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Artist News Obituaries
Jane Birkin dies
By Andy Malt | Published on Monday 17 July 2023
British singer and actor Jane Birkin, best known for her work with Serge Gainsbourg, has died at her home in France. She was 76.
Born in London in 1946, Birkin originally began her career as an actor in the UK, appearing in films such as Michelangelo Antonioni’s ‘Blowup’ in 1966. She met Gainsbourg when they co-starred in the French film ‘Slogan’ in 1968, marking the beginning of a more than decade-long personal and working relationship.
They released their debut album together, ‘Jane Birkin/Serge Gainsbourg’, in 1969. In 1976, Birkin starred in the Gainsbourg-directed film ‘Je T’aime Moi Non Plus’, for which they recorded a song of the same name. Their most famous work, it also proved controversial, due to the sexually explicit French lyrics – leading to broadcasters in Italy, Spain and the UK banning it.
Despite this, the song was a success, and in the UK it made chart history when the record appeared in two different positions in the singles chart at the same time.
This was because the label that originally released it, Fontana, pulled the record due to the controversy surrounding it. It was then quickly re-released by Major Minor, but with the Fontana release still also on the shelves, both versions made the chart – the Major Minor release reaching number three and the Fontana one coming in at number sixteen. The record eventually went to number one.
Birkin and Gainsbourg separated in 1980, after which she continued to have a successful career as both a singer and an actor. She released numerous solo albums, most recently ‘Oh! Pardon Tu Dormais’ in 2020. However, in 2021, she was forced to cancel a string of live performances after having a stroke.
Mainly living and working in France from the 1960s onwards, she was awarded an OBE in 2001 for services to acting and British-French cultural relations.
Paying tribute yesterday, French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted: “Because she embodied freedom, because she sang the most beautiful words of our language, Jane Birkin was a French icon. A complete artist, her voice was as sweet as her engagements were fiery. She bequeaths us tunes and images that will never leave us”.
