Elvin Shepherd

popular name: Frank Alamo

date_of_death: October 11, 2012

age: 70

cause_of_death: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: Frank Alamo was a French singer who achieved his greatest success in the 1960s. With his boy-next-door image and plaintive voice, the yéyé singer Frank Alamo was an engaging "idole des jeunes" – teenage idol – and a constant presence in the French charts between 1963 and 1969. His hit records included "Biche ô ma Biche" ("Sweets for My Sweet"), "Je veux prendre ta main" ("I Want to Hold Your Hand"), and "Je me bats pour gagner" ("A Hard Day's Night"). In all, he released 30 singles over a five-year period in the early and mid-1960s, including some original songs. Alamo retired from the music business when he married in 1969, becoming a photographer and later a manager in the automobile industry. In 1983, he was chasing a beautiful blonde girl who was driving a funny car, she brought him to a factory and there Frank Alamo bought not a single car but the whole plant: the Dallas jeep company. He sold it in 1996 in order to give further singing performances however he never able to capture his original success. He died just one day before his 71st birthday.

popular name: Alain Bashung

date_of_death: March 14, 2009

age: 61

cause_of_death: Lung cancer

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: Alain Bashung was a French singer, songwriter and actor credited with reviving the French chanson in "a time of French musical turmoil" and was one of the most influential and admired French singer/songwriters of the last 40 years. His songs were heavily influenced by American blues and rock, but he belonged to the world of Parisian chanson, inheriting the tradition of Charles Trenet, Georges Brassens and Serge Gainsbourg. He is often regarded in his home country as the most important French rock musician after Serge Gainsbourg. He rose to prominence in the early 1980s with hit songs such as "Gaby oh Gaby" and "Vertige de l'amour", and later had a string of hit records from the 1990s onward, such as "Osez Joséphine", "Ma petite entreprise" and "La nuit je mens". He has had an influence on many later French artists, and is the most awarded artist in the Victoires de la Musique history with 12 victories obtained throughout his career. Bashung died at age 61 after a two-year battle with lung cancer. He was interred at Cimetière du Père Lachaise in Paris, France.

popular name: Jacques Higelin

date_of_death: April 6, 2018

age: 77

cause_of_death: Colorectal cancer

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: Jacques Higelin (1940–2018) was a pioneering French singer-songwriter and performer who helped reshape French popular music by blending chanson, rock, jazz, and theatrical performance. He began his career in the 1960s as an actor and avant-garde musician, collaborating with artists such as Brigitte Fontaine and Areski Belkacem on experimental, countercultural projects. In the 1970s, he shifted toward a more energetic rock sound, achieving major success with albums like BBH 75, Irradié, and Champagne pour tout le monde, which established him as a central figure in French rock. Known for his electrifying, improvisational live shows, he reached peak popularity in the 1980s with large-scale concerts and widely celebrated albums, while continuing to evolve artistically in later decades. A fiercely independent and poetic voice, Higelin remained active into the 2010s, releasing his final album in 2016.