45 years ago, on March 11, 1978, Claude François left the stage for good at the age of 39, following a tragic domestic accident. While he was late and expected on the set of his friend Michel Drucker’s variety show, the singer nevertheless intends to take advantage of a bath, in his apartment at 46, boulevard Exelmans, in the 16e Parisian district. But the artist notices that the electric wall lamp above his bathtub is not straight. In neither one nor two, this terribly maniacal man wants to straighten it and, while his feet are in the water and the wires are bare, the fatal electrocution occurs. A brutal and unexpected death which plunged France into deep mourning, even impossible for its most loyal fans. Claude François also entered the legend. Still today, 45 years later. He will have sold 70 million records half of them after his death. That is to say that the myth is powerful, even among the younger generation.
Claude François Junior, son of Claude François is fed up with the criticism of his father. On the occasion of the 45th anniversary of the disappearance of the singer, relive the interview of his son at the microphone of @StevenBellery here: https://t.co/laJrOodTvKpic.twitter.com/IS47V8niMn
—RTL France (@RTLFrance) March 11, 2023
“I have no law that protects me”
This Saturday, March 11, 2023, RTL paid tribute to the unforgettable interpreter ofAlexandria, Alexandra or of Magnolias For Ever. In this context, the station broadcast the interview that his son, Claude François Junior, had given to the microphone of Steven Bellery, for the program Indulge. The artist’s eldest had announced many surprises to commemorate, in 2028, the 50e anniversary of his father’s death as a musical or a symphonic show orchestrated by his brother Marc. But beyond the artistic festivities, the host wanted to know how his 54-year-old guest lived, still today, the posthumous notoriety of his father and how he managed the criticism against him. And the latter to answer bluntly: “Criticism not only hurts me but it enrages me. I find that there is a lot of incivility, lack of respect, good manners on the part of many people, who allow themselves to recover gossip, to make truths of it. It bothers me.” Faced with his interlocutor, Steven Bellery wonders: “And you, don’t you want to go to the front? You rather let…” and is immediately cut off in its tracks. Because the artist’s son is apparently very concerned and irritated by the subject: “I fought legally because I don’t have a law that protects me. We can say what we want. You could say he was banging goats pulling coke rails. Today, I have no recourse.” And the host concludes: “Legally, you can insult a man’s memory.” An affirmation that Claude François Junior takes up: “Exactly, and it’s a real problem and one that will affect all artists.”
VF