Charles Trenet

Louis Charles Augustin Georges Trenet (18 May 1913 – 19 February 2001) was a renowned French singer-songwriter who composed both the music and the lyrics for nearly 1,000 songs over a career that lasted more than 60 years. These songs include "Boum!" (1938), "La Mer" (1946) and "Nationale 7" (1955). Trenet is also noted for his work with musicians Michel Emer and Léo Chauliac, with whom he recorded "Y'a d'la joie" (1938) for the first and "La Romance de Paris" (1941) and "Douce France" (1947) for the latter.

He was awarded an Honorary Molière Award in 2000. Trenet was born in Avenue Charles Trenet, Narbonne, Occitanie, France, the son of Françoise Louise Constance (Caussat) and Lucien Etienne Paul Trenet. When he was age seven, his parents divorced, and he was sent to boarding school in Béziers, but he returned home just a few months later, suffering from typhoid fever. It was during his convalescence at home that he developed his artistic talents, such as performing music, painting and sculpting.

His mother remarried, and he lived with her and his stepfather, writer Benno Vigny. In 1922, Trenet moved to Perpignan, this time as a day pupil. André Fons-Godail, the "Catalan Renoir" and a friend of the family, took him for excursions with painting. His poetry is said to have the painter's eye for detail and colour.