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Dalida

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Dalida (Born Yolande Christina Gigliotti) (January 17, 1933 – May 3, 1987) was an Egyptian-born singer, of Italian origin, making her career in France. She received 55 golden records and was the first songstress to get a diamond disc.

Contents

Early life

Born of Italian parents in Shoubra, a district of Cairo, Egypt, she was the child of an opera violinist and was given singing lessons at an early age. She developed into a beautiful young lady, and in 1954 she won the Miss Egypt beauty contest and immediately left for Paris, France, to pursue a career in motion pictures.

Career

Despite her looks, her first films were less than successful, but she began performing in music halls and cabarets, singing in French, Italian, Arabic in which she was fluent, and other languages. Using the stage name, "Dalida", she recorded songs, her second single titled "Bambino" brought instant fame. In 1957, she appeared at the Paris Olympia as the opening act for Charles Aznavour and later the same year for Gilbert Bécaud. She would go on to record in several languages, and she toured the globe with sold-out performances, like in late-1978 at Carnegie Hall in New York City.

During her career, Dalida recorded 500 French songs, 200 of which were translated into Italian, and 300 into other languages. She sold more than 150 million albums world-wide, winning numerous awards, scoring more than 70 gold records. Yet, despite her fame and fortune, her personal life was difficult and filled with much drama and tragedy. In 1961 she married her mentor Lucien Morisse, but the marriage lasted only a few months when she left him for the painter Jean Sobieski (later the father of American actress Leelee Sobieski). A few years later, her still distraught ex-husband died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

In 1967 her new lover, the Italian singer, Luigi Tenco also took his own life and Dalida too attempted suicide. She was living with the flamboyant and less than reputable, Richard Chanfray (referred to as the Comte de St Germain) when he took his own life in July 1983. She recovered from these tragedies and continued to perform but by her own accounts, life had little meaning and she spent years searching for personal fulfillment, including traveling to Nepal to study the Hindu religion.

Death

Statue of Dalida in Cimetière de Montmartre
Statue of Dalida in Cimetière de Montmartre

On May 3, 1987 Dalida died as a result of an overdose of sleeping pills leaving behind a suicide note that said: "Life has become unbearable ... forgive me."

Dalida is buried in the Cimetière de Montmartre, Paris, her gilded life-size statue one of the most outstanding of the many sculpted works in the famous cemetery.

In 1997, the corner of the rues Girardon and Abreuvoir in the Butte Montmartre in Paris was inaugurated as "Place Dalida" and a life-size bust to her memory was erected at that location. In 2001, the French government honored her memory with a postage stamp.

Filmography

Her hit/best songs from all over the world (1956-1987)

Discography

see Dalida Discography

Dalida as a In 1975, Dalida was already a popular singer in all the world. She has tried many types of music : pop music, Italian style, rock & roll, ballad, and even some psychedelic influenced songs, etc... But this time, she wanted to tried something new and here it came J'attendrai, the first disco song (and big transatlantic hit) in French language. With the success, she continued in the same way next year with a disco album. Her best disco hit is Monday, Tuesday... Laissez-moi danser (translate in English as Let me dance tonight). Her last known 'real' disco song is Americana in 1981, even if, in 1982, she covers a song from a 70's disco group, Jouez Bouzouki a sort of Greek-flavored disco-pop.

In spring of 2006, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of her disco success, since "J'attendrai" was on radio in 1976, an album, "Les Années Disco", is released.

Here is the list of her disco songs from 1975 to 1982 :

- disco -

  • 1975 J'attendrai
  • 1976 Besame mucho (Embrasse-moi)
  • 1976 Tu m'as déclaré l'amour
  • 1976 Les feuilles mortes
  • 1976 Amor Amore (Amour c'est tout dire)
  • 1976 Tico Tico
  • 1977 Quand s'arrêtent les violons
  • 1978 Génération 78
  • 1978 Ça me fait rêver
  • 1979 Monday, Tuesday... Laissez-moi danser
  • 1979 Let me dance tonight
  • 1980 Gigi in Paradisco
  • 1980 Money Money
- italian-flavoured disco -
  • 1976 Le petit bonheur
- mellow disco -
  • 1977 Femme est la nuit
  • 1979 Problemorama (L'argent, l'argent...)
  • 1979 Va, va, va
- disco reggae -
  • 1979 Il faut danser reggae
- Latino-flavored disco -
  • 1980 Rio do Brasil
  • 1981 Americana
- Greek-flavored disco -
  • 1982 Jouez Bouzouki

Dalida as a

Here is the list of her new wave / synth pop songs from 1980 to 1987 :

  • 1980 Chanteur des années 80
  • 1981 Quand je n'aime plus je m'en vais
  • 1981 Partir ou mourir
  • 1982 Danza
  • 1982 Tony
  • 1982 Le jour où la pluie viendra
  • 1982 Confidences sur la fréquence
  • 1982 Am Tag Als Der Regen Kam
  • 1983 Mourir sur scène
  • 1983 Femme
  • 1983 Le restaurant italien
  • 1984 Soleil
  • 1984 L'Innamorata
  • 1984 Sarà Sarà
  • 1984 Soleil [Mix]
  • 1984 Kalimba de luna
  • 1984 Pour te dire je t'aime
  • 1984 Une vie d'homme
  • 1984 C'était mon ami
  • 1984 Pour en arriver là
  • 1985 Reviens-moi
  • 1985 Le temps d'aimer
  • 1985 Le Vénitien de Levallois
  • 1986 La danse de Zorba
  • 1986 Le sixième jour

See also

External links

 

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
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