Françoise Hardy

Born in Paris's 9th arrondissement, Hardy broke through in 1962 with "Tous les garçons et les filles" and became the face of yé-yé before anyone called it that. She left rock and roll behind to record in London, then spent the late '60s and '70s working with Serge Gainsbourg, Michel Berger, and a string of collaborators who understood her gift for sounding both distant and direct. After 1988's Décalages — billed as her farewell — she came back eight years later with harsher guitars, then softened again through the 2000s and released her last album in the 2010s. Between records she acted in fil…