Édith Piaf was a French singer who is most known for her songs La Vie en Rose and Non, je ne regrette rien, Milord, and Padam, Padam. She was born in 1915 in Belleville, Paris. Her birth name was Édith Giovanna Gassion. Her mother was a singer and circus performer and her father was a street performer. Her singing career began in 1935 when a nightclub owner named Louis Leplée discovered her and invited her to sing at his club. Her performance earned her the nickname La Môme Piaf, which translates to “The Little Sparrow”. Leplée taught her the basics of stage presence and told her to always wear a black dress, something that became her trademark. In 1936, Louis Leplee was murdered and Édith was questioned and accused as an accessory, but was later acquitted. This got her a lot of bad press, so she enlisted Raymond Asso to help rehabilitate her image. He changed her stage name to Édith Piaf and commission Marguerite Monnot to write songs based on Édith’s previous life on the streets. She wrote and performed her signature song La Vie en Rose in 1945. During the second world war, she became one of Paris’ most popular entertainers and after the war, she toured in South America, Europe, and the US. She died in 1963 from an aneurysm that was caused by liver failure stemming from her addictions to alcohol and several medications. Due to her lifestyle, she was denied a funeral mass, but her funeral procession and the ceremony at the cemetery were attended by thousands of people.
Some discussion questions
Have you listened to her music before?
If you have, which song is your favourite?
Is there anything about her that surprised you?