Youth Alain Baschung (he later dropped the "c" from his surname) was the son of a
Breton mother working in a rubber factory and an
Algerian father, whom he never knew. His mother remarried, and at the age of one, Bashung was sent to
Wingersheim, near
Strasbourg to live with his stepfather's parents. He spent his childhood in the countryside, in a rather conservative environment, alongside a grandmother who did not speak French. He discovered music during his childhood, notably
Kurt Weill's
Mahagonny, and began to practice with a Rosebud
harmonica offered to him when he was five. He also was involved in
basketball and
cycling, and sang in the church choir in Wingersheim. He came back to Paris in 1959, where he discovered the great chanson artists, and then
rock artists such as
Gene Vincent,
Buddy Holly (whom he admired deeply), and
Elvis Presley. In 1968, he released his first single, "Les Romantiques", which was largely ignored by the public and unsuccessful. Around that time, he dropped the "c" from his name and spent some time at the house of fellow singer
Christophe. From 1972 to 1974, he composed some of the music and cowrote three albums and three singles (including "Marilou") for French rock singer
Dick Rivers. Yet, it is now considered a classic album in France. In 1983, he produced another dark album,
Figure imposée, which also met with little success. However, in 1984 he made peace with Boris Bergman, and the lyricist wrote for him "SOS Amor" which was a surprise hit. In 1985, he sang "Touche pas à mon pote", a single for the association
SOS Racisme. In the wake of the success of "SOS Amor", he released in 1986 the album
Passé le Rio Grande, which allowed him to get his first
Victoires de la musique award. In 1989, he returned to a dark, experimental style with the album
Novice, from which the singles "Bombez !", "Pyromanes" and "Étrange été" were released. The album marked his first collaboration with lyricist
Jean Fauque and his definitive breakup with Boris Bergman.
Mainstream and critical success In 1991, he released another album with Fauque as lyricist,
Osez Joséphine, which also included some cover versions of classic American rock songs. The album helped him achieve mainstream success, selling 350.000 copies and "Osez Joséphine" became his first real popular success since "Vertige de l'amour". On the same album is featured "Madame rêve", another classic in a different, more atmospheric style, which would be a trademark of his future releases. In 1992, he covered the French pop classic song "Les Mots bleus", from the
album by the same name by
Christophe, for an AIDS research support compilation. In 1994, he released
Chatterton, which he called a "new age
country" album. For this album, he worked with artists such as
Sonny Landreth,
Ally McErlaine,
Link Wray,
Marc Ribot or
Stéphane Belmondo. The single "Ma petite entreprise" was a new popular success. Following the album, he toured for two years and in 1995 released the double live album
Confessions publiques. From 1994 onwards, Bashung began to spend more time for his acting career (which he started in 1981 with
Nestor Burma, détective de choc), for instance with
Ma sœur chinoise by
Alain Mazars. After recording a duet with
Brigitte Fontaine, "City" for her
Les Palaces album, he came back to music in 1998 with
Fantaisie militaire. For this album, he notably collaborated with
Jean Fauque,
Rodolphe Burger,
Les Valentins,
Jean-Marc Lederman and
Adrian Utley of
Portishead. The arrangements and strings were done by
Joseph Racaille. The first single from the album was "La nuit je mens" which was another hit for Bashung. For the album, he received 3 more Victoires de la musique awards in 1999 (and in 2005, he received another for the "best album of the last twenty years"). For Bashung, it was a huge commercial and critical success. In 2000, he released the compilation
Climax, on which some songs are rerecordings as duets with notable artists from the French scene (most famously, the song "Volontaire" from
Play blessures with French band
Noir Désir). That same year, he cowrote "L'Eau et le vin" for
Vanessa Paradis' album
Bliss. In 2002, he released another album, ''
L'Imprudence to critical acclaim, which is considered one of the darker albums of his discography. The album is not easily accessible and features strings and electronic arrangements, with sometimes nearly spoken lyrics, and was inspired according to Bashung by old black and white movies. That same year, he recorded the album Cantique des cantiques'' with his new wife, singer
Chloé Mons, the song was written for their wedding in 2001 by Rodolphe Burger, from a new translation of
Solomon's
Song of Songs by
Olivier Cadiot. In 2003, he sang the French chanson classic "Avec le temps" by
Léo Ferré for a tribute album to the late artist,
Avec Léo ! and wrote the preface to a book about that artist. In 2004, the double live album
La Tournée des grands espaces was released. In 2005, he sang "Le Sud" on a tribute album to
Nino Ferrer,
On dirait Nino. In 2006, he recorded a
Charles Trenet song, "
Que reste-t-il de nos amours ?" as a duet with
Françoise Hardy for her album
(Parenthèses...). In June 2006, in the
Cité de la musique in Paris, he got the opportunity to sing for several days. There he brought on stage artists such as
Christophe,
Dominique A,
Rodolphe Burger or
Arto Lindsay. In early 2007, after a small break, he was involved in the ''Les Aventuriers d'un autre monde'' tour alongside rock and pop artists
Jean-Louis Aubert,
Cali,
Daniel Darc,
Richard Kolinka and
Raphaël. He sang for a couple of evenings in the
Salle Pleyel in Paris, and played the role of
Jack the Ripper for the song "Panique Mécanique" on
Dionysos' album
La Mécanique du Cœur. That same year, he played with Belgian singer
Arno in the movie ''J'ai toujours rêvé d'être un gangster'', by
Samuel Benchetrit. They appear as themselves, arguing over the authorship of a song. in
La Rochelle. In 2008, he sang "L.U.V." as a duet with
Daniel Darc for the latter's album,
Amours suprêmes. He was also involved in
Étienne Daho's Daho Show, covering "I Can't Escape from You" as a duet with Daho. He also rerecorded Serge Gainsbourg's classic album, ''
L'Homme à tête de chou'', for a show. On 24 March 2008, he released the album
Bleu pétrole, collaborating notably with
Gaëtan Roussel of French band
Louise Attaque,
Arman Méliès,
M. Ward or
Gérard Manset (covering the latter's song "Il voyage en solitaire" as the final song on the album). He then began to tour for the album. The 10 June 2008, he sang several times at the
Olympia although he was undergoing a chemotherapy for his lung cancer. Jean Fauque claimed that a new album was underway. On 28 February 2009, he received three prestigious
Victoires de la Musique awards for his final album
Bleu pétrole. The 2009 award ceremony was his last public appearance. He appeared frail, but still performed "Résidents de la République." He won the Best male artist of the year, Best album and Best tour awards. Bashung died in Paris on 14 March 2009 from lung cancer at the age of 61 at the
Hôpital Saint-Joseph in Paris. After a religious ceremony at the
Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, he was buried on 20 March 2009 in the
Père Lachaise Cemetery.
Posthumous events On 12 November 2009, the opening of a ballet using a rerecording of ''L'Homme à tête de chou'', a 1976
Serge Gainsbourg album, by Bashung as the soundtrack, occurred at the
Maison de la Culture de Grenoble, with a choreography by
Jean-Claude Gallotta who approached him in 2007 to adapt the work. On 27 November 2009, a box set called
À perte de vue, which contained the entire output of Bashung so far (on 27 discs), was released. The box set features his twelve solo albums so far, his five live albums, his two duet albums with Chloé Mons, two albums of instrumentals and three albums of covers, duets and rarities. Alongside this box set a double live album documenting his last tour, called ''
Dimanches à l'Élysée'' and recorded at the
Élysée Montmartre on 14 December 2008, was released on 16 November. That same day, a live video recorded at the Olympia 10 and 15 June 2008 was released. This DVD was awarded the 2010 Victoires de la musique award for best musical DVD of the year. At the same Victoires ceremony, French singer
Benjamin Biolay, who was awarded the Best male artist of the year award, paid tribute to Bashung. He can be heard singing
La nuit je mens in the closing scenes of the final episode of the French television series
Les Bleus: premiers pas dans la police (2006–10). On 26 April 2011, a tribute album called
Tels Alain Bashung was released. It features twelve covers of Bashung songs by various artists and bands, with a documentary called
Alain Bashung - Faisons envie directed by Thierry Villeneuve. On 7 November 2011,
his rerecording of ''L'Homme à tête de chou'' was released on
Barclay Records. ==Influence==