Les Neiges du Kilimandjaro, un tube planétaire
Singer Pascal Danel, known worldwide for his hit song "The Snows of Kilimanjaro," died on the night of Wednesday to Thursday, his agent Christian Jaume told AFP, "He died last night in hospital." His son Jean-Pierre Danel also confirmed his death, saying, "He underwent surgery and suffered a heart attack. He was 80 years old."
Born in 1944, singer Yey began singing as a guitarist and singer for the rock group Les Panthères. Building on that experience, he decided to launch a solo career in 1964. It took him just a year to establish himself with "Hop là tu a vu" and "Je m'en fou", but especially with "La plage aux romanics", which reached the top of the charts in 1966. This triumph was exported not only to Europe, but also to Brazil, Canada and Japan.
At the end of 1966, he published his greatest success, The Snows of Kilimanjaro. The song, inspired by the Henry King film and based on a short story by Ernest Hemingway, follows the last thoughts of a death row prisoner, was recorded in six languages and sold more than 25 million copies worldwide. The hit will also appear in the film The Snows of Kilimanjaro, directed by Robert Geddiger.
Pascal Danel and Laurent Voulzy: a fruitful encounter
The success of The Snows of Kilimanjaro was probably also due to his meeting with Laurent Voulzy, who became his conductor and arranger. "He played at a dance evening. I met him at a concert and asked him to be my guitarist. He arranged my albums and became my conductor. We got along very well," Pascal Danel recalled in Le Parisien in 2015.
Singer, composer and producer
His success waned at the end of the 70s and Pascal Danel decided to write songs for others, notably Daniel Guichard, for whom he composed "Chanson pour anna".
In the 1980s, he moved away from singing to concentrate on television productions such as Cadence 3, hosted by Guy Lax and with which he composed the end credits, and the presenter-free TV show Macadam. From 2016 to 2017, he also took part in the Age Tender tour, which brought together music stars from the 60s to 80s.