Jacques Romain Georges Brel (8 April 1929 – 9 October 1978) was a Belgian singer, songwriter, actor and director. Brel is the third best-selling Belgian recording artist of all time. His songs were recorded by many performers, including David Bowie, Ray Charles, Judy Collins, John Denver, Nina Simone, Frank Sinatra and Andy Williams.
About Jacques Brel in brief
Jacques Romain Georges Brel (8 April 1929 – 9 October 1978) was a Belgian singer, songwriter, actor and director. He is considered a master of the modern chanson. Brel is the third best-selling Belgian recording artist of all time. He directed two films, one of which, Le Far West, was nominated for the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1973. He also had a romantic relationship with actress and dancer Maddly Bamy from 1972 until his death in 1978. His songs were recorded by many performers, including: David Bowie, Ray Charles, Judy Collins, John Denver, Nina Simone, Frank Sinatra and Andy Williams. He recorded most of his songs in French and occasionally in Dutch, but he became an influence on English-speaking songwriters and performers, such as Scott Walker, Alex Harvey, Marc Almond and Rod McKuen. He was also a successful actor, appearing in 10 films. He had three children with Thérèse Michielsen, with whom he had a son and a daughter. He died of a heart attack in 1978, aged 48, at his home in Anderlecht, Belgium. His funeral was attended by his family and friends, and he was buried at the Cimetière du Centre-Drouot in Brussels, Belgium, on October 9, 1978, with his wife and three children in attendance. His music was recorded in French, Dutch, English, and Belgian dialects, and his songs were translated into English by Scott Walker and Alex Harvey.
He wrote his own songs in English and French, and recorded many more in German, Spanish and Portuguese. He composed and performed literate, thoughtful, and theatrical songs that generated a large, devoted following in Belgium and France, later throughout the world. He has been described as the “father of the Belgian chanson” and “the father of Belgian pop” Brel was a member of the Flemish national football team FC FC, and served in the Belgian air force as a corporal in the air force from 1948 until his retirement in 1971. He played the guitar and sang in a band called La Franche Cordée, which had the motto, “More is within you within you’s daily office.” He also wrote a short story titled “Frédéric’, about a man on his death bed who encourages his grandson to run away while the rest of the family makes arrangements for his funeral. In 1944, at the age of 15, Brel began playing the guitar, and the following year he formed his own theatre group with friends and began writing plays. He did well in reading and writing, but struggled through arithmetic and Dutch. In June 1948, he enlisted for military service, and did his basic training in Limbourg, Limbourg and Zellik. In September 1941, his parents enrolled Brel at the Institut Saint-Louis at rue du Marais near the Botanical Garden of Brussels.
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