After the war, she became known internationally, touring Europe, the United States, and South America. Within a year, he became one of the most famous singers in France, and she broke off their relationship when he had become almost as popular as she was.ĭuring this time, she was in great demand and very successful in Paris as France's most popular entertainer.

In 1944, she discovered Yves Montand in Paris, made him part of her act, and became his mentor and lover.

She wrote the lyrics of many of her songs and collaborated with composers on the tunes. She began forming friendships with prominent people, including Chevalier and poet Jacques Borgeat. In 1940, Édith co-starred in Jean Cocteau's successful one-act play 'Le Bel Indifférent'. He changed her stage name to 'Édith Piaf', barred undesirable acquaintances from seeing her, and commissioned Monnot to write songs that reflected or alluded to Piaf's previous life on the streets. To rehabilitate her image, she recruited Raymond Asso, with whom she would become romantically involved. A barrage of negative media attention now threatened her career. Leplée had been killed by mobsters with previous ties to Piaf. On 6 April 1936, Leplée was murdered, and Piaf was questioned and accused as an accessory but was acquitted. Her nightclub gigs led to her first two records produced that same year, with one of them penned by Marguerite Monnot, a collaborator throughout Piaf's life. Leplée ran an intense publicity campaign leading up to her opening night, attracting the presence of many celebrities, including actor Maurice Chevalier. Leplée taught her the basics of stage presence and told her to wear a black dress, later to become her trademark apparel. He persuaded her to sing despite her extreme nervousness, which, combined with her height of only 142 centimetres (4 ft 8 in), inspired him to give her the nickname that would stay with her for the rest of her life and serve as her stage name, La Môme Piaf (Parigot translatable as 'The Waif Sparrow', 'The Little Sparrow', or 'Kid Sparrow'). In 1935 Piaf was discovered in the Pigalle area of Paris by nightclub owner Louis Leplée, whose club Le Gerny off the Champs-Élysées was frequented by the upper and lower classes alike. French singer and cultural icon born December 19, 1915, in Paris, and died October 11, 1963, in Plascassier.īest known for singing songs ' La Vie En Rose', composed by Louiguy, with lyrics by Piaf, and English lyrics adapted by Mack David and ' Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien' written by Michel Vaucaire, which rather fittingly she sung just two years before the end of her eventful life.

Torrents edith piaf discography