Françoise Hardy

Françoise Madeleine Hardy (French: [fʁɑ̃swaz madlɛn aʁdi]; 17 January 1944 – 11 June 2024) was a French singer-songwriter who was known for singing melancholic, sentimental ballads. Hardy rose to prominence in the early 1960s as a leading figure in French yé-yé music and became a cultural icon in France and internationally. In addition to her native French, she also sang in English, Italian, and German. Her musical career spanned more than 50 years, with over 30 studio albums released.

Born and raised in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, Hardy made her musical debut in 1962 on French label Disques Vogue and found immediate success through the song "Tous les garçons et les filles". Drifting away from her early rock and roll influences, she began to record in London in 1964, which allowed her to broaden her sound with albums such as Mon amie la rose, L'amitié, La maison où j'ai grandi, and Ma jeunesse fout le camp.... In the late 1960s and early 1970s, she released Comment te dire adieu, La question, and Message personnel. During this period, she worked with songwriters such as Serge Gainsbourg, Patrick Modiano, Michel Berger, and Catherine Lara. Between 1977 and 1988, she worked with producer Gabriel Yared on the albums Star, Musique saoûle, Gin Tonic, and À suivre. Her 1988 record Décalages was publicized as her final album, although she returned eight years later with Le danger, which reinvented her sound as harsher alternative rock. Her following albums of the 2000s — Clair-obscur, Tant de belles choses, and (Parenthèses...) — saw a return to her mellow style. In the 2010s, Hardy released her final three albums: La pluie sans parapluie, L'amour fou, and Personne d'autre.

In addition to music, Hardy landed film roles as a supporting actress in Château en Suède, Une balle au cœur, and the American production Grand Prix. She became a muse for fashion designers such as André Courrèges, Yves Saint Laurent, and Paco Rabanne, and collaborated with photographer Jean-Marie Périer. Hardy developed a career as an astrologer, having written extensively on the subject from the 1970s onwards. She was also an author of fiction and non-fiction books from the 2000s. Her autobiography, Le désespoir des singes...et autres bagatelles, was a best-seller in France.

As a public figure, Hardy was known for her shyness, disenchantment with celebrity life, and self-deprecatory attitude, which were attributed to her lifelong struggles with anxiety and insecurity. She married French singer-songwriter Jacques Dutronc in 1981. Their son, Thomas, also became a musician. Hardy remains one of the best-selling singers in French history and continues to be regarded as an important and influential figure in both French pop music and fashion. In 2006 she was awarded the Grande médaille de la chanson française, an honorary award given by the Académie française, in recognition of her career in music. Hardy died of cancer in Paris in June 2024, aged 80.