Singer, Actress, and Model, Françoise Hardy, Dies at 80

Françoise Hardy, a French singer-songwriter whose mesmerizing voice, classic beauty, and trendsetting style first captured the world's attention in the 1960s, has passed away at 80. Her son, also a musician, Thomas Dutronc, announced his mother's passing in a baby photo Instagram post with the caption, “Maman est partie.” Over the past two decades, Hardy battled lymphatic and laryngeal cancer, and in 2021, said she felt “close to the end” of her life.

While France waited for the results of a presidential election referendum in October 1962, Hardy, 18 at the time, appeared on French television where she performed her song “Tous les garçons et les filles” (“All the Boys and Girls”). The exposure launched her career, and by the end of the year, she had sold more than half a million records. Singing in French, English, Italian, and German, she became associated with the European rock style known as yé-yé, however, music critics often said her songs were more sophisticated than her contemporaries. Incorporating elements of country, folk, bossa nova, jazz, and baroque pop into her music, she wrote many of her own hits while also working with other artists. 

Though she became an icon of 1960s style, Hardy often downplayed her beauty in interviews, stating that she battled with many insecurities after years of her grandmother constantly telling her she was unattractive. However, her classic beauty drew the attention of Mick Jagger, David Bowie, and Bob Dylan, and she has long been internationally admired for her bold sense of fashion. The Associated Press called her “the symbol of swinging youth in France.” She appeared on the covers of Paris Match and Vogue and was photographed in flared pants, short skirts, leather jackets, and boyish newsboy caps. She had a close relationship with Paco Rabanne, who designed a shimmering gold-plated minidress for her, and she was also known for wearing a futuristic all-white suit by André Courrèges and a sophisticated tuxedo suit designed by Yves Saint Laurent. Her style defined the era, and her fashion influence extended over decades.

Although she was made for the screen and set for stardom after director Roger Vadim cast her in “Nutty, Naughty Chateau,” a 1963 comedy, she had little interest in acting. 

In 2018, in an interview with the New York Times, Hardy said, “I far preferred music to cinema. Music and chanson allow you to go deep into yourself and how you feel, while cinema is about playing a part, playing a character who might be miles away from who you are.”

Two years after being hospitalized for a coma, Hardy released her last studio album, “Personne d’autre” (“No One Else”) in 2018. Her health had declined, but she chose to return to the recording studio to reflect on her mortality through her music such as “Train spécial,” a song about taking a one-way trip out of the world.

“All my life, I’ve been on the lookout for beautiful melodies,” Hardy once said while reflecting on her eternal love for music. “Listening to them puts me in seventh heaven.”

Below, see some of the French singer's best '60s styles that launched a fashion movement that remains as iconic today as it was when it first debuted.