Lucien Boyer

Lucienne Boyer was a sophisticated performer who was the star of Parisian nightlife in the 1930s with her trademark song 'Parlez-Moi d'Amour'. Intimate and sensual, she was queen of the cabaret with a career that lasted from when she was 16 to well into her 80s. She grew up in the Montparnasse Quarter of the French capital and after she moved on to music halls she was noticed by American theatre mogul Lee Shubert. He arranged for her to sing in New York City and in South America and upon her return to France in 1930 she recorded her famous song, which went on to be covered with English lyrics by stars including Bing Crosby. A busy recording artist in the 1930s, Boyer continued to perform throughout World War II and when the conflict ended she returned with great success to the world of cabaret. She married cabaret singer Jacques Pills and their daughter Jacqueline also became a performer whose rendition of 'Tom Pillibi' won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1960. Boyer continued to perform over the years including a show with her daughter at the Paris Olympia in 1973 and she appears on several albums that feature collections of songs from the cabaret era. Her last public performance was in Le Havre just before she died from a stroke in Paris aged 80.

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