A beloved figure of French chanson has passed away... Annie Cordy, renowned for her many hits such as Tata Yoyo, La bonne du curé, and Cho Ka Ka O, died on Friday, September 4, 2020, at the age of 92. The singer succumbed to a heart attack at her home in Vallauris, in the Alpes-Maritimes. This news was reported by our colleagues at Nice-Matin, and confirmed by BFMTV.
"She fainted around 6 p.m. The firefighters arrived very quickly and did everything they could to revive her," her niece, with whom she lived, told AFP. She added: "She passed away within minutes." "She had memory issues, so I wasn’t entirely surprised, but I am deeply saddened," said singer Dave, in an interview with BFMTV.
Born as Léonie Cooreman in 1928 in Belgium, in Laeken—a northern suburb of Brussels—this young woman would later become better known as Annie Cordy in 1950. That year, she started her career as a revue star at the Lido in Paris, after working at the Bœuf sur le Toit in Brussels. A beloved singer, she’s famous for her lively hits like Tata Yoyo, released in 1980, and Cho Ka Ka O, which came out in 1985. But her talents extend far beyond just singing; her career is remarkably diverse and prolific. Overall, Annie Cordy recorded more than 700 cheerful and festive songs, and she also explored musical theatre, television, and the stage—yet it’s her work in cinema that truly defined her presence on the artistic scene.
In her film career, she is remembered for her role in Si Versailles m’était conté, where she shared the screen with Sacha Guitry, as well as her performances in René Clément’s Passager de la pluie and Pierre Granier-Deferre’s Chat, alongside Jean Gabin and Simone Signoret. She also appeared in Claude Chabrol’s La Rupture. In 2015, she left a lasting impression with Les Souvenirs by Jean-Paul Rouve. A talented artist and lively spirit, her absence will surely be felt.
