It is a mourning that marked the whole of France: when he had just released his legendary hit White Paradise, Michel Berger collapsed one day after a game of tennis on his property in Ramatuelle… and never got up again. At 44, the singer had just succumbed to a heart attack and left behind a broken wife, France Gall, as well as two children, Pauline and Raphaël.
And the eldest, aged 13 when her father died, unfortunately did not survive the singer for long: affected by cystic fibrosis, she ended up succumbing to it in 1997, at barely 19 years old. Another drama experienced by his mother, who had just been cured of cancer and who had to stay up for her son Raphaël when she had just experienced the worst possible grief.
Especially since the burial of her daughter was not done so easily: indeed, knowing that she was very seriously ill, Pauline had made a will before dying. to ask to be buried next to her famous dad. France Gall then had to ask her in-laws to move her husband’s body to the Gall vault in Paris. A request first refused by his parents-in-law, but which had ended up being accepted after many negotiations.
The father and daughter therefore rest today in a vault in the Montmartre cemetery in Paris. A poetic place, surrounded by glass, where fans often come to meditate or pay a last tribute to the family: you should know that France Gall unfortunately joined them on January 7, 2018 after succumbing to cancer.
Their son Raphaël, now 41, is also part of the business now but there is no question for him to shine: the man, who uses his real family name, Hamburger, has become a composer and produces music. music, in particular a large number of soundtracks including We York by Geraldine Nakache, Blood Ties by Guillaume Canet and Tomorrow it all starts, by Hugo Gelin. Very discreet, he would have shared the life of Cécile Cassel, another “daughter of”, but we do not know more today.