Hervé Vilard

Hervé Vilard born René Villard 24 July 1946 in Paris France is a French popsinger who first became famous in the 1960s His first single Capri cest fini became an international hit in 1965 and rendered him instantaneously famous The song sold 33 million copies Nous 1979 Reviens 1981 and Méditerranéenne 1983 are among his other big hits He is famous in Latin America as he settled there between 1969 and 1978 singing in Spanish His long national and international musical career as composer singer and stage performer spans four decades In 1992 in recognition of his contributions to French culture he was awarded the Ordre national du Mérite in a ceremony at the Parisian Théâtre des Variétés hosted by JeanPaul Belmondo René Vilard was born 24 July 1946 in a taxi which was transferring his mother Blanche to the SaintAntoine hospital in Paris to deliver He never met his father who left home soon after the birth of his son His mother eventually lost custody of her children and young René was sent to an orphanage in Paris Later he was transferred to the Berry region of France into the custody of various foster homes Young René became a runaway during that period of his life Eventually he was moved to the Cher region of France where he met a priest Father Angrand who became his mentor and taught him literature and music In 1991 Vilard bought the monastery at La Celette where he met Father Angrand and made it his home Eventually young René left La Celette for Paris where he met Daniel Cordier a former member of the French Resistance and Art dealer who later adopted him in 1962 This enabled teenager Vilard to finally remove himself from the state child care system He started working at various places in Paris including a record store at ChampsÉlysées René wanted to further cultivate his musical talents and started taking singing lessons During this time he was discovered by an executive working for Mercury Records The meeting with the executive from Mercury Records led to a meteoric rise in his musical career His first single Capri cest fini was released in June 1965 under the Mercury label and instantly became a hit both in France and abroad selling 33 million copies and making Hervé Vilard a household name overnight Capri cest fini was cowritten with Marcel Hurten and has been described as eternal and written with intensity by Vilard Following the success of Capri cest fini French newsmagazine France Dimanche offered the singer a deal under which the magazine would help him find his mother In return Hervé Vilard gave the magazine exclusive rights to the interviews and the press coverage that would follow a successful reunion After Vilard accepted the offer France Dimanche launched a publicity campaign which eventually resulted in Vilard reuniting with his mother At the same time the sales of France Dimanche increased substantially His mother died in 1981 Source Article Hervé Vilard from Wikipedia in English licensed under CCBYSA