Isabelle Aubret was born in Lille on July 27, 1938. Her real name is Therese Cockerell. The girl was the fifth child in the family, having 10 more brothers and sisters.
She grew up in a poor working-class region of France with her mother, who was of Ukrainian descent, and her father, who worked in one of the many spinning mills.
When Isabelle was 14 years old, she worked at this factory as a winder. Also, in parallel, the girl was diligently engaged in gymnastics. She even won the French title in 1952.
Getting Started Therese Cockerell
The girl, endowed with a beautiful voice, took part in local competitions. In the presence of the director of the Lille radio station, the future singer had the opportunity to go on stage.
Little by little she became a vocalist in orchestras, and when she was 18 years old, she was hired for two years in an orchestra in Le Havre.
At the very beginning of the 1960s, she won a new competition, which was of particular importance - the performance took place on one of the largest and most prestigious stages in France, Olympia.
Then the girl was noticed by Bruno Cockatrix, an outstanding person in the field of music. He was able to get Isabelle to perform at the Fifty-Fifty cabaret in Pigalle (the red-light district of Paris).
Isabelle Aubre now had a business. In 1961, she met Jacques Canetti, a well-known art agent of the time and a connoisseur of young talents.
Thanks to this acquaintance, the singer recorded her debut songs. Isabelle's first songs were written by Maurice Vidalin.
Among the first works, you can hear Nous Les Amoureux - an undoubted hit on the French stage. The following year, singer Jean-Claude Pascal won the Eurovision Song Contest with a song of the same name.
Isabelle became the champion in the number of titles and awards, starting with the Grand Prix at the festival in England in 1961. The following year, she received the Eurovision Song Contest Award for the song Un Premier Amour.
An important event in 1962 was her meeting with the singer Jean Ferroy. At first sight, true love broke out between the performers. Ferrat dedicated the song Deux Enfants Au Soleil to his beloved, which remains his biggest hit to this day.
The man then invited Isabelle to go on tour with him. In 1963, the singer entered the ABC stage with Sacha Distel. But first she opened for Jacques Brel at the Olympia concert hall, where she performed from March 1 to March 9.
Brel and Ferrat became one of the most important people in Isabelle's professional life.
Mandatory Break Isabelle Aubret
A few months later, director Jacques Demy and musician Michel Legrand approached Isabelle to offer her the lead role in Les Parapluies de Cherbourg.
However, the singer had to withdraw from the role due to an accident - the woman was in a serious car accident. Rehabilitation took several years of Isabelle's life.
Moreover, she had to go through 14 surgical interventions. Because of this accident, Jacques Brel gave the singer life-long rights to the song La Fanatte.
In 1964, Jean Ferrat wrote her the composition C'est Beau La Vie. Isabelle Aubret, with exceptional perseverance, decided to record this song, thanks to which she enjoyed great popularity.
In 1965, still in the process of recovery, a young woman performed on the stage of the Olympia Concert Hall. But her true comeback came in 1968.
She competed again in the Eurovision Song Contest and placed 3rd. Then in May, Isabelle took to the Bobino stage (one of the most popular venues in Paris) with the composition Québécois Félix Leclerc.
But Paris then organized the May socio-political events. A police station exploded near the performance, so the concert was cancelled.
Suddenly, Isabelle decided to go on tour in France and abroad. She visited over 70 cities in 1969.
In the same year, Isabelle changed her team. Then worked with Isabelle: Gerard Meis, editor, boss of the Meys label, producer J. Ferrat and J. Greco. Together they were responsible for the professional fate of the singer.
The best singer in the world Isabelle Aubret
In 1976, Isabelle Obre won the Best Female Singer Award at the Tokyo Music Festival. The Japanese have always praised the French singer, and in 1980 they declared her the best singer in the world.
After the release of two albums Berceuse Pour Une Femme (1977) and Unevie (1979), Isabelle Aubray went on a long international tour, during which she visited the USSR, Germany, Finland, Japan, Canada and Morocco.
A new trial put the singer's career on hold again at the end of 1981. Isabelle rehearsed for the annual gala with boxer Jean-Claude Bouttier. During rehearsal, she fell and broke both legs.
The restoration took two years. At first, the doctors were very pessimistic, but they were surprised when they saw that the health of the lively singer improved.
However, the injury did not prevent Isabelle from recording new works. In 1983, the album France France was released, and in 1984, Le Monde Chante. In 1989 (the year of the 200th anniversary of the French Revolution), Isabelle released the album "1989".
1990: album Vivre En Flèche
On the occasion of the release of the new album (Vivre En Flèche), Isabelle Aubret successfully opened the concert hall "Olympia" in 1990.
In 1991, she released an album of jazz songs in English (In Love). Thanks to this disc, she performed at the Petit Journal Montparnasse jazz club in Paris.
Then, after the release of her disc Chante Jacques Brel (1984), the singer decided to dedicate the disc to the poems of Louis Aragon (1897-1982).
Also in 1992, the album Coups de Coeur was released. This is a collection in which Isabelle Aubret performed French songs that she especially liked.
Finally, 1992 is an opportunity for Isabelle Aubret to receive the Legion of Honor from President François Mitterrand.
Following this success, C'est Le Bonheur was released in 1993. Two years later, it was to Jacques Brel that she dedicated the show, which she performed throughout France and Quebec. At the same time, she released the album Changer Le Monde.
Paris is the main theme of the album released by Isabelle in September 1999, Parisabelle, in which she interpreted 18 classical pieces.
Isabelle returned in the fall and performed several shows in Greece and Italy, as well as a solo concert at the Le Paris Hotel in Las Vegas at the end of December.
2001: Le Paradis des Musiciens
To celebrate her 40th birthday on stage, Isabelle Aubret began a series of 16 concerts in Bobino. She immediately released a new album, Le Paradis Des Musicians.
The work was created with the participation of Anna Sylvestre, Etienne Rod-Gile, Daniel Lavoie, Gilles Vigneault, even Marie-Paul Belle. A recording of the show in Bobino was released the same year. Then the singer continued to give concerts throughout France.
From April 4 to July 2, 2006, she acted in Eva Ensler's play Les Monologues duVagin with two other actresses (Astrid Veylon and Sarah Giraudeau).
In the same year, the singer returned with new songs and the album "2006". Unfortunately, the album was neglected. Both the press and listeners virtually ignored him.
2011: Isabelle Aubret Chante Ferrat
A year after the death of her best friend Jean Ferrat, Isabelle Aubray dedicated a work to him, which contains all the songs of the poet. It contains 71 tracks in total from this triple album released in March 2011. Work is almost 50 years of unchanging friendship.
On May 18 and 19, 2011, the singer performed at the Palais des Sports in Paris in a Ferra tribute concert, accompanied by 60 musicians from the Debrecen National Orchestra.
In the same year, she published her autobiography C'est Beau La Vie (editions by Michel Lafont).
2016: Allons Enfants album
Isabelle Obret decided to say goodbye to music. Then came the album Allons Enfants (a CD that, according to her, is the last).
On October 3, she performed for the last time at the Olympia Concert Hall. A double CD and DVD of this concert went on sale in 2017.
In November 2016, the singer resumed her Âge Tendre et Têtes de Bois tour. She also gave several galas and presented her new songs throughout 2017.
Isabelle resumed her activities in early 2018 with the Age Tender the Idol Tour 2018. However, the tour became a farewell tour. Isabelle Aubret thus cautiously withdrew from artistic life.
