Twenty years ago, on March 2, 1991, Serge Gainsbourg died. He was one of the major French music personalities of the 20th century. If you don’t know his music yet, a box set available on Amazon commemorates the 20th anniversary of Gainsbourg’s death in 1991 and is the first ever exhaustive collection of his work for Universal Music from 1958 onwards.

In New York, the Gallery of the French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF) presents the US debut of a new exhibit of photos of France’s legendary bad boy, Serge Gainsbourg. Initials L.G. features portraits as well as rare and unusual images of the icon from photographers Helmut Newton, William Klein, Patrick de Spiegelaere, Tony Frank and other noted artists who documented his celebrity.

His daughter, Charlotte Gainsbourg is a great actress but also a singer. Last year we posted about her new album: Charlotte Gainsbourg and Beck together on ‘IRM’. Some of us were too young to remember Serge Gainsbourg but Max Dana and da-eYe were there when he died. Twenty years later, da-eYe is back on the wall of Serge Gainsbourg’s house…

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da-eYe is back rue de Verneuil. But this time, virtually. When Serge Gainsbourg died on 2 March 1991 of a heart attack, I was among the ones who came at his home rue de Verneuil in Paris and wrote or drew graffiti on the outer wall of Serge Gainsbourg’s house. I drew a da-eYe and it was one of the last time I did. I have always considered Gainsbourg as one of the best (if not the best) French singer-songwriter. It was a great loss.

I could mention several of the many songs he wrote, from ‘Le Poinçonneur des Lilas‘ to ‘Love on the Beat‘, ‘Valse de Melody‘ and of course the reggae version of the French national anthem ‘La Marseillaise‘, and so many unforgettable other songs… But what I’m the most interested in is his paintings. Even if he never become a renown painter, I’m sure he expressed some of his most profound feelings which have been later expressed using music and words.

Earlier this month, we celebrated the 20th anniversary of the death of Serge Gainsbourg. On this occasion, French social media website OWNI created an online app so we can ‘write’ on the wall of Serge Gainsbourg’s house. Virtually, that is. I think it was a great idea and I used the app as a background to create my own wall with da-eYe on it. I didn’t go back at the 5 bis rue de Verneuil for a decade, those days are over now and I feel kind of nostalgic…

If you want to know more about Serge Gainsbourg, a feature film titled ‘Gainsbourg (Vie héroïque)‘ was released in France last year. It is based on the graphic novel by Joann Sfar. Definitely a most see!

Click on the picture below to see it full scale on da-eYe’s website. ‘Gainsbourg forever‘.

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 Charlotte Gainsbourg doesn’t sing, she whispers. A barely audible hiss, a style pioneered by her father, the great Serge Gainsbourg. But with her new album comes a new voice, Charlotte’s voice. We can hear it. Finally. And appreciate it.

It’s soft, and yet it carries a strong feeling. With ‘IRM’ (the French equivalent of “MRI” an acronym for magnetic resonance imaging), produced by Beck who also wrote most of the songs, the chemistry between the singer and Beck offers a great illustration of a perfect collaboration.

No need to say we really like Charlotte Gainsbourg‘s second album. You can find many information on her official website. The French actress (Michel Gondry’s “Science of Sleep”, Lars von Trier’s “Antichrist”) and singer is proud of her legacy and definitely goes beyond, with her own personality and style.

Charlotte Gainsbourg is very talented, don’t miss her new album!