Marie alain barriere biography

Alain Barrière

Alain Barrière was a French singer who started his career in the 1950s. He mainly performed in the classic "chanson" style as opposed to the "yé-yé" style that was growing in popularity in France during the 1960s. Between 1963 and 1978, he released 20 singles. In 2006, he penned his autobiography.

In 1965, he appeared as the lead in the French heist film Pas de panique, which was his only foray into acting.

He is best remembered for representing France at the Eurovision Song Contest 1963 in London with the song Elle était si jolie, finishing in 5th place.

He passed away on 18 December 2019 at the age of 84.

Alain Barrière (born Alain Bellec; 18 November 1935 – 18 December 2019) was a French singer, who was active from the 1950s until his death and was known for participating in the Eurovision Song Contest 1963.

After growing up in a small town on the coast of Brittany, in 1955 Barrière enrolled in the École nationale supérieure d'arts et métiers in Angers. As a student he bought a guitar and started to write songs. After graduating in engineering in 1960, he moved to Paris to take up employment, and started to perform in the evenings at small clubs around the capital. He won a song contest in 1961 with the self-penned song "Cathy"; his style was chanson-based with no concession to the burgeoning yé-yé scene, but nonetheless he was soon signed to a recording contract and started to release singles regularly, enabling him to give up his job and make at least a modest living from music.

In 1963, Barrière's song "Elle était si jolie" ("She Was So Pretty") was chosen as the French representative in the eighth Euro

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