Berger was born on 28 November 1947 in the Parisian suburb of
Neuilly-sur-Seine, the son of Jewish parents, Dr.
Jean Hamburger and
Annette Haas, a concert pianist of
Swiss-Jewish origin. Berger first became known to the French public in the 1960s as singer of hit song
Salut les copains, after which he became record producer and songwriter for
EMI and where he wrote amongst others
Les Girafes for
Bourvil in 1967. In the early 1970s, he moved to
Warner Music where he produced the early albums of
Véronique Sanson, and
Allah in 1989. In 1973, he was responsible for producing the album
Message personnel, the
title track of which relaunched
Françoise Hardy's career. He also produced the single
Je suis moi for Hardy. Berger started writing for
France Gall in 1974, produced all her albums from 1975 on, and married her on 22 June 1976. In 1978, he composed the
musical:
Starmania, with lyrics by
Luc Plamondon. The musical starred Gall,
Claude Dubois,
Daniel Balavoine,
Diane Dufresne,
Nanette Workman,
Éric Estève and
Fabienne Thibeault. It was a big success in France in the 1980s and 1990s. An English version, entitled
Tycoon, was released in 1991 with lyrics by
Tim Rice, but it did not achieve the success the original version had in France. Unfortunately, the two musicals Berger worked on immediately after
Starmania did not fare well. In 1980, Berger partnered with producer
Jérôme Savary and lyricist
Luc Plamondon to produce the musical
La Légende de Jimmy, inspired by the life of
James Dean. However, this bombed. Berger's next musical project,
Dreams in Stone, was conceived as an American musical, co-arranged with Michel Bernholc, and recorded in the United States, with lead vocals by singers
Rosanne Cash,
Bill Champlin,
Lynn Carey,
Jennifer Warnes, and
Bill Withers among others. Though the show itself never saw the light of day, the album was nevertheless released in 1982. The album was a complete flop, and is not generally known outside of a few fansites. Berger also scored several film projects over the years, which included
Mektoub, a 1970 film by Algerian Director
Ali Ghalem,
Robert Benayoun's
Sérieux comme le plaisir in 1975,
Jean-Paul Rappeneau's
Tout feu, tout flamme in 1982 and
Rive droite, rive gauche the 1984 film by
Philippe Labro. He also wrote an
Orangina advertisement
jingle. Berger was one of a handful of French artists who participated readily and actively in humanitarian acts: in 1985, he worked exclusively for
Action Écoles alongside Gall,
Richard Berry and
Daniel Balavoine, then later for
Ethiopia with
Renaud (
Chanteurs Sans Frontières) and for
Les Restos du cœur with comedian
Coluche. ==Death==