 and continuing with Casino de Paris (1957) and Croquemitoufle (1959). In 1960 he received the Grand Prix du Disque and unveiled the televised Christmas cantata "L'enfant à l'Étoile" from a Paris church on Christmas Eve. Another major success, "Je T'Appartiens," crossed the Atlantic as the Everly Brothers' U.S. Top Ten hit "Let It Be Me," later interpreted by James Brown, Jerry Butler, Willie Nelson, Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, Nina Simone, and numerous others.

The pinnacle of Bécaud's recording career arrived with 1961's "Et Maintenant," co-authored with Delanoé and destined to rank among the great French pop classics. Its English counterpart, "What Now My Love," entered the standard repertoire through versions by Shirley Bassey, Sonny & Cher (a 1966 U.S. Top 20), Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Andy Williams, and countless additional artists. In 1962 he completed the opera L'Opéra d'Aran, which received its Paris premiere that October under Georges Prêtre; he toured the work across Europe for much of 1964. Pop releases continued unabated: "Un Dimanche à Orly" (1963), the landmark "Nathalie" (1964), "Quand Il Est Mort le Poète" (1965), the contentious pro-de Gaulle single "Tu le Regretteras" (1965), and "L'Important C'est le Rose" (1967). "Seul Sur Son Étoile" became Vikki Carr's 1967 U.S. Top Five hit "It Must Be Him." Global touring and frequent French television appearances filled the late 1960s.

Throughout the 1970s Bécaud emphasized live work over studio output yet still charted occasionally and retained substantial popularity amid shifting French tastes. The 1970 single "La Solitude, Ça N'Existe Pas" marked another major success; brief acting returns followed in 1972–1973 with Un Homme Libre and Toute Une Vie. Exhaustion forced a late-1973 hiatus, while years of smoking had begun to affect his voice. He resumed an intense schedule and, early in 1974, was named Chevalier of the Legion d'Honneur by longtime collaborator Louis Amade, then serving as a senior civil servant. His sole British hit arrived in 1975 when "A Little Love and Understanding," the English rendering of "Un Peu d'Amour et d'Amitie," reached the Top Ten. New partnerships, including work with Pierre Grosz on 1976's "Mais où Sont-Ils les Jours Heureux?," and further Vidalin collaborations such as 1977's "L'Indifférence," sustained his momentum.

Following a late-decade pause, Bécaud co-wrote Neil Diamond's adult-contemporary hits "September Morn" (1980) and "Love on the Rocks" (1981), then revived his own recording profile with the 1982 success "Desirée." The stage musical Madame Roza, created with Julian More, transferred from France to Broadway in 1987 after stronger American reception. Switching labels to BMG, he issued Fais-Moi Signe in 1988. After his mother's death in 1991 he launched an extensive world tour before contemplating retirement, first releasing the autobiographical Un Vie Comme un Roman in early 1993. Subsequent years were spent resting and tending his health at various residences, including a Seine houseboat in Paris, though he continued writing and returned with Ensemble in late 1996. His seventieth birthday in 1997 prompted another Olympia residency; the understated acoustic album Faut Faire Avec... appeared in 1999. By year's end lung cancer had been diagnosed, leading to a final Olympia series. His last concert took place in Switzerland in July 2000; he completed the farewell album Le Cap before dying aboard his Paris houseboat on December 18, 2001.