Alain Barrière

Alain Barrière (born Alain Bellec in La Trinité-sur-Mer on November 18, 1935, died in Carnac on December 18, 2019), the Breton singer with the broken voice, was the author, every summer for a dozen years from 1962 to 1972, of the slow song that allowed the most tender rapprochements. The technique was always the same: languorous rhythm, melodic crescendo and suggestive silence. There was "Cathy " (1961), which revealed him to the world and won him the Coq d'or de la chanson française, "Elle était si jolie" (1962), which propelled him to 5th place in the Eurovision Grand Prix, and "Ma vie " (1964), which remains his biggest hit, both in France and abroad. In the 1970s, in addition to his constant odes to his native Brittany, the singer of the yé-yé wave bounced back with two big hits: the romantic "Tu t'en vas " (performed as a duet with Noëlle Cordier, 1974) and the committed-ecological "Amoco " (1978), against the oil tanker Amoco Cadiz, which had just spilled its oil. Prior to this, he sang the anthem of the Stade Rennais soccer club ("Allez Rennes", 1971). The singer, who had opened the Stirwen (a complex of discotheque, concert hall and restaurant) in his region, was caught by the taxman, who demanded unpaid sums. In 1977, he opted for exile in the United States and Canada. After a few years' silence and a more difficult 1980s, Alain Barrière resurfaced at the end of the 1990s. He relaunched his career with the album Barrière 97 and tours as far afield as Canada, as evidenced by the album Live in Montréal released in 2010. His last album, Mes Duos d'Amour, was released three years later. He died of cardiac arrest at the age of 84, twelve days after his wife, and is buried in the La Trinité-sur-Mer cemetery.