Frédéric François (born Francesco Barracato, 3 June 1950) is an Italian-Belgian French-speaking singer and composer.
Biography
Origins and childhood
Born on 3 June 1950 in Lercara Friddi in Sicily, in a very modest Italian family, he is the second child of Antonina "Nina" Salemi and Giuseppe "Peppino" Barracato. His mother was a seamstress in Lercara and his father was initially a miner in a sulphur mine in Lercara. He emigrated to Belgium in the coal basin of Liège, where he signed a three-year contract as a miner.Term of the contract that entitled him to bring his family. In 1951, Nina and her two sons joined Giuseppe in TilleurTilleur is 8 km from Liège. in a Red Cross Convoy. Francesco Barracato grew up in a family of eight children. Peppino used to sing Neapolitan songs and opera arias for pleasure and accompanied himself on the guitar. Young Francesco was only 10 when he sang 'O sole mio for the first time in public in a café frequented mostly by Sicilians in Tilleur, "Le Passage à Niveau" [The Level Crossing].
Early days
In 1963, he turned semi-professional as a singer-guitarist in a group called "Les Eperviers" [The Sparrow hawks]. He left the technical college in 1965 for the Liège conservatoire to study violin, where he took courses particularly in diction, declamation and voice.
In 1966, he joined a new group called "Les Tigres Sauvages" [Wild Tigers] and won the "Microsillon d'Argent" [Silver Microgroove Record] at the Festival of Châtelet in Belgium – a prize that included the recording of a single. He recorded two titles: “Petite fille” [Little Girl] and "”Ne pleure pas" [Don't cry], under the pseudonym of François Bara. His father bought the 500 records that were pressed and managed to sell them for jukeboxes. The winner also got to perform as a warm-up act for three confirmed artists: Johnny Hallyday, Pascal Danel and Michel Polnareff, his idol.
In 1969, his meeting with the Belgian producer Constant Defourny led to his first contract with a record company: Barclay-Belgique. He recorded “Sylvie” in July 1969, and released his first single under the name of Frédéric François, in homage to the composer Chopin, whose real first name was Frédéric-François. He gave his first performances as a solo artist in venues in the Liège region during the tour of The Best Group orchestra: he performed five of his own compositions, including Sylvie, of course.Sylvie is the first name of the lyricist’s daughter. He released a new single, “Les Orgues de Saint Michel” [The Organ of Saint Michael], which was not at all successful, then another one, "Marian," accompanied by a second title "Comme tous les amoureux," [Like all people in love], which was written especially to represent at the Eurovision Song Contest 1970, but was not selected.
1970s
In 1970, Frédéric François recorded a new title "Jean",Jean is pronounced as in English. an adaptation of the song in the British film The Prime of Miss Jean BrodieThe Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Ronald Neame (1969). Distributed on the AZ label, this song crossed the Franco-Belgian border, thanks to Lucien Morisse, the programming director of Europe 1, who played it on his channel and enabled the young singer to have a number one single on the hit parade for the first time, though it was not enough to make him famous. He subsequently released two singles "Le pays d'où tu viens" [The Country you come from] and "Shabala": the first was broadcast on the Formule J programme of the Belgian radio corporation, the RTB. The fan base begins to grow.
In 1970, he married Monique Vercauteren, a miner's daughter, whom he had met a year earlier. He recorded a new song, this time spoken and not sung, "I love you je t'aime" as a duet with Monique. Their first child, Gloria, was born on 13 February 1971. "I love you, je t'aime" was played often on the Dutch pirate station Radio Veronica, which broadcast from a boat anchored outside territorial waters. The 30,000 sold copies of this record are to be considered as the first real recognition on the part of the public. But Monique continued with her factory job; Frédéric was not earning much from his music and experienced a certain discouragement when he composed "Comme on jette une bouteille à la mer" [Like a bottle thrown in the sea] and "Je n'ai jamais aimé comme je t'aime" [I have never loved the way I love you], with lyrics by Marino Atria.Sicilian by his mother, Neapolitan by his father and a miner's son himself.
Having stayed at the no. 1 spot of the Formule J hit parade for thirteen weeks, Frédéric François emerged from anonymity, which made his new label, Vogue-Belgique, decide to distribute "Je n'ai jamais aimé comme je t'aime," prudently only in French record shops in Pas-de-Calais, a region next to Belgium: 250,000 copies were sold. He considers this sixth single, recorded under the name of Frédéric François, as his first real hit.
His second child, Vincent, was born a few months later, on 15 May 1972. The real hit was to come in the summer of that year: “Je voudrais dormir près de toi” [I would like to sleep near you], which sold 500,000 copies and went to number one in several countries.
As hit followed hit, ("Laisse-moi vivre ma vie" [Let me live my life] (end of 1972– one million records sold), "Viens te perdre dans mes bras" [Come and lose yourself in my arms] (1973), "Chicago" (1975), tour would follow tour. That is when his second son and third child, Anthony, was born, on 8 January 1976. Frédéric François is classified among the "romantic crooners for young girls",The term "romantic crooners for young girls" was not pejorative at the time. (like Patrick Juvet, Christian Delagrange, Dave, Mike Brant). He could capitalise on his success until 1979, when the arrival of disco would dislodge him from the top of the pops.
1980s
The crossing of the wilderness would last three years, until 1982. This low ebb took its toll with psychosomatic effects: he suffered serious attacks of spasmophilia which would become less frequent only when he started having hits again, thanks to the arrival of private radio and frequent airplay of “Adios Amor” [Goodbye love] at every turn – an adaptation by the lyricist Michel Jourdan of a German song by Andy Borg. The single sold 500,000 copies in a few weeks, followed by "Aimer" [Love] (adaptation M.Jourdan/Andy Borg) in 1983. This return to grace enabled him to go on tour again, which would take him to Haiti where he performed for the first time.
In 1984, he signed with Trema, the record company of Michel Sardou and Enrico Macias. Up until then, Frédéric François had sold mainly singles, in spite of thirteen LPs at Vogue. He released a new album "Mon cœur te dit je t'aime" [My heart tells you that I love you], which went three times gold.
The creation of the French Top 50 chart that same year would prove a decisive turning point in his career, since for the first time in recording history, singers were ranked according to their actual sales and not on subjective criteria. And yet, showbiz circles in Paris were still reticent. He was 34 years old when he performed at the Olympia for the first time, thanks to his impresario, Moïse Benitah, who managed to convince Jean-Michel Boris and Paulette Coquatrix. The show was sold out. And the craze for his new song "Je t'aime à l'italienne" [I love you, Italian style] was such that his name would be in lights once again the following year (1985) on the great music hall on the right bank, while his first book Les yeux charbon [Coal Eyes] (Carrère-Lafon) was a homage to his family and his public.
On 14 April 1987, his father Peppino Barracato died. The success of his new album "Une nuit ne suffit pas" [One night is not enough] (first joint effort with a female lyricist, Michaele) and the preparation of his third Olympia show in 1988, helped him to overcome this shock.
In 1989, he sang in twenty-five cities in Canada, as well as in the United States (April 1989) in Miami and in New York, where he gave five performances in three different venues: Brooklyn College and Queen's College at the CUNY, and the Town Hall Foundation.
1990s
For three weeks, from 1 to 18 March 1990, Frédéric François performed at the Olympia. The first evening, as he went off stage, he was told that his fourth child, Victoria, had been born while he was performing the last song of his show, "Je t'aime à l'italienne." Two years later, he would perform on that fabled stage for an entire month – the longest run in his career.
In 1993, he left Trema to create his own production company, MBM, in order to gain complete creative freedom, and signed a contract with BMG for the distribution. He released the last vinyl single of his career, "L'amour c'est la musique" [Life is music]. Then came his first CD entitled "Tzigane" [Gypsy] (as well as a first excerpt from the same single title in Belgium).
On 20 December 1996, he was received in a private audience by Pope John Paul II in Rome, with other distinguished guests.Dionne Warwick, Natalie Cole, Laura Pausini and Los del Rio On that occasion, he sang for the first time in his life before the Pope, accompanied by 70 musicians and the choruses of the Rome opera.
His mother, whom he always admired, died on 17 August 1997. Frédéric François dedicated to her his eighth appearance at the Olympia in March 1998, followed by a tour that attracted more than 300,000 spectators. He knew that he was going to sing for the first time in his life in his native village of Lercara Friddi in Sicily on 30 May 1999. A few months before that event, he recorded an album of Italian classics ("Volare", "Come Prima", "Ciao Ciao Bambina") entitled "Les plus grandes mélodies italiennes" [The Greatest Italian Melodies]. He also introduced a family song known to many Sicilians "La porta abanidduzza" [The door ajar], and for the first time in his career, he sang in the Sicilian language. He considered it as a return to his roots and a way to celebrate thirty years of success.
In 1999, the Editions LCJ Productions released a VHS of the film "Les dédales d'Icare" [The maze of Icarus] Armand Rocour (1981 Belgium); the song of the film Je voyage [I am travelling], was performed by Frédéric François who was playing his first role in a film.
2000s
Frédéric François entered the 21st century by publishing his second book, Ma vie [My life] (Editions Hors Collection) with the journalist Serge Igor, where he talks about his life as never before, and opens his personal photo archives for the first time.
His tour in 2002–2003 featured more than 100 consecutive performances in France, Belgium and Switzerland. He decided to pay homage to Tino Rossi by covering his biggest hits in 2003: Méditerranée, Marinella, Ave Maria, Petit Papa Noël.
In 2004, during his eleventh appearance at the Olympia, he sang in English for the first time in his career, Elvis Presley's song, "Love Me Tender", to a standing ovation. In 2005, after three years without any recordings, he released a CD with 15 songs, including "Et si on parlait d'amour" [And if we spoke of love]. It sold 200,000 copies in a few weeks.
In October 2005, he published his third book, "Autobiographie d'un Sicilien" [Autobiography of a Sicilian] (Editions Ramsay), where he presents his values and ideals. That year, some of his lady admirers would give him another nickname than the famous "Frédo," by calling him "La voix de l'amour" [The voice of love].