French singer Jean-Louis Murat died on Thursday at his home in Auvergne at the age of 71, his former record label Pias told AFP, confirming press reports.
“Sentiment Nouveau”, “Fort Alamo” “If I had to miss you”: his groove and his haunting voice, which is as unique as his independence with a touch of provocation, have made him a special artist in the French music world.
Coincidentally, the Pias label will release a compilation of the singer on Friday, bringing together 20 of his most iconic tracks.
The singer, who claimed to belong to Auvergne, peaked the charts in 1991 thanks to a duet with Mylène Farmer (“Regrets”), but claims to have always experienced the “tube” as “a captivity”.
“What I like is the song that becomes a hit and not the song that’s already a hit before people hear it,” because of a calibrated production, he told AFP in 2014.
The deliberately provocative Jean-Louis Murat, born in Puy-de-Dôme in 1952, caused a scandal in his early days with ‘Suicide, the People is Dead’, as some media feared the title was an incitement to suicide. The cover was signed by the stars’ photographer Jean-Baptiste Mondino.
He experienced his first commercial success in the late 80s with “If I had to miss you”.
In my albums, “I tell my entire sentimental life in the smallest detail, since the beginning of my career,” he said in his 60s. He was extremely prolific, releasing almost an album a year for the past several years.