His first Olympia as headliner, on 17 February 1955, left the hall with four hundred and thirty-nine seats torn out: the press dubbed him Monsieur 100,000 Volts. “Et maintenant”, written with Pierre Delanoë in 1961, was covered more than a hundred and fifty times. He died on his barge, in 2001.
The story
François Gilbert Léopold Silly was born at Toulon on 24 October 1927. His father was a croupier at the Nice casino; at nine the boy entered the town's conservatoire, in the piano class. After the war he played piano in the Paris night clubs under the name François Bécaud.
Spotted by Jacques Pils, whose accompanist he became, he was pushed out onto the stage by Édith Piaf. In 1948 he wrote for Marie Bizet and met Pierre Delanoë, who would be his lyricist for life.
On 17 February 1955 he topped the bill at the Olympia for the first time. The audience broke loose as no French audience ever had: four hundred and thirty-nine seats torn out, dozens injured. The press invented Monsieur 100 000 volts; the blue suit, the white shirt and the spotted tie became a silhouette you could recognise across a room.
“Et maintenant”, written with Delanoë in 1961, was covered more than a hundred and fifty times; its English version, “What Now My Love”, was sung by James Brown, Bob Dylan and Nina Simone. He took the Premier Prix du disque in 1960, ran three weeks on Broadway in 1966, and received the Legion of Honour on the stage of the Olympia in January 1974.
He reopened the Olympia in 1997, came back to it a thirty-third time in 1999 and released “Faut faire avec” the same year — cancer had caught up with him. He died on 18 December 2001 aboard his barge the Aran, moored at the pont de Saint-Cloud, and lies in Division 45.
On site, do not miss
A stone without ornament, two dates, and the notes that visitors keep leaving there.
Visitors' questions
Where is Gilbert Bécaud's grave?
In Division 45, Avenue Transversale No. 1, first row, in the centre of the cemetery. The stone is simple and bears only his name and dates; visitors regularly leave notes and small objects there.
Édith PiafWhy was he called Monsieur 100 000 volts?
Because of his first headline show at the Olympia, on 17 February 1955: the audience went so wild that four hundred and thirty-nine seats were torn out and dozens of people injured. It was the first French concert to set off a riot on that scale.
Alain BashungWhich of his songs has been covered most often?
“Et maintenant”, written with his lyricist Pierre Delanoë in 1961: more than a hundred and fifty cover versions, and an English version, “What Now My Love”, sung by James Brown, Bob Dylan and Nina Simone.
Frank AlamoWhere did he die?
On his barge, the Aran, moored at the Pont de Saint-Cloud, on 18 December 2001. He had reopened the Olympia in 1997 and returned to its stage for a thirty-third time in 1999, when his cancer had already been diagnosed.
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