Françoise Madeleine Hardy is a retired French singer-songwriter and actress. Mainly known for singing melancholic sentimental ballads, Hardy rose to prominence in the early 1960s as a leading figure of the yé-yé wave. In addition to her native French, she also sang in English, Italian and German. Her career spanned more than fifty years with over thirty studio albums released.
Hardy in 1968
Hardy was raised in a modest apartment on the Rue d'Aumale, in Paris' 9th arrondissement.
Meeting Princess Margriet and sports executive Jaap van Praag.
Receiving the Edison Award in the "Youth" category from writer and TV personality Godfried Bomans.
Yé-yé or yeyé was a style of pop music that emerged in Western-Southern Europe in the early 1960s. The French term yé-yé was derived from the English "yeah! yeah!", popularized by British beat music bands such as the Beatles. The style expanded worldwide as the result of the success of figures such as French singer-songwriters Sylvie Vartan, Serge Gainsbourg and Françoise Hardy. Yé-yé was a particular form of counterculture that derived most of its inspiration from British and American rock and roll. Additional stylistic elements of yé-yé song composition include baroque, exotica, pop, jazz and the French chanson.
Françoise Hardy (left) meeting Princess Margriet of the Netherlands at the Grand Gala du Disque of 1963.
Serge Gainsbourg, France Gall and Mario del Monaco at the Eurovision Song Contest 1965, where "Poupée de cire, poupée de son" took the award.