ITV's James Martin pays touching tribute to 'icon' after star's sad death
TV chef James Martin paid tribute to French music icon Françoise Hardy who passed away on Wednesday.
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James Martin has joined the growing list of celebrities to honour French singer and actress Françoise Hardy following her tragic death on Wednesday.
The late 80-year-old was known as one of France’s best-loved singer-songwriters who burst on the scene in 1962 with melancholy ballads.
She also trailblazed the country’s Yé-yé (yeah yeah) pop movement which emerged during the '60s and inspired the likes of Mick Jagger, Bob Dylan and The Beatles.
Some of Françoise’s most famous hits include All the Girls and Boys (Tous les garçons et les filles), It Hurts to Say Goodbye (Comment te dire adieu) and My Friend the Rose (Mon amie la rose).
Taking to Instagram, the TV chef posted a carousel of photos of the singer and wrote: “Françoise Hardy was and is an icon…RIP.”
James likely became a huge fan while in France where he trained at Hostellerie De Plaisance in Saint-Émilion before working at the Maison Troisgros in Roanne.
Speaking on his upbringing, he also travelled to the South of France as a teenager, when Françoise had cemented her place in the music industry and ventured into acting.
Her death was confirmed by her son Thomas Dutronc who took to Instagram with a photo of his mother holding him as a baby and devastatingly wrote: “Mum is gone.”
Françoise had been ill for many years and revealed she had been diagnosed with lymphoma in 2004 and eventually recovered after an experimental form of chemotherapy.
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In 2015, she was placed in an induced coma for weeks after a fall which led to difficulty speaking, swallowing and breathing.
Three years later, a tumour was detected in her ear and after this diagnosis, Françoise made calls to France’s President Emmanuel Macron to legalise assisted dying.
The diagnosis and its treatments were said to have diminished the quality of her life as she blasted Macron as “inhumane” for not advocating for euthanasia.
Françoise is survived by her son Thomas and husband Jacques Dutronc.
