Breton guitarist and politician Frank Darcel, co-founder of the rock group Marquis de Sade, died at 65

With Philippe Pascal, the singer of Marquis Sade, Frank Darcel marked a generation of French artists including Pascal Obispo and Etienne Daho, who paid tribute to him.

Breton musician, writer and activist Frank Darcel, co-founder of the Rennes rock group Marquis de Sade, was found dead on Thursday March 14 on a beach in Galicia, in the northwest of Spain. Contacted by AFP, a spokesperson for the Civil Guard confirmed that the body found was that of Frank Darcel. He did not specify the cause of his death, which remains under investigation.

According to Galician emergency services, the body of the 65-year-old guitarist was discovered on Thursday midday by walkers on rocks on Los Castros beach, in the town of Ribadeo. He found himself “in an easily accessible location, right next to the stairs leading to the beach”they detail in a press release.

A unique imprint

On Instagram, singer Pascal Obispo paid tribute on Saturday March 16 to the musician, with whom he collaborated on several occasions. “And now Frank… Infinite sadness”he wrote under a black and white photo of the guitarist.

“My dear Frank, my friend”reacted, also on Instagram, the singer Etienne Daho, close to Frank Darcel, who accompanied him on his first album in 1981 and even produced it in its beginnings. “Thousands of memories flood in and words don’t come to me to express this emptiness. Thank you for being in my life and changing it forever”he continued.

Born in the Côtes d’Armor in 1958, Frank Darcel founded the rock group Marquis de Sade with notably the singer Philippe Pascal, who died in 2019. Their differences led to the disappearance, after five years, of the musical group born in 1977 and which had only existed for 5 years, made an unforgettable return to the stage in 2017.

The idea for the concert is that of the artist Patrice Poch, a punk rock enthusiast who imagines it as a “artistic performance” as part of the Rennes Biennale of Urban Art. An exhibition on the 40th anniversary of Marquis de Sade opened its doors for the occasion.

Frank Darcel has worked with many French musicians, including Alan Stivell. This son of a doctor also became known for his novels, including “Bad Injury, The army of free men or The drifterand for his political commitment in Brittany.

Opposed to Parisian centralism, he joined the Breton party in 2002 and was one of the founders of Breizh Europa in 2013, which advocates the autonomy of Brittany in a federal Europe.

“My aim is a Brittany with more powers in a federal France within a federal Europe, and it is neither right nor left”he explained to West France during an interview in November 2019. In 2020, he was a candidate for the municipal elections in Rennes for the small party Rennes Bretagne Europe (RBE), collecting less than 2% of the votes.