Artist Bio:
If an artist's importance to French chanson were to be judged by sheer output (more than 600 songs!) and longevity, singer-composer-actor-activist Charles Aznavour would certainly grace the top of any list. Now considered a living treasure, Aznavour's story resembles an improbable fairy tale. But in this case, the only magic was that of his immeasurable talent.
Oddly enough, this profoundly French icon, although born in Paris in 1924, came from an Armenian family surnamed Aznavourian. The clan was en route to the U.S.A. when he arrived but since they were denied a visa, he grew up in France. The young Charles decided to become an actor and was soon getting work as a stage walk-on and film extra. His direction changed after he met songwriter Pierre Roche; by the mid-'40s, the two were a popular cabaret act, performing their own material and mixing with the greatest stars of the genre. One of these was Édith Piaf (1915–'63,) whose faith in Aznavour was unshakable. Although they were never lovers, they became dear friends and colleagues. She immediately grasped that his vocabulary was more vital and realistic than was typical of the period; his egalitarian mini film noirs spoke about real people who used popular argot and even obscenities.
At Piaf's advice, Aznavour split with Roche and went off on his own. In 1950, his "Je Hais les Dimanches" ("I Hate Sundays"), a sour diatribe against bourgeois stuffiness and hypocrisy, became a hit for the existentialist chanteuse Juliette Greco. By now, Aznavour was equally celebrated for his ability to capture his characters' innermost feelings as a lyricist and to project them as a vocalist. His rich tenor-to-baritone, with its hint of a sinuous Asian cry, applied additional dimensions to his musical short stories. But none of this came easily: Aznavour suffered periodic attacks of insecurity about his diminutive height, unusual sound and spotty education. Furthermore, he knew that his outspoken tendencies did not always work in his favor, either personally or as an artist. Even so, his subject matter continued to cover everything from out-of-shape housewives to sad-eyed drag queens and, later, the AIDS epidemic. But the much-married poet kept returning to the relationship between men and women and if he sometimes lapsed into facile nostalgia or soupy arrangements, his fans didn't seem to mind.
Although his context is completely French, Aznavour has long since penetrated into various foreign markets. He recorded English, Spanish and Italian-language versions of his catalogue, which have sold in the millions and led to his being discovered by generations of international artists, including Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra, Bob Dylan and Elvis Costello. "Yesterday When I was Young," "She" and "The Old-Fashioned Way" were only a few of the tunes that crossed over in a big way. Aznavour has shared a stage with Luciano Pavarotti, cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, Billy Joel, Elton John, Sting and Liza Minelli. Among his triumphs as touring performer were selling out New York City's Carnegie Hall and the Royal Albert Hall in London, but it was in smaller venues that he generally achieved his patented one-on-one rapport with his audiences. As an actor, Aznavour has appeared in more 60 films. His star turn in François Truffaut's 1960 masterpiece Tirez sur le Pianiste (Shoot the Piano Player) created a sensation, as did his work in Pierre Granier-Deferre's Paris au Mois D'Août (Paris in the Month of August, 1965) and Volker Schloendorff's The Tin Drum (1979.) In 1986, Aznavour wrote his first screenplay for and starred in Paul Boujenah's Yiddish Connection. As well, he is a fixture on both French and international TV—an undoubted highlight of this facet of his career was a visit to The Muppet Show!
Aznavour's musical about the French painter Toulouse-Lautrec premiered in 2000 at London's Shaftesbury Theatre to excellent reviews. Aznavour scored with the album Aznavour 2000, but due to a car accident and escalating health problems he reluctantly announced his retirement as a concert artist. He then set off on a grueling farewell tour that was still underway in 2001, when President Jacques Chirac capped a lifetime of awards by presenting him with the Commandeur de l'Ordre National du Mérite. Meanwhile, Aznavour has continued to devote himself to various social and political causes. In 2002, he spoke out against the far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen, who was then dangerously close to becoming a factor in the French presidential elections. Later that year, he starred in Atom Egoyan's Ararat, a film about the Armenian genocide. In 2003 he saw the publication of his long-awaited memoirs, Le Temps des Avants, and the release of a new album, Je Voyage (I Travel), which featured a duet with his daughter Katia. Judging by his latest efforts, this sharp-eyed octogenarian is as deeply engaged and robustly amused by the human condition as he ever was. —Christina Roden
