Georges Moustaki French composer, songwriter, bard, poet and chansonnier Date of Birth: 03.05.1934 Country: France

1. Georges Moustaki: The Romantic French Composer
2. Biography of Georges Moustaki
3. Early Life and Career
4. Solo Career and Legacy

Georges Moustaki: The Romantic French Composer

In the world of music, France has undoubtedly earned a reputation as the most romantic country, where every note is the quintessence of passion, suffering, and otherworldly love. Playing a significant role in creating this reputation is Georges Moustaki, a French bard, composer, songwriter, and chansonnier, who worked on solo albums, continuously performed concerts, and wrote songs for other musicians. But how did Georges achieve worldwide fame?

Biography of Georges Moustaki

Georges Moustaki (Georges Moustaki, birth name Giuseppe Mustacchi) is a popular French composer, songwriter, bard, poet, and chansonnier. Throughout his career, which has influenced many generations of music lovers, Moustaki became the author of over 300 hits. He released some of them himself, recording with invited musicians, while others were performed by French and international music maestros. Among them were stars such as Édith Piaf, Dalida, Serge Reggiani, Yves Montand, Juliette Greco, Henri Salvador, Françoise Hardy, Brigitte Fontaine, and many others.

Georges gained the most popularity through his style, which has now become a classic: confident that music should not be difficult, Moustaki wrote simple and romantic songs that touched listeners' souls and remained inside them forever.

Early Life and Career

Georges Moustaki was born on May 3, 1934, in Alexandria, Egypt, in a Jewish family. His father was a bookseller and owned the store 'Cité du livre,' which was considered one of the most famous bookshops in the East. From an early age, his parents taught him foreign languages, so Georges spoke several languages fluently. However, he considered French his native language, even though his family often spoke Italian at home and he spoke Arabic on the streets.

At the age of 17, Georges visited Paris for the first time and fell so in love with the city that he asked his father for permission to stay there forever. Just a few weeks later, he received a letter granting him permission, but with one condition - in Paris, he would sell books from the family bookstore.

Being a talented musician, Georges began playing the piano in bars and clubs in the city, performing his own songs as well. Soon fate brought him together with Georges Brassens, a famous musician and poet, who saw incredible talent in young Moustaki and introduced him to the most prominent figures of the French scene at that time.

Over the years, Georges met with the brightest stars of the French stage, who, as he himself admitted, significantly influenced his musical taste and style. In the 1950s, Georges met Édith Piaf, for whom he soon started writing songs. For example, he is the author of the composition "Milord". Soon, however, the relationship between Georges and Édith developed into something more, and their romance became the central theme of all the country's news.

Solo Career and Legacy

After ten years as a poet for other musicians, Georges started writing and performing his own songs. Throughout his career, he sang not only in French but also in Arabic, Italian, English, Greek, Portuguese, and Arabic. Georges released his first album, "Les orteils au soleil," in 1961 and became the author of 19 more albums in the following years. His last album, "Solitaire," was released in 2008. Additionally, Georges released 7 live performance albums and 6 compilations. His songs often appeared in film soundtracks, making his work known to several generations of French people.

Georges Moustaki passed away on May 23, 2013, in Nice, France, at the age of 79. The largest stars of the world and politicians expressed their condolences to the Moustaki family. French President François Hollande called the musician an "incredibly talented singer whose music marked entire generations of French people."