Serge Gainsbourg

Born Lucien Ginsburg on 2 April 1928, Gainsbourg started in jazz and chanson before the yé-yé wave caught him. His output wandered through rock, reggae, funk, zouk, electronica — whatever served the lyric, which leaned on puns, satire, and sex in ways that split French opinion down the middle. "Je t'aime... moi non plus" charted in the UK; "Bonnie and Clyde" did the same in Belgium. He wrote over 550 songs before dying of a second heart attack on 2 March 1991. The controversy that shadowed him alive turned to adoration after, and now he holds legendary status at home and a cult following elsew…