He was best known for the Julien Lepers-penned hit Pour le plaisir... Singer Herbert Léonard died on Sunday March 2, 2025 at the age of 80 from lung cancer. The announcement was made by his wife, Cléo Léonard, toAFP. The artist died at Fontainebleau hospital, in Seine-et-Marne, where he had been hospitalized for some time. Known for his hits in the 1980s, he had left his mark on the French chanson scene with a style inspired by American crooners.
Born in Strasbourg in 1945 under the nameHubert Lœnhard, Herbert Léonard first made a name for himself in rock before turning to French variety. After a quiet start in the 1960s, he achieved national popularity in 1981 with Pour le plaisir, a song composed by Julien Lepers, which went on to sell over 2.5 million copies. Other titles followed, such as Amoureux fou, a duet with Julie Pietri, and Sur des musiques érotiques. Herbert Léonard was also known for having sung the theme song for the Châteauvallon series, a sort of French Dallas. His career was marked by several interruptions, notably after a serious car accident in 1969, which kept him away from the stage for a year.
Herbert Léonard also had a passion for aviation, which led him to write several specialist works on Soviet fighter planes. He had also taken part in nostalgic tours such as Âge tendre et tête de bois and played the character of Frollo in the musical Notre-Dame de Paris. In 2017, he had already suffered a pulmonary embolism, but had returned to music in 2014 with his last album, Demi-tour. His death prompted numerous reactions, including that of Culture Minister Rachida Dati, who hailed on X: "By singing of love with passion, Herbert Léonard left his mark on an entire generation".
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