She was overwhelmed with requests. France Brel, the daughter of Jacques Brel and Thérèse Michielsen, has just signed an editorial management and sub-publishing agreement for her father’s songs with Warner Music Chappell France. This choice, of course, does not come out of nowhere. The French branch of the record company was already dealing with 16 titles from the artist’s repertoire, including the famous Do not leave me…and will now pick up another 160 songs.
My father thought his songs would soon be forgotten
It’s a relief for France Brel who managed everything, all alone, since 2004 – she has two sisters but Chantal, the eldest, died in 1999. “We receive between 350 and 400 requests for the use of songs per year, she explains in the columns of the newspaper The Parisian. My father thought, from his farewell to the Olympia, that his songs would quickly be forgotten. Whereas today we still listen to them, and even more and more. Since the beginning of the year, we have received a lot of requests for synchronization in films and series.“
A lucrative contract?
Jacques Brel has been dead for 50 years but his pieces are still snapping up like hotcakes internationally. “Especially in the United States, says his 68-year-old daughter. The French version of when we only have love is in high demand. It’s new. It reassures me to know that there is a succession and that it is provided by efficient, friendly people who have an international network.“The amount of this collaboration is”kept secret“. France Brel has agreed to entrust the management of her father’s songs but has never wanted to sell them. She will not be unemployed, however, since she continues to manage the Brel Foundation, located in Brussels, and to take care of other aspects of the family heritage, the museum dedicated to “Father Brel“, for example, or the publication of books.
Find the full interview with France Brel in the newspaper Le Parisien of January 31, 2022.