Regularly cited on the podium of favorite personalities of the French by the poll of JDD, and this despite his retirement from show business for years now, Jean-Jacques Goldman proves that his popularity has not taken a hit. And yet, it is clear that the interpreter of I give you, I walk alone or Fly Me is not really often in the spotlight …
In the book All it takes is a sign, written by his friend Jean Bender – who informed Jean-Jacques Goldman of his approach and received his encouragement – we learn a little more about what partly justifies the singer’s stated desire not to appear too much with the general public, neither in the street nor at media events. And for that we have to go back to the 1970s, a period during which his half-brother Pierre Goldman was arrested in turn for robbery and double murders. “He was sentenced to life imprisonment, then acquitted of the murders and released in 1976“, remember Paris Match, by evoking this man, a figure of far-left activism.
An affair which will inevitably mark the Goldman clan, especially as Pierre will be killed by three men close to the extreme right in the street, in 1979. “All were traumatized. Jean-Jacques was afraid of being the victim of an anti-Semitic or political aggression, a fear that has never left him and which also explains his restraint“, writes Jean Bender, who puts forward a lead to explain Jean-Jacques’ desire not to show himself too much. While anti-Semitic acts in France have long been yo-yos, in recent years the figures have steadily increased documents the government. Goldman was probably a little right to fear that he would one day be the victim. Did he also take that into account when choosing to move to London with his wife and children?
Exiled far from France, Jean-Jacques Goldman no longer touches an instrument because of his weakened health and thus leads a peaceful life as a father.