Marcel Amont, a French music-hall icon famed for songs like “Bleu, blanc, blond,” passed away on Wednesday at the age of 93, according to his family. The family released a statement saying that the eccentric performer, who had a 75-year career, had passed away at his home in Saint-Cloud, a suburb of Paris.
Amont was born on April 1, 1929, in Bordeaux, France. In 1950, he relocated to Paris, where he began performing in cabarets. In 1956, he won a Grand Prix from the Academie Charles-Cros for his debut album and was the Olympia’s opening act for Edith Piaf. While he co-starred with Brigitte Bardot in the 1956 film The Bride Is Much Too Pretty, his acting career never took off.
His most productive years were in the first decade of the 1970s.
He had a gold record and a TV program in 1971, but when he tried his hand at musical comedy, “the reviews were wonderful but no one attended,” he said.
In 2019, Amont honored his 90th birthday with a concert at the Alhambra in Paris, which featured performances by musicians including Serge Lama and Nicoletta.
As a result of his decision to go to Paris in 1951 and abbreviate his surname to “make it more stylish,” he becomes an overnight sensation. He went from room to room, discovering Jacques Brel performing in the Patachou cabaret and meeting the likes of Aznavour and Brassens along the way. His friendship with the three creatives is unshakable. He was found in 1953 by Jean Nohain, who brought him into his company and featured him on his television show “36 candles” frequently. In 1954, however, the singer fell seriously ill and was hospitalized. He has been replaced by newcomer Fernand Raynaud.
After becoming the year’s big surprise, he performed alongside Juliette Gréco and Serge Gainsbourg on a public disc in 1956. The year was 1956, and he had just become famous. It was after his trip to the Alhambra that he was hired to open for Edith Piaf at the Olympia. His popularity exploded throughout those five weeks. Thereafter, he performs three times a day in various parts of the city. On the left bank, he visits Bobino, a large music venue. Following his breakthrough performance, he collaborated with Juliette Gréco and Serge Gainsbourg on a public CD that earned him the Grand Prix from the Charles-Cros School.
In the 1957 film The Bride Was Too Pretty, directed by Pierre Gaspard-Huit, he co-starred with Brigitte Bardot as a reporter-photographer. His debut hit, 1961’s Very Slowly, Very Gently, went extremely softly. In 1962, a blue-white blonde rose to fame. Charles Aznavour’s Mexicansong is likewise wildly popular.
Claude Nougaro wrote several titles just for him, and in 1962, Marcel Amont recorded a 45 rpm in Béarn to make his mother and father happy. Even though I do most of my singing in French, Béarnais is the language that really gets to me. During his time in France, he developed an interest in aviation and earned his pilot’s license so that he could travel quickly and easily from one location to another.
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