Daniel Balavoine
Biography
Emblematic French singer from the 80s, Daniel Balavoine (1952-1986) participated in the first Starmania rock-show (later played in the USA as Tycoon) and wrote many popular songs that shook French youth during his time, such as Le Chanteur, LAziza, Sauver lamour ...
Very engaged in the civil society, he sang and personified the lust for life, the hopes and the doubts of his generation, often clashing with politicians, elites, and older generations. He is especially famous for a tense debate about the struggles, hopes and doubts of French youth with the then first secretary of the French Socialist party, François Mitterrand, who was later twice elected president of France. Later he also had problems in a misunderstood verbal clash about French veterans.
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Daniel Balavoine loved Africa and this transpires in many of his songs. He dedicated himself to humanitarian projects and took part in the Paris-Dakar rallye two times. The third time he took part only for humanitarian reasons. On the 14th january 1986, around 8pm, his helicopter crashed between Mali and Burkina-Faso, killing all five passengers, putting an end to his career, and leaving behind his pregnant wife Corine and his son Jeremy.
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