Françoise Hardy was born on January 17 1944 in Paris, France. She attended Institution La Bruyère in Paris. After passing her baccalauréat, her father gave her a guitar as a gift. She enrolled enrolled in the Paris Institute of Political Studies, but dropped out to attend the Sorbonne to study German. In her free time she composed songs on her guitar. She played at the Moka Club, and then auditioned for record label Pathé-Marconi. They turned her down, but the audition encouraged her to pursue music. She tried Philips Records, who suggested she take singing lessons. She joined Le Petit Conservatoire de la chanson, a school for radio performers.
It was on May 14 1951 that Françoise Hardy auditioned for the label Disques Vogue. They suggested she study music theory and harmony lessons with a pianist. She was eventually signed to Vogue. Her first single, "Tous les garçons et les filles," was released in June 1962. It proved to be a hit, reaching no. 1 on the French singles chart. It also reached no. 1 in Belgium and Québec. It proved to be one of her few hits in the United Kingdom, reaching no. 36 on the British singles chart.
Françoise Hardy proved to be a phenomenon in her native France, following "Tous les garçons et les filles" in the Sixties with such hits as ""L'amour s'en va," "L'età dell'amore," "Frag' den Abendwind," and others. During the Sixties she became a style icon, and she served as inspiration for such fashion designers as as André Courrèges, Yves Saint Laurent, and Paco Rabanne. Her success as a music artist would continue into the Seventies, with such hits as "Soleil," "Message personnel,' "Je suis moi,""Que vas-tu faire?," "Femme parmi les femmes," and "J'écoute de la musique saoule." In the Eighties she had such hits as "Tamalou" and "Partir quand même." Françoise Hardy's career would slow in the Nineties, although she continued to be a popular artist. From 1962 to 2018 she released over thirty albums.
Françoise Hardy also had an acting career. She made her film debut in Château en Suède in 1963. In the Sixties she had a cameo in What's New Pussycat (1965) and appeared in the movies Une balle au coeur (1966), Masculin féminin (1966), and Grand Prix (1966). She went onto appear in the TV series Numéro un in the Seventies.
Françoise Hardy was certainly a phenomenon. She was incredibly popular in France and much of the rest of Europe. And while she was not particularly well-known in the Anglosphere, she did have a cult following in English speaking countries as well. She proved influential on such diverse music artists as Bob Dylan, Iggy Pop, and Blur. Françoise Hardy certainly had a wonderful voice. It was capable of great emotional depth and sensitivity. Certainly few could deliver a song quite like she could. And she was also a very talented songwriter, even having written her very first hit, Tous les garçons et les filles." Early in her career she was often counted as part of the "yé-yé" movement, although that never quite sounded right. Not only did she sound very little like the contemporary "yé-yé" singers, but her even her earliest work displayed an emotional depth lacking in some of the other "yé-yé" singers' work. Regardless, Françoise Hardy had an impact that went well beyond her native France and will continue to be felt for years to come.
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