Sixties icon Françoise Hardy known for her melancholic ballads dies aged 80
SINGER, actress and fashion icon Françoise Hardy has died at the age of 80.
The French beauty, known for her melancholic ballads, released more than 30 albums, and had a UK hit with All Around the World in 1964.
Hardy was born in Nazi-occupied Paris in 1944 and raised in the city.
Receiving her first guitar aged 16, she began writing her own songs and became one of the most familiar faces of the 1960s.
She modelled for brands such as Yves Saint Laurent and appeared in movies, including 1966 drama Grand Prix.
Mick Jagger once called her his “ideal woman”.
In 1995, she sang on a French version of Blur’s To The End — the B-side to No 1 hit Country House.
Hardy began dating fellow French singer Jacques Dutronc in 1967 and they had a son, Thomas, six years later.
Despite a troubled relationship, they married in 1981 “for fiscal reasons”.
They split in 1988, but never divorced.
Hardy was diagnosed with lymphatic cancer in 2004 and laryngeal cancer in 2012.
Her final album came out in 2018.
Her illness forced her to stop singing in 2021.
Musician Thomas yesterday announced her death, saying: “Maman est partie.”