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Henri Salvador

Henri Salvador

Henri Salvador is a French singer of Guyanese origin. He arrived in France in 1929 at the age of 12. He was passionate about music from an early age and studied the trumpet, violin and guitar. He discovered jazz as a teenager and dreamed of a career like his idol Louis Armstrong. He started singing with his brother André and went to the capital. He was only 18 years old when he was spotted in a famous Parisian cabaret of the time, where the whole of Paris flocked to hear him. He was then hired as an accompanist by the jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt and this was the beginning of his career as a band singer. His first personal success came in 1945, when he sang "Maladie d'amour" during a concert by Ray Ventura's band. He then embarked on his first solo tour of Brazil and formed his own orchestra in 1946. He quickly became a star. In the 1950s, he was one of the very first to perform rock'n'roll tunes in French, but he did not forget his first love and released a successful single on jazz guitar. His career really took off in the 1960s thanks to Maritie and Gilbert Carpentier's shows in which he entertained the public with humorous songs such as "Faut rigoler". He then officially became a popular singer. In 1962, he released the song "Syracuse" which became a true standard of French song. The song went round the world and was covered many times. Many other hits followed, such as "Zorro est arrivé", "Le travail c'est la santé" and "Juanita Banana". The 80s and 90s proved less fruitful and the artist was seen as an old-fashioned musician by the younger generation. He took advantage of this media lull to perfect his piano playing. In 2000, he returned to the forefront of the scene with his last album "Chambre avec vue" and his flagship track "Jardin d'hiver" composed by Keren Ann and Benjamin Biolay.