Mano Solo was born Emmanuel Cabut and learned at twenty-three that he was HIV-positive. He made it the declared engine of his work: twenty-four years of songs composed with the illness rather than against it. He was the son of the cartoonist Cabu, who would outlive him by five years. His slab bears the stage name alone, and a face engraved like a comic-strip character.
The story
At twenty-three, in 1986, Emmanuel Cabut learned that he was HIV positive. He would make it the declared engine of his work — twenty-four years of songs written with the illness, not against it.
Under the name Mano Solo he brought out La Marmaille nue in 1993 and Les Années sombres in 1995 — the naked brats, the dark years: titles that hide nothing. He was the son of Jean Cabut, known as Cabu, one of the best-known cartoonists of his generation, who would be murdered at Charlie Hebdo in 2015 — five years after his son's death.
He died in 2010, aged forty-six. The slab in Division 10 carries only the stage name, but a face is cut into it, drawn like a comic-strip character. For Cabu's son, it was the drawing that had the last word over the song.
The grave
A slab that bears the stage name and nothing else — “MANO SOLO” — but which is engraved with a face wearing the headdress of a comic-strip character. For the son of the cartoonist Cabu, it is drawing that had the last word over song. Neither the real name, Emmanuel Cabut, nor the dates, nor the albums: a pseudonym and a picture.
On site, do not miss
Look for the face engraved in the stone rather than for a text: the slab bears only the stage name, without civil record or dates.
Visitors' questions
Where is Mano Solo's grave?
In Division 10, chemin Denon, first row. The slab is carved with a face wearing a cartoon character's headdress — a tribute to the trade of his father, the cartoonist Cabu. He died in 2010, aged forty-six.
Gustave CharpentierWhat was his connection with Cabu?
He was his father: Jean Cabut, known as Cabu, one of the most famous cartoonists of his generation, murdered at Charlie Hebdo in 2015 — five years after his son's death. He died in 2010, aged forty-six.
TignousWhat were his songs about?
His life, with nothing held back. HIV-positive from 1986, at twenty-three, he turned his illness into creative energy: La Marmaille nue (1993), Les Années sombres (1995) — the titles hide nothing. He died in 2010, aged forty-six.
Hervé CristianiHow old was he when he died?
Forty-six, in 2010 — twenty-four years after learning he was HIV-positive. He had gone on singing, painting and creating to the very end, and his grave bears the mark of drawing rather than of music.
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