Janet Edith Woollacott (November 4, 1939 in Carlton,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

– November 13, 2011 in

Clamart Clamart () is a commune in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. The town is divided into two parts, separated by a forest: ''bas Clamart'', the historical centre, and ''petit Clamart'' with urbani ...

Hauts-de-Seine Hauts-de-Seine (; ) is a département in the Île-de-France region, Northern France. It covers Paris's western inner suburbs. It is bordered by Paris, Seine-Saint-Denis and Val-de-Marne to the east, Val-d'Oise to the north, Yvelines to the west ...

) was a British-born French singer of the 1960s to 2000s.

Biography

Woollacott was a dancer on the

Côte d'Azur The French Riviera (known in French as the ; oc, Còsta d'Azur ; literal translation "Azure Coast") is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France. There is no official boundary, but it is usually considered to extend fro ...

aged 20 when she met

Claude François Claude Antoine Marie François (; 1 February 1939 – 11 March 1978), also known by the nickname Cloclo, was a French pop singer, composer, songwriter, record producer, drummer and dancer. François co-wrote the lyrics of " Comme d'habitude" ( ...

, ''Cloclo'', in 1959, whom she married the following year. Only weeks before Claude François became a major star Woollacott left Claude François for

Gilbert Bécaud Gilbert Bécaud (, 24 October 1927 – 18 December 2001) was a French singer, composer, pianist and actor, known as "Monsieur 100,000 Volts" for his energetic performances. His best-known hits are " Nathalie" and "Et maintenant", a 1961 release ...

, with whom she had a daughter, Jennifer Bécaud. The split was the subject of Claude François' bitter song "Je sais" (1964). Woollacott later wrote a book detailing the time shared with François. Claude François never remarried and died in 1978. In later years she remarried three more times; to the producer Jean-Paul Barkoff, the Les Charlots comedian and singer Jean Sarrus and the composer Dominique Perrier. From 1994, she collaborated with Stone Edge, later renamed to Stone Age, the French/Breton Celtic techno band formed by her husband Dominique Perrier, with which she regularly performed and recorded songs, appearing on the band's best known album, "Time Travellers", as "Maureen" (1997).Stone Age on Discogs
/ref> She died after a long illness on , and was buried three days later in the

cemetery.

Memoir

* Claude François, les années oubliées (1998)

Discography

* Je t’aime… normal et Super-gangsters, with Jean Sarrus (Vogue, 1970) * Bénie soit la pluie ( Sugar Me (Lynsey de Paul song)) and "Le chocolat" (Motors/Discodis, 1972) * "Mama" and "The Dream", soundtrack from the film Adieu blaireau (

Ariola Records Ariola (also known as Ariola Records, Ariola-Eurodisc and BMG Ariola) is a German record label. In the late 1980s, it was a subsidiary label of the Bertelsmann Music Group, which in turn has become a part of the international media conglomerat ...

, 1985)

With Stone Edge

* Stone Edge (

Sony Records Sony Records was a record label founded by R&B duo Ike & Tina Turner in 1963. It was not affiliated with Sony Group Corporation. Ike Turner produced singles by members of the Kings of Rhythm and the Ikettes on Sony Records. Records on the ...

, 1995)

With Stone Age

* Time Travellers (

, 1997) * Promessa (2000) * Totems d'Armorique (2007)

References

1939 births 2011 deaths 20th-century French women singers People from Carlton, Nottinghamshire 21st-century French women singers {{France-singer-stub