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 films, wrote astrology columns, modeled for Yves Saint Laurent and Courrèges, and published a bestselling autobiography about despair. She married Jacques Dutronc in 1981; their son Thomas also became a musician. Hardy died of cancer in Paris in June 2024 at 80, still known for the shyness and self-doubt that never left her face.