Charles Dumont

Known for composing the immortal "Non, je ne regrette rien" for Edith Piaf, Charles Dumont has worked with other artists of international stature, and also led a career as a performer in love with the French language. Born in Cahors, Lot, on March 26, 1929, he fell in love with jazz thanks to Louis Armstrong, and learned to play the trumpet while beginning to compose songs with lyricist Michel Vaucaire for his wife Cora Vaucaire. A bar pianist in Paris, he passed the Sacem competition and was hired by Philips, which placed his compositions with Marie José, Dalida, Maria Candido and Claude Goaty. In 1956, he and his partner composed a march he wanted to hear sung by Edith Piaf. Unenthused at first, Piaf, encouraged by her entourage, reconsidered her position and received the tandem on October 5, 1960: "Non, je ne regrette rien" was to prove one of his greatest international successes, in the twilight of his career. From then on, the man who had composed for Colette Renard, Luis Mariano, Marcel Amont and Annie Cordy wrote some thirty songs for the "lady in black", and received offers from all over the world. He composed for Jean-Claude Pascal, Dalida, Juliette Gréco and Barbra Streisand, among others, while his hit toured the world with covers in every language, from Milva to Shirley Bassey. He also began to record on his own account, composing for television and cinema, notably the music for the 1967 series Michel Vaillant, and for Jacques Tati's films Trafic (1971) and Parade (1974). His repertoire, centered on feelings of love, expanded with the hits "Ta cigarette après l'amour" (1972), "Une chanson", "C'est difficile un grand amour", "Toi la femme mariée" (1975) and "À faire l'amour sans amour" (1976), in between regular appearances at the Paris Olympia. Honored by the Académie Charles-Cros in 1973 and the Académie française in 1987, Charles Dumont celebrated his 50th anniversary in 2004 at Le Bataclan (Paris), before returning to the Olympia in 2009 and joining the Âge tendre et tête de bois tour in 2010, following the release of his latest album Je T'invite. The composer, aged 95, died on the night of November 17-18, 2024.

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