Editing Édith Piaf (section)

== Career ==

=== Early years (1929–1939) ===
At age 14, Piaf was taken by her father to join him in his acrobatic street performances all over France, where she first began to sing in public.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2015/apr/12/edith-piaf-paris-france-singer-exhibition-centenary-birth|title=France celebrates singer Edith Piaf with an exhibition for the centenary of her birth|last=Willsher|first=Kim|date=12 April 2015|work=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=15 August 2017|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077|archive-date=2 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200302081851/https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2015/apr/12/edith-piaf-paris-france-singer-exhibition-centenary-birth|url-status=live}}</ref> The following year, Piaf met Simone "Mômone" Berteaut,<ref>{{cite web |title=BEING PIAF – All About the Stage |url=https://allaboutthestage.com/2024/10/being-piaf/ |website=allaboutthestage.com |access-date=18 May 2025}}</ref> who became a companion for most of her life. In a memoir, Berteaut later falsely represented herself as Piaf's half-sister.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Burke |first=Carolyn |title=No Regrets: The Life of Edith Piaf |publisher=Chicago Review Press |year=2012 |isbn=9781613743942 |pages=63–64}}</ref> Together they toured the streets singing and earning money for themselves. With the additional money Piaf earned as part of an acrobatic trio, she and Berteaut were able to rent their own place.<ref name="yahoomusicbio" /> Piaf took a room at the ''Grand Hôtel de Clermont'' in Paris and worked with Berteaut as a street singer around Paris and its suburbs.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/france/paris/articles/Edith-Piafs-Paris/|title=Edith Piaf's Paris|date=19 December 2015|work=[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160212123800/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/france/paris/articles/Edith-Piafs-Paris/|archive-date=12 February 2016|url-status=live|access-date=6 June 2024}}</ref>

Piaf met a young man named Louis Dupont in 1932 and lived with him for a time; she became pregnant and gave birth to a daughter, Marcelle "Cécelle" Dupont, on 11 February 1933, when Piaf was seventeen. After Piaf's relationship with Dupont ended, Marcelle, who had been living with her father, contracted meningitis and died in July 1935, aged two.<ref name="Burke" />

In 1935, Piaf (then still known by her birth name of Édith Gassion) was discovered by nightclub owner [[Louis Leplée]].<ref name="csmonitor0707" /><ref name="yahoomusicbio" /><ref name="vansun" /> Leplée persuaded Piaf to sing despite her extreme nervousness. This nervousness and her height of only {{convert|142|cm|ftin}},<ref name="rfimusique" /><ref name="nydailynews07">{{cite news|first=Marshall|last=Fine|title=The soul of the Sparrow|date=4 June 2007|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/movies/2007/06/04/2007-06-04_the_soul_of_the_sparrow.html|work=[[Daily News (New York)|Daily News]]|location=New York|access-date=19 July 2007|archive-date=26 March 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090326074416/http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/movies/2007/06/04/2007-06-04_the_soul_of_the_sparrow.html|url-status=live}}</ref> inspired Leplée to give her the nickname ''La Môme Piaf'',<ref name="csmonitor0707" /> which is Paris slang for "The Sparrow Kid". Leplée taught Piaf about stage presence and told her to wear a black dress, which became her trademark apparel.<ref name="yahoomusicbio" />

Prior to Piaf's opening night, Leplée ran an intense publicity campaign, resulting in the attendance of many celebrities.<ref name="yahoomusicbio" /> The bandleader that evening was [[Django Reinhardt]], with his pianist, [[Norbert Glanzberg]].<ref name=Burke />{{rp|35}} Her nightclub gigs led to her first two records produced that same year,<ref name="nydailynews07" /> with one of them penned by [[Marguerite Monnot]], a collaborator throughout Piaf's life and one of her favourite composers.<ref name="yahoomusicbio" />

On 6 April 1936,<ref name="yahoomusicbio" /> Leplée was murdered. Piaf was questioned and accused as an accessory, but acquitted.<ref name="csmonitor0707" /> Leplée had been killed by mobsters with previous ties to Piaf.<ref name="cbc07">{{cite news|first=Andre|last=Mayer|title=Songbird|date=8 June 2007|url=http://www.cbc.ca/arts/music/lavieenrose.html|publisher=CBC|access-date=19 July 2007|archive-date=18 January 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100118200844/http://www.cbc.ca/arts/music/lavieenrose.html|url-status=live}}</ref> A barrage of negative media attention now threatened Piaf's career.<ref name="rfimusique" /><ref name="yahoomusicbio" /> To rehabilitate her image, she recruited [[Raymond Asso]], with whom she would become romantically involved.<ref>{{cite web |title=Last Words: Edith Piaf |url=https://bytesdaily.com.au/2013/10/last-words-edith-piaf.html |website=bytesdaily.com.au |access-date=12 May 2025 |language=en |date=2013-10-27 |archive-date=22 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240622195404/https://www.bytesdaily.com.au/2013/10/last-words-edith-piaf.html |url-status=live }}</ref> He changed her stage name to "Édith Piaf", barred undesirable acquaintances from seeing her, and commissioned Monnot to write songs that reflected or alluded to Piaf's previous life on the streets.<ref name="yahoomusicbio" />

=== Second World War (1940–1944) ===

In 1940, Piaf co-starred in [[Jean Cocteau]]'s one-act play ''Le Bel Indifférent''.<ref name="yahoomusicbio" />

Piaf's career and fame gained momentum during the [[German military administration in occupied France during World War II|German occupation of France in World War II]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=And the Show Went On: Cultural Life in Nazi-occupied Paris |author=Alan Riding |publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group |date=19 October 2010 |ISBN=9780307389053}}</ref> She began forming friendships with prominent people, such as actor and singer [[Maurice Chevalier]] and poet Jacques Bourgeat. Piaf also performed in various nightclubs and brothels, which flourished between 1940 and 1945.<ref>{{Cite book |author=Véronique Willemin |title=La Mondaine, histoire et archives de la Police des Mœurs |trans-title=La Mondaine, history and archives of the Morality Police |publisher=hoëbeke |date=2009 |p=102}}</ref> Various top Paris brothels, including Le Chabanais, [[Le Sphinx]], One Two Two,<ref name="guardian03">{{cite news |first=Stuart |last=Jeffries |title=The love of a poet |date=8 November 2003 |url=http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,12084,1079383,00.html |work=[[The Guardian]] |location=United Kingdom |access-date=19 September 2007 |archive-date=27 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230627030929/https://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,12084,1079383,00.html |url-status=live }}</ref> La rue des Moulins, and Chez Marguerite, were reserved for German officers and collaborating Frenchmen.<ref name=faz>{{Cite news |title=Die Schließung der 'Maisons closes' lag im Zug der Zeit |trans-title=The closure of the 'Maisons closes' was in keeping with the times |work=[[Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung]] |date=15 October 1996 |lang=de}}</ref> Piaf was invited to take part in a concert tour to Berlin, sponsored by the German officials, together with artists such as [[Loulou Gasté]], [[Raymond Souplex]], [[Viviane Romance]] and [[Albert Préjean]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=Sous l'œil de l'Occupant, la France vue par l'Allemagne, 1940–1944 |trans-title=Under the Eye of the Occupier, France as Seen by Germany, 1940–1944 |publisher=Éditions Armand Colin |location=Paris |date=2010 |ISBN=978-2-200-24853-6}}</ref> In 1942, she was able to afford a luxury flat in a house in the upmarket [[16th arrondissement of Paris]] area.<ref>{{Cite web |date=21 August 2013 |title=Edith Piaf: la Môme, la vraie |trans-title=Edith Piaf: La Môme (the kid), the real one |url=https://www.lexpress.fr/culture/musique/edith-piaf-la-mome-la-vraie_1274817.html |access-date=20 February 2023 |website=L'Express |language=fr |archive-date=30 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230130065511/https://www.lexpress.fr/culture/musique/edith-piaf-la-mome-la-vraie_1274817.html |url-status=live }}</ref> She lived above the [[L'Étoile de Kléber]], a famous nightclub and bordello close to the [[Carlingue|Paris Gestapo]] headquarters.<ref name="Belleret"/>

Piaf was accused of [[Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy|collaborating with the German occupying forces]] and had to testify before a [[Épuration légale]] (post-war legal trial), as there were plans to ban her from appearing on radio transmissions.<ref name=Burke/> However, her secretary Andrée Bigard, a member of the [[French Resistance]], spoke in her favour after the Liberation.<ref name="Belleret" /><ref>{{Cite book |author1=Myriam Chimènes |author2=Josette Alviset |title=La vie musicale sous Vichy |trans-title=Musical life under (the) Vichy (regime) |publisher=Editions Complexe |date=2001 |p= 302 |ISBN=978-2-87027-864-2}}</ref> According to Bigard, she performed several times at prisoner-of-war camps in Germany and was instrumental in helping a number of prisoners escape.<ref name=Holocaust>{{cite web |url=https://holocaustmusic.ort.org/resistance-and-exile/french-resistance/edith-piaf/ |title=Edith Piaf |website=Music and the Holocaust |access-date=5 July 2021 |archive-date=9 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709183130/https://holocaustmusic.ort.org/resistance-and-exile/french-resistance/edith-piaf/ |url-status=live}}</ref> At the beginning of the war, Piaf had met Michel Emer, a Jewish musician famous for the song ''L'Accordéoniste''. Piaf paid for Emer to travel into France before German occupation, where he lived in safety until the liberation.<ref name=Holocaust /><ref>{{Cite news |last=Prial|first=Frank|date=29 January 2004|title=Still No Regrets: Paris Remembers Its Piaf|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/29/arts/still-no-regrets-paris-remembers-its-piaf.html|access-date=20 February 2023|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=MacGuill|first=Dan|date=19 October 2017|title=Did Edith Piaf Make Fake Passports to Help Prisoners Escape from Nazi Camps?|url=https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/edith-piaf-nazi-camps-passports/|access-date=20 February 2023|website=Snopes|language=en|archive-date=29 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230129183530/https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/edith-piaf-nazi-camps-passports/|url-status=live
}}</ref> Following the trial, Piaf was quickly back in the singing business and in December 1944, she performed for the Allied forces in Marseille, alongside singer/actor [[Yves Montand]].<ref name=Burke/>

Earlier in 1944, Piaf performed in the [[Moulin Rouge]] cabaret venue in Paris, where she worked with Montand and began an affair with him.<ref name="rfimusique" /><ref name="cbc07" />

=== Post-war (1945–1955) ===
Piaf wrote and performed her [[signature song]], "{{Lang|fr|[[La Vie en rose]]|italic=no}}" in 1945.<ref name="yahoomusicbio" /> This song was entered into the [[Grammy Hall of Fame]] in 1998.<ref>{{Cite web |title=GRAMMY Hall Of Fame {{!}} Hall of Fame Artists {{!}} GRAMMY.com |url=https://www.grammy.com/awards/hall-of-fame-award |access-date=11 December 2023 |website=www.grammy.com |archive-date=19 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221219195004/https://www.grammy.com/awards/hall-of-fame-award |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1947, she wrote the lyrics to the song "[[What Can I Do? (Édith Piaf song)|What Can I Do?]]" for her lover Montand. Within a year, Montand became one of the most famous singers in France. She broke off their relationship when he had become almost as popular as she was.<ref name="yahoomusicbio" />

During this time, she was in great demand and very successful in Paris<ref name="csmonitor0707" /> as France's most popular entertainer.<ref name="nydailynews07" /> After the war, she became known internationally,<ref name="csmonitor0707" /> touring Europe, the United States, and South America. In Paris, she gave Argentinian guitarist-singer [[Atahualpa Yupanqui]] – a central figure in the Argentine folk music tradition – the opportunity to share the scene, making his debut in July 1950. Piaf also helped launch the career of [[Charles Aznavour]] in the early 1950s, taking him on tour with her in France and the United States and recording some of his songs.<ref name="yahoomusicbio" /> At first she met with little success with American audiences, who expected a gaudy spectacle and were disappointed by Piaf's simple presentation.<ref name="yahoomusicbio" /> However, after a glowing review by influential New York critic [[Virgil Thomson]] in 1947,<ref>{{cite news |author-link=Virgil Thomson  |author=Thomson, Virgil |title=La Môme Piaf |trans-title=The Little Piaf |work=[[New York Herald Tribune]] |date=9 November 1947}}</ref><ref name="yahoomusicbio" /> her popularity in the U.S. grew to the point where she eventually appeared on ''[[The Ed Sullivan Show]]'' eight times, and at [[Carnegie Hall]] twice (in 1956 and 1957).<ref name="vansun" />

=== Later years (1955–1963) ===
Between January 1955 and October 1962, Piaf performed several series of concerts at the [[Paris Olympia]] music hall.<ref name="rfimusique" /> Excerpts from five of these concerts (1955, 1956, 1958, 1961, 1962) were issued on vinyl record (and later on CD), and have never been out of print. In the 1961 concerts, promised by Piaf in an effort to save the venue from bankruptcy, she first sang ''[[Non, je ne regrette rien]]''.<ref name="rfimusique" /> In early 1963, Piaf recorded her last song before her death, titled ''L'Homme de Berlin''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.connexionfrance.com/magazine/from-poverty-to-glory-life-of-legendary-french-singer-edith-piaf/104303|title=From poverty to glory: Life of legendary French singer Edith Piaf|last=David|first=Samantha|date=15 February 2022|work=Connexion France|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240422090618/https://www.connexionfrance.com/magazine/from-poverty-to-glory-life-of-legendary-french-singer-edith-piaf/104303|archive-date=22 April 2024|url-status=live|access-date=6 June 2024}}</ref>