Philippe Chatel (born Philippe de Châteleux de Villeneuve-Bergemont de Duras), was a French singer-songwriter.

Career

After starting in courier of

Henri Salvador Henri Salvador (18 July 1917 – 13 February 2008) was a French Caribbean singer, comedian and cabaret artist. Biography Salvador was born in Cayenne, French Guiana. His father, Clovis, and his mother, Antonine Paterne, daughter of an Indigen ...

, Chatel became familiar with

Georges Brassens Georges Charles Brassens (; ; 22 October 1921 – 29 October 1981) was a French singer-songwriter and poet. As an iconic figure in France, he achieved fame through his elegant songs with their harmonically complex music for voice and guitar and ...

and then started writing his own songs. He started in 1977 with ''J't'aime bien Lili'', and subsequently wrote and performed ''Ma lycéenne'', ''Tout quitter mais tout emporter'', and '. In 1979, he rose to worldwide fame with his writing of the comedy musical ''

Émilie Jolie ''Émilie Jolie'' is a French children's musical by Philippe Chatel and arranged by Jean-Louis Bucchi. It later became a film involving Georges Brassens, Henri Salvador, Julien Clerc, Alain Souchon, Laurent Voulzy, Louis Chedid, Françoise Hardy ...

''. In 1997, a second version was adapted and he directed an animated edition in 2011 with Francis Nielsen. The album for this version won Best Children's Album at the 1999 Victoires de la Musique ceremony. A performance was again adapted in 2018, with less famous actors than previously presented. In 2016, Chatel released an album titled ''Renaissance'', in which he expressed hope and friendship. In 2021, he was nominated to become a member of the

Académie Française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

, but was passed over for

Chantal Thomas Chantal Thomas (; born 18 October 1945) is a French writer and historian. Her 2002 book, ''Farewell, My Queen'', won the Prix Femina and was adapted into a 2012 film starring Diane Kruger and Léa Seydoux. Career Thomas was born in Lyon in 194 ...

. In addition to his musical activities, Chatel also wrote a biography titled ''Brassens'' in 1975 and a novel in 1988 titled ''Il reviendra'', for which he was invited to speak on the talk show ''

Apostrophes The apostrophe (, ) is a punctuation mark, and sometimes a diacritical mark, in languages that use the Latin alphabet and some other alphabets. In English, the apostrophe is used for two basic purposes: * The marking of the omission of one o ...

''. In 2004, he wrote the novel ''Le Roman d'Émilie Jolie''.

Personal life

Chatel was the son of television director and was married to Catherine Chatel, with whom he had two children, Émilie (born 1975) and Nicolas (born 1981). In 2006, Chatel was involved in a serious accident while on a

quad bike An all-terrain vehicle (ATV), also known as a light utility vehicle (LUV), a quad bike or quad (if it has four wheels), as defined by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), is a vehicle that travels on low-pressure tires, has a seat ...

near

Aix-en-Provence Aix-en-Provence, or simply Aix, is a List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, city and Communes of France, commune in southern France, about north of Marseille. A former capital of Provence, it is the Subprefectures in France, s ...

and spent three months in a coma. He spent some time in a wheelchair and rehabilitation, and was slightly paralyzed in his jaw for life. Chatel died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

on 19 February 2021 in Paris, four days shy of his 73rd birthday.

Discography

*''Analyse'' (1976) *''Salut au temps qui passe'' (1978) *''Sentiments'' (1978) *''Maquillages'' (1981) *''Yin Yang'' (1982) *''Peau d'âme'' (1984) *''Anyway'' (1994) *''Renaissance'' (2016)

Bibliography

*''Brassens'' (1975) *''Il reviendra'' (1988) *''Le Roman d'Émilie Jolie'' (2004)

Distinctions

*Officer of the

Ordre des Arts et des Lettres The Order of Arts and Letters () is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is the recognition of significant ...

(2018)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chatel, Philippe 1948 births 2021 deaths French male singer-songwriters French singer-songwriters Singers from Paris Officiers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres 20th-century French male singers 21st-century French male singers