Piaf

Piaf is the stage name of Édith Giovanna Gassion (December 19, 1915 – October 10, 1963), a French singer and cultural icon known for her chanson repertoire. The name Piaf, meaning sparrow in French, was given to her early in her career and became her public identity.

Born in Paris to a café singer and a street performer, Piaf grew up in poverty and spent part of her childhood in Normandy. She began performing on the streets of Paris with her father and later in cabarets to support herself. Her vocal talent and stage presence led to formal engagements in Parisian nightclubs, and she rose to national fame in the mid-1930s.

During the 1940s and 1950s, Piaf became an international star, renowned for emotional delivery and a repertoire that included La Vie en Rose, Hymne à l’amour, and Non, je ne regrette rien. She performed for audiences across France and abroad, and she became a symbol of French song and a survivor of personal hardships, including illness and love affairs.

She died in 1963 in Grasse, France, after a long illness. Piaf is buried at Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, and her legacy endures through a large body of recordings, concerts, and biographical works. Her life was the subject of films and a 2007 academy-award winning biopic, La Vie en Rose. She is widely regarded as one of the greatest interpreters of French chanson.