Michel Berger

A true tour de force of French popular music, the renowned singer and songwriter Michel Berger reigned supreme for two decades – scoring hits for national stars like Johnny Hallyday, Françoise Hardy, and his wife France Gall, as well as composing an acclaimed musical in Starmania – left a lasting impact on the country's cultural landscape before his untimely death from a heart attack at the age of 44. Born Michel Jean Hamburger on 28 November 1947 in the Parisian suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine, the son of Jewish parents, celebrated physician Dr. Jean Hamburger and Annette Haas, a concert pianist of Swiss-Jewish origin, Michel Berger was taught piano by his mother from an early age. He later began exploring the fields of composition and orchestration, picking up a number of other instruments, while developing an interest in the R&B and rock & roll sounds of the era. He rose to fame in the '60s for his rendition of hit song "Salut les copains", which led to a role at EMI as a producer and songwriter, where he became known for writing Bourvil's "Les Girafes" (1967), among other tunes. He shifted to Warner in the '70s and struck up a fruitful relationship with award-winning singer Véronique Sanson, producing her early albums, before scoring a breakthrough in 1973 for his work on Message Personnel, the 14th album and comeback LP by François Hardy, which was instrumental in helping to relaunch her career. He turned his focus to France Gall in the mid-'70s, writing her 1973 album La Déclaration, producing all of her albums from 1975 onwards, and marrying her on 22 June 1976. In 1978, he composed the national hit musical Starmania with lyrics by Luc Plamondon, which starred France Gall, among others, and enjoyed success in France throughout the '80s and '90s. He also worked on film scores and the Orangina advertisement jingle during that time. On 2 August 1992, just a few weeks after the release of his first album of duets with France Gall (Double jeu) and six months after the death of his father, Michel Berger suffered a fatal heart attack after a tennis match at Ramatuelle in Southern France. A number of posthumous compilations have since been issued, including Anthologie (2021) and Vivre (2022).

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