Jacques Brel

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Jacques Brel was born in 1929 in Schaerbeek near Brussels, in a French-speaking family of Flemish descent. At school he was no high achiever, but he wrote stories and acted. After school he worked in his father's cardboard factory, a job that bored him. In 1952 he began writing songs and performing in Brussels cabarets. In 1953 he recorded his first record and left for Paris, despite his family's opposition.

Music and breakthrough

In the Paris cabarets he worked hard on his career. The breakthrough came in 1956 with Quand on n'a que l'amour. The pianists François Rauber and Gérard Jouannest became his regular musical partners: Rauber wrote the orchestral arrangements, Jouannest accompanied him on tour. In 1959 La Valse à mille temps appeared, which also included Ne me quitte pas. Around that time he put the guitar aside to concentrate entirely on his singing and acting. His performances were theatrical and emotional, and classics such as Le plat pays, Marieke, Madeleine and Amsterdam brought halls to their feet in standing ovations. He sang mainly in French, sometimes in Dutch.

Influence

Brel is regarded as a master of modern chanson. He also became a model for English-language artists such as Scott Walker and David Bowie, and his songs were translated and sung by Nina Simone and Frank Sinatra, among others. He also acted in ten films. He died in 1978.

Listening

• 
  Ne me quitte pas · Jacques Brel, 1959
  Apple Music ↗

Discography

Studio albums

• 1954N°1 : Jacques Brel et ses Chansons
• 1957N°2 : Quand on n’a que l’amour
• 1958N°3 : Au printemps
• 1959N°4 : La Valse à mille temps
• 1961N°5 : Marieke
• 1962Les Bourgeois
• 1962N°6 : Les Bourgeois
• 1963Les Bigotes
• 1964Mathilde
• 1965Ces gens-là
• 1966Ces gens-là
• 1966Les Bonbons
• 196767
• 1968J’arrive
• 1968L’Homme de la Mancha (soundtrack)
• 1972Ne me quitte pas
• 1977Les Marquises
• 1990Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris (soundtrack)
• 1997Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris (1994 London revival cast) (soundtrack)
• 2006Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris (soundtrack)
• 2024Une grande sélection de ses chansons aimées
• 2026Archives studio
• ?Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris (soundtrack)
• ?Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris (soundtrack)

In School of Rock

The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.

• Mixtape 11: Nederpop^NL Reader

Mentioned in other articles

• Chanson GenreÉdith Piaf became world famous with La vie en rose (1947), and the Belgian Jacques Brel and Charles Aznavour wrote songs in the 1950s and 1960s that were translated all over the world.

See also

• Les Bourgeois