Edith Piaf Quotes
- Mini Bio
- Name: Edith Giovanna Gassion
- Born: 19th December 1915, Belleville, Paris, France
- Died: 11th October 1963, Plascassier, Alpes-Maritimes, France
- Occupation: Singer and actress
- Stage name: Edith Piaf
- Genres: Cabaret, Chanson and Musical theatre
- Instruments: Vocals
- Nicknames: La Môme Piaf and The French Billie Holiday
- Height: 4' 9¾" (1.47 m)
- Marriage resume: Jacques Pills: 20th September 1952 - 15th May 1957) (divorced) and Théo Sarapo: 9th October 1962 - 11 October 1963 (her death)
- Signature song: La Vie en Rose
"Love means fighting, big fat lies, and a couple of slaps across the face"
Edith Piaf"You never know a guy till you've tried him in bed. You know more about a guy in one night in bed than you do in months of conversation. In the sack, they can't cheat"
Edith Piaf"Every damn fool thing you do in this life you pay for"
Edith Piaf"All I've done all my life is disobey"
Edith Piaf"For me, singing is a way of escaping. It is another world. I'm no longer on earth"
Edith Piaf"Use your faults, use your defects; then you're going to be a star"
Edith Piaf"Money? How did I lose it? I never did lose it. I just never knew where it went"
Edith Piaf"I want to make people cry even when they don't understand my words"
Edith Piaf"My conservatory is in the streets. My intelligence is instinct"
Edith Piaf"I think you have to pay for love with bitter tears"
Edith Piaf"Drugs are a carnival in hell"
Edith Piaf"Death is the beginning of something"
Edith Piaf"I'm afraid to sleep. It's a form of death"
Edith Piaf"I don't lie; I improve on my life"
Edith Piaf"I can die now. I've lived twice"
Edith Piaf
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Edith Piaf Biography
Bio By: Michael Joseph Farrelly
The Edith Piaf story is one that captivated post WWII France as the diminutive singer with the silken voice of a songbird and the lifestyle that the catholic church demonised as "a categorical sinner"
enjoyed audience adulation right up until her untimely demise in 1963.
Edith's start in life was hardly ideal as her street performer parents abandoned her and she was brought up by her grandmother who was a madam at a Normandy brothel. After a few years her father returned and brought her to Paris to join his street performing troupe where her beautiful voice was exploited and honed into the wonderful singer she was to become in adulthood.
At 17 she fell pregnant and gave birth to a daughter called Marcelle who sadly died from meningitis aged 2. It was the Parisian night club owner Louis Leplée who discovered her singing on the streets and gave her the opportunity to perform on stage, he gave her the stage name of Piaf (meaning sparrow) because of her diminutive frame. So at 19 she started singing in nightclubs and theatres and soon her talent got noticed and she began recording her songs. As the second world war approached she was making a real name for herself but the occupation of France changed the dynamic and she was reduced to singing for the Nazis of Adolf Hitler.
She also toured POW camps singing for the French prisoners who were allowed to be photographed with her, little did the Nazis know that these photographs were used to create ID cards and Piaf smuggled these back during subsequent visits whereby she gave them to the prisoners to give them a new ID in the event of an escape.
After the war her popularity soared as she made movies and toured Europe and the America's where she was dubbed the French Billie Holiday. Her love life was tumultuous as she had many lovers and two husbands but her affair with the French public never diminished, even after her death she was as popular as ever and still sold many records. Her lack of education never affected her ability for a one liner though so here is my compilation of 15 of the best Edith Piaf quotes
Quotes About Edith Piaf
The poet and film maker Jean Cocteau who knew a thing or two about talent said of her: "Edith Piaf has genius. She is inimitable. There has never been an Edith Piaf, there will never be any again"
French cycling champion Louis Gérardin passionately spoke of his mistress by saying: "Forty eight hours with Piaf are more tiring than a lap in the Tour de France"
The singer Charles Aznavour shared this observation: "I brought her my youth, my madness; she loved my whole jazzy side"
