Jacques Higelin

Jacques Higelin
Higelin in 2007
Higelin in 2007
Background information
Born
Jacques Joseph Victor Higelin

(1940-10-18)18 October 1940
Brou-sur-Chantereine, Île-de-France, France
Died6 April 2018(2018-04-06) (aged 77)
Nogent-sur-Marne, France
GenresFrench pop
Chanson
OccupationSinger-songwriter
InstrumentsGuitar, piano, banjo, accordion, harmonica, melodica, harpsichord
Years active1969–2018
Websitewww.jacqueshigelin.fr

Jacques Joseph Victor Higelin (French pronunciation: [ʒak ʒozɛf viktɔʁ iʒlɛ̃]; 18 October 1940 – 6 April 2018) was a French pop singer who rose to prominence in the early 1970s.

Early life

Higelin was born on 18 October 1940. His father, Paul, a railway worker and musician of Alsatian descent, introduced his two sons to various forms of music. Their mother, Renée, was of Belgian descent, and raised both the boys.[1][2]

Career

Higelin's entertainment career began at age 14, when he left school to work as a stunt double. While playing several minor roles in motion pictures, Higelin was taught to play the guitar by Henri Crolla, a French-Italian jazz guitarist and a composer of film scores. By the early 1960s, Higelin was attending the René Simon drama school, where he won the François Périer award.

After his mandatory two-year military service, he resumed his film career around 1963 but began to focus more on music. By the end of the decade, he had become very active in the artistic underground in Paris and began to channel his music towards radical activism.

Higelin began attracting popular attention through his live concerts, typically held in smaller venues, and released his first solo album in 1971. By the middle of the 1970s, Higelin had become one of France's most successful pop musicians, and he remains influential to this day.

In the 1970s, Higelin was in a relationship with a Vietnamese woman named Kuelan Nguyen. They had a son together.

In 1976, Nguyen accompanied Higelin during the recording of an album at the Château d'Hérouville, where Iggy Pop was also recording his debut solo album The Idiot. Pop became infatuated with Nguyen and had an affair with her. The two did not speak the same language, communicating through gestures and expressions. The incident inspired his song "China Girl", which he wrote with David Bowie. Although not successful when Pop released it, the song later became a hit when re-recorded by Bowie in 1983 for his album Let's Dance, charting in the UK and the United States.[3][4]

Personal life and death

Higelin had three children, each by a different woman. They all became artists:

  • Arthur H, singer, born to Nicole Courtois in 1966[5]
  • Kên Higelin, actor, born to Kuelan Nguyen in 1972[5]
  • daughter Izïa, singer, born to dancer Aziza Zakine in 1990. Higelin married Zakine in 2011.[6]

Higelin died on 6 April 2018 in Paris at the age of 77.[7]

Discography

Albums

Studio albums (non-charting)
Studio albums (charting)
Year Album Credited to Peak positions
FRA
[8] 		BEL
(Wa)
 SWI
1974 BBH 75 Benarroch, Boissezon, Higelin (BBH) 117  –  –
1998 Paradis païen Higelin 7  –  –
2006 Amor doloroso Jacques Higelin 7 83 97
2010 Coup de foudre Higelin 2 20 51
2013 Beau repaire Higelin 5 49  –
2016 Higelin 75 Higelin 6
[9] 		36 74
Live albums (non-charting)
  • 1981: Higelin à Mogador (triple album, 2 CDs)
  • 1983: Casino de Paris (1 album, 1 CD)
  • 1986: Higelin à Bercy (triple album, 2 CD)
  • 1990: Follow the Live (double album, 1 CD)
  • 1992: Higelin Le Rex (double album, 1 CD)
Live albums (charting)
Year Album Credited to Peak positions
FRA
[8] 		BEL
(Wa)
 SWI
2000 Higelin Live 2000 Jacques Higelin 60  –  –
2005 Higelin enchante Trenet Jacques Higelin 36 83  –
2007 En plein Bataclan Jacques Higelin 151  –  –
2010 Paris/Zénith 18 October 2010 Higelin 200  –  –
Albums with Brigitte Fontaine
Album with Areski Belkacem
Compilations
  • 1973 – Jacques Canetti présente Jacques Higelin
  • 1980 – Inédits 1970
  • 2005 – Entre deux gares

Filmography

References

  1. ^ Higelin, Jacques; Lehoux, Valérie (2015). Je vis pas ma vie, je la rêve. Fayard. p. 7.
  2. ^ Chanter pour la paix. Paris: Mango jeunesse. 2003. p. pink. ISBN 2-7404-1630-X.
  3. ^ O'Leary, Chris (2019). "Chapter 1". Ashes to Ashes: The Songs of David Bowie 1976–2016. London: Repeater Books. ISBN 978-1-912248-30-8.
  4. ^ Pegg, Nicholas (2016). The Complete David Bowie (Revised and Updated ed.). London: Titan Books. pp. 60–62. ISBN 978-1-78565-365-0.
  5. ^ a b "Bouillonnant et poétique, le chanteur Jacques Higelin est mort à 77 ans". Ouest-France.fr (in French). 6 April 2018. Archived from the original on 16 July 2024. Retrieved 5 December 2025.
  6. ^ Catroux, Sebastien (6 April 2018). "Jacques Higelin: Qui est Aziza, la mère d'Izia ?". Gala. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
  7. ^ Le chanteur Jacques Higelin est décédé, Lefigaro.fr, (in French)
  8. ^ a b "Jacques Higelin discography". lescharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 April 2012.
  9. ^ "Le Top de la semaine : Top Albums Fusionnes – SNEP (Week 41, 2016)" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. 10 June 2013. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
  10. ^ Includes six songs written by Boris Vian and sung by Higelin
allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Bande_du_Rex_(original_soundtrack)