Edith Piaf (1915–1963) was the defining voice of French chanson, discovered in a Paris nightclub in 1935 and nicknamed the Little Sparrow. La Vie en rose, Milord, and Non, je ne regrette rien remain the heart of French popular song — a good compilation is the way in. Explore Edith Piaf vinyl, CDs, and reissues at Wax Trax Records.
Édith Giovanna Gassion was born in Paris on December 19, 1915. Her childhood was extremely difficult, with various accounts placing her early years between her mother's family, her grandparents, and her father in extreme poverty across Paris and Belgium. She was discovered in 1935 by Parisian nightclub owner Louis Leplée, who gave her the stage name La Môme Piaf (The Little Sparrow). Her career across the next three decades produced the defining canon of French popular song, including La Vie en rose (which she co-wrote and first performed in 1945), Milord, Padam Padam, and her late-career signature Non, je ne regrette rien (1960). She died of liver cancer on October 10, 1963 in Plascassier in the south of France, at age 47.
Edith Piaf's sound is the central document of French chanson - French popular song combining theatrical performance, intimate lyrical content addressing love, loss, and class, and orchestral and small-ensemble accompaniment. Her vocal style - emotionally direct, slightly tremulous, capable of dynamic range - is widely regarded as one of the foundational French vocal styles.
Original Columbia (French) and Polydor pressings of Edith Piaf's catalog are widely collected. Multiple posthumous compilations and box sets, including Warner Music France's comprehensive Edith Piaf: 100ème anniversaire 1915-2015 box, have been released.
Listeners new to Edith Piaf typically start with anniversary compilations including the Best Of editions or 100th anniversary collections.
