French singer-songwriter Gilbert Bécaud was born in Toulon on October 24, 1927,
and died on December 18, 2001. Real name Gilbert Silly, he learned to play the
piano at an early age and studied at the Nice Conservatoire before the outbreak
of the Second World War. After the war, he moved to Paris and began his career
in cabarets, before accompanying singer Jacques Pills on a tour of the United
States in 1950. After writing songs for Marie Bizet, he penned the hit "Je t'ai
dans la peau" for Édith Piaf, and won public acclaim in 1953 with "Mes mains"
and "Les Croix". His first headl...