# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/jacques-brel
# Generated: 2026-08-31T20:24:44.492Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/jacques-brel"
name: "Jacques Brel"
slug: "jacques-brel"
description: "He wrote songs that felt like one-act plays—heartbreak, cynicism, longing delivered at full tilt—and turned the chanson into something rawer than Paris had heard. Brel's catalogue crossed the Channel in translation and lodged in the repertoires of Bowie, Sinatra, Nina Simone, a list that keeps going."
tagline: "Belgian singer (1929–1978)"
image: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Jacques_Brel_(1962).jpg"
gender: "male"
category:
  name: "Musicians"
  slug: "musicians"
profileType:
  name: "Singer / Musician"
  slug: "singer"
  entityType: "https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q177220"
birthDate: "1929-04-08"
deathDate: "1978-10-09"
livingStatus: "DECEASED"
scores:
  popularity:           78.15
  momentum:             13.27647328689995
  historical:           26.091976
  currentAttention:     26.66666666666667
  sourceConfidence:     90
  profileCompleteness:  80
  trendDirection:       "STABLE"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  null
  category: null
totalFollowers: 46900
tags:
  - name: "Musicians"
    slug: "musicians"
  - name: "Singer / Musician"
    slug: "singer-musician"
  - name: "Singer-Songwriter"
    slug: "singer-songwriter"
  - name: "Classical"
    slug: "classical"
  - name: "Movies"
    slug: "movies"
  - name: "Television"
    slug: "television"
  - name: "Poetry"
    slug: "poetry"
  - name: "Literature"
    slug: "literature"
platforms:
  - platform:  "X"
    url:       "https://x.com/ejbrel"
    handle:    "ejbrel"
  - platform:  "FACEBOOK"
    url:       "https://www.facebook.com/Editions-Jacques-Brel-Bruxelles-101828353235640"
    handle:    "Editions-Jacques-Brel-Bruxelles-101828353235640"
  - platform:  "IMDB"
    url:       "https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0107035/"
    handle:    "nm0107035"
  - platform:  "SPOTIFY"
    url:       "https://open.spotify.com/artist/4RN2vlFWepLa46qQIU2PHs"
    handle:    "4RN2vlFWepLa46qQIU2PHs"
  - platform:  "WEBSITE"
    url:       "https://fondationbrel.be/"
  - platform:  "YOUTUBE"
    url:       "https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyWoPyPI3wfcq56qU5bKkBQ"
    handle:    "@jacquesbrelvevo"
    followers: 46900
sources:
  - url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Brel"
    title: "Wikipedia"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1666"
    title: "Wikidata"
    type:  "WIKIDATA"
  - url: "https://pantheon.world/profile/person/Jacques%20Brel"
    title: "Pantheon 2.0"
    type:  "DATABASE"
  - url: "https://an.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Brel"
    title: "Jacques Brel"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%AC%D8%A7%D9%83_%D8%A8%D8%B1%D9%8A%D9%84"
    title: "جاك بريل"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://arz.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%AC%D8%A7%D9%83_%D8%A8%D8%B1%D9%8A%D9%84"
    title: "جاك بريل"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ast.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Brel"
    title: "Jacques Brel"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://azb.wikipedia.org/wiki/%DA%98%D8%A7%DA%A9_%D8%A8%D8%B1%D9%84"
    title: "ژاک برل"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://az.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jak_Brel"
    title: "Jak Brel"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://be.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%96%D0%B0%D0%BA_%D0%91%D1%80%D1%8D%D0%BB%D1%8C"
    title: "Жак Брэль"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%96%D0%B0%D0%BA_%D0%91%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%BB"
    title: "Жак Брел"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://br.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Brel"
    title: "Jacques Brel"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Brel"
    title: "Jacques Brel"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Brel"
    title: "Jacques Brel"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Brel"
    title: "Jacques Brel"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cy.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Brel"
    title: "Jacques Brel"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Brel"
    title: "Jacques Brel"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Brel"
    title: "Jacques Brel"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%96%CE%B1%CE%BA_%CE%9C%CF%80%CF%81%CE%B5%CE%BB"
    title: "Ζακ Μπρελ"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Brel"
    title: "Jacques Brel"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Brel"
    title: "Jacques Brel"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://et.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Brel"
    title: "Jacques Brel"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Brel"
    title: "Jacques Brel"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%DA%98%D8%A7%DA%A9_%D8%A8%D8%B1%D9%84"
    title: "ژاک برل"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bn.wikiquote.org/wiki/%E0%A6%9C%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%AF%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%95_%E0%A6%AC%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%B0%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%B2"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jacques_Brel"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://eo.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jacques_Brel"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://es.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jacques_Brel"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://fr.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jacques_Brel"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://musicbrainz.org/artist/91eda19b-1437-42cd-b7af-69df24b7f275"
    title: "MusicBrainz"
    type:  "DATABASE"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Jacques Romain Georges Brel was born 8 April 1929 in Belgium and began performing theatrical songs that built him a devoted base first at home, then in France, then beyond. He recorded mostly in French, occasionally in Dutch, and became recognized as a master of the modern chanson—his intensity and narrative shape influencing a generation of English-speaking artists who covered his work in translation. He appeared in ten films as an actor and directed two, including Le Far West, which earned a Palme d'Or nomination at Cannes in 1973. Brel married Thérèse Michielsen in 1950; they had three children. From 1972 until his death he was with actress Maddly Bamy. He died 9 October 1978, having sold over 25 million records worldwide.