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Franco-Armenian singer, songwriter and actor Charles Aznavour, best known for his songs like "She", "Yesterday When I Was Young" and "For Mama" is dead. Aznavour, 94, died of a heart attack in his home in Mouries, France, according to his agent.
Aznavour has sold more than 180 million records and has appeared in more than 60 films. Bob Dylan considered Aznavour, sometimes called Gaulish Frank Sinatra, as "one of the greatest concert performers" he had ever seen. CNN named him Entertainer of the Century in 1998 and he received a star on the Walk of Fame in Hollywood last year.
French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted Monday: "Charles Aznavour was deeply French, deeply attached to his Armenian roots and known throughout the world. He accompanied the joys and pains of three generations. His masterpieces, the tone of his voice, his unique radiance will survive him for a long time. "
Aznavour, who continued to play in stadiums around the world almost until the end of his life, began his career at the age of 9 as an actor in Paris. Edith Piaf is one of those who helped her reach a global audience. He accompanied him on a tour of France and the United States 71 years ago. For eight years, he was part of Piaf's entourage and wrote several songs to him.
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Piaf, whom he described as "intelligent, instinctive, very funny …[with] a bad sense of humor, "taught him" to love and respect your audience, "he said. Variety last year. "To be loved by the public, you have to be honest, not cheat; you must give everything, without trying to trick or dismiss them.
He saw his audience as a confidant. "For nearly two hours, I take them on a trip. I tell them different stories in the songs, "he said. "Sometimes new songs, with difficult or unexpected topics, may surprise or shock them, but [part of] the relationship I have created with my audience over the years.
Aznavour's openness to relationships and emotions, his willingness to tackle the gloomy aspects of ordinary life and to examine the life of minority communities have helped him to stand out. This is a quality that seduced Piaf. "What she liked in my writing, is the fact that I was different, that it was a new way of writing, that I was expressing myself. differently and that it was very unusual at the time, and sometimes she was saying: "You're going too far."
In 1972, he published a song about the life of a homosexual man titled "As They Say," titled "What makes a man a man" in English. His entourage had tried to dissuade him, saying that this could jeopardize his career because of the climate of homophobia that prevailed, but he nevertheless continued.
Aznavour's approach to song writing comes from a natural curiosity about people. "I've always been interested in observing human behavior," he said. He tried to imitate "the freedom of painters, sculptors and writers. They could [depict] characters, landscapes and nudes without being vulgar, and that's what I tried to achieve with my writing: total freedom to tackle any subject, use any word if necessary.
Aznavour's partnerships with British-born British songwriter Herbert Kretzmer helped him break into the English-speaking market, including "Yesterday, When I Was Young" and "She". Kretzmer's career was also appreciated: These two songs prompted him to ask Kretzmer to write the lyrics of "Les Miserables", which earned him a Tony and a Grammy.
Many Aznavour songs have been taken up by other singers, such as Roy Clark with "Yesterday, When I Was Young", Ray Charles with "For Mama", Dylan with "The Times we Known", Minnelli with "What Makes a Man a Man" and Elvis Costello with "She" for the soundtrack of Julia Roberts' Notting Hill. Aznavour sang duets with many singers, including Sting in "Love Is New Everyday", Celine Dion in "You and Me". and Sinatra on "you make me so young".
In addition to being a singer and songwriter, Aznavour has starred in more than 90 films and TV series, including Francois Truffaut's flagship film "Shoot the Piano Player", "Volker Schlondorff's Oscar-winning film", "The Tin Drum "and" Ararat "from Atom Egoyan. . Even the legendary French poet-filmmaker Jean Cocteau was a fan who launched it in his 1959 film "Testament of Orpheus".
Talk to Variety Last year, Frederic Boyer, Artistic Director of the Tribeca Film Festival, paid tribute to Aznavour's talent as an actor, regretting that he had not had major roles in Truffaut's blockbuster films. "He was a super talented actor," said Boyer. The Academy of Arts and Techniques of Cinema of France was of the same opinion and, in 1997, celebrated Aznavour with an honorary Caesar.
Aznavour's workshop was perfected from an early age. He was born on May 22, 1924 in Paris, Shannon Varenagh Aznavourian, of Armenian parents who had taken refuge in the French capital. Both parents were actors and this fed his writing and singing. "I learned all aspects of stage art: dance, play, mime," he said. Variety. "I was writing music based on classic sonnets written by Corneille or Racine, because I thought all of this would give me the freedom and the tools to tell the stories of my songs and make them credible."
Singing could be a form of narration, in his opinion. "I think I became one of the first singer-songwriters to write songs like little plays or movies and play them on stage," he said.
His method during the performance was to assume the characters that he had created in his songs as an actor would get him into their minds. "I become the hero of each of my songs," he said.
Aznavour has also received praise for his humanitarian work. In 1989, he brought together more than 80 showbiz friends, including Minnelli and Dionne Warwick, to record "For You, Armenia", a fundraiser for the victims of the Armenian earthquake of December 7, 1988.
He continued to raise funds for Armenia and founded the Aznavour Foundation to help "Armenians around the world, thus helping Armenia to become a self-sufficient country," he said. He was ambassador of Armenia in Switzerland and his representative at UNESCO in Paris.
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