French pop icon Francoise Hardy dies aged 80

PARIS

French singer Francoise Hardy, whose crystalline voice and melancholy lyrics shot her to international stardom in the 1960s, has died at the age of 80, according to her son.

Thomas Dutronc, Hardy's son with another French music star, Jacques Dutronc, announced her death on June 11. "Mom is gone," he wrote on Instagram alongside a baby picture of himself with his mother.

Born in Nazi-occupied Paris in 1944, Hardy became a pop icon and fashion muse of the 1960s and beyond. Mick Jagger described her as his "ideal woman", Bob Dylan wrote a poem for her, and women around the world imitated her androgynous style and embraced her melancholic melodies.

But Hardy was a reluctant superstar, who dreamed of domestic bliss even as she chalked up chart hits.

It all began in 1962 with the catchy debut single "Tous les garcons et les filles" (All the girls and boys), in which the shy singer-songwriter lamented her loveless status.

"All the boys and girls my age walk hand in hand in the streets two by two... but not me, I walk alone through the streets, my heart aching," she sang wistfully.

The single sold a million copies, making Hardy an instant star of the "Ye-Ye" (after the Beatles "yeah, yeah, yeah") generation of post-war French pop singers.

Soon a parallel career as a cover girl beckoned, with the singer's thick fringe, sculpted cheekbones and bohemian style coming to define a sort of effortless French chic. She became a model for fashion designers including Yves Saint Laurent and Paco Rabanne.

Bob Dylan was among those bowled over by the singer's languid vocals.

In 2004, she was diagnosed with lymphoma, and in 2019 revealed she had throat cancer and had received 45 rounds of radiotherapy.

Hardy was the only French artist to appear in a 2023 ranking of the 200 greatest singers of all time published by Rolling Stone magazine.

At the time, the publication said her cover of Leonard Cohen's "Suzanne" might be "the most evocative ever recorded, his included."

In addition to her native French, Hardy also sang in English, Italian and German. Her career spanned more than 50 years and almost 30 studio albums.