Joe Dassin's personal drama: What accelerated the departure of the idol of millions

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Joe Dassin, a famous French singer of American origin, would have turned 81 on November 5, but back in 1980 his heart suddenly stopped. He was destined to live a short but very bright life, and die at the zenith of fame. He was diagnosed with heart problems at a young age, but the singer's relatives are sure that his departure could have been postponed if not for the dramatic events that Joe Dassin had to endure in the last years of his life.

Success and recognition did not come to him immediately. For a long time, Joe Dassin could not decide what he intends to do in life, what is closer to him - cinema or music, and in what language he should sing. The meeting with his future wife, Marise Massiera, became fateful in his creative life. It was thanks to her that Joe Dassin's voice first sounded on the radio - she recorded his singing and took the recordings to the radio station. After that, he performed live, and soon the singer was offered to release a solo album.

Maryse stayed with him during his creative development and supported him in all his endeavors, she became for him not only a wife, but also a secretary, manager, chauffeur, nutritionist, hairdresser and dresser. She said: "".

His first country recordings were not very popular, but when Joe Dassin began performing French chanson, he was incredibly successful. He was called the best pop artist not only in France, but throughout Europe in the 1960-1970s. He had thousands of fans all over the world, but in his personal life, the singer, who performed the best love songs, was never able to become happy.

The marriage with Maryse broke up 10 years later. The woman could not get pregnant for a long time, and when they had a long-awaited child, he died a few days after birth. The couple divorced shortly thereafter. Later Joe Dassin commented on his divorce: "". After the death of the singer, many publications appeared in the press that he allegedly had many mistresses during his first marriage, but close family friends always claimed that there were only two women in Dassin's life, and both became his wives.

The singer met his second wife Christine Delvaux by chance - according to one version, in a photo salon, where he ran to wait out the rain, according to the other, on the plane. Be that as it may, after this meeting he lost his head and, in his words, "fell in love like a boy." At that time, he was still married, and their meetings with Christine were secret. In 1978 Joe Dassin married a second time. In the same year, the couple had a son. However, their happiness could not be called cloudless.

The spouses often quarreled because of the constant reproaches and unreasonable jealousy of Christine, who, moreover, as it turned out later, abused alcohol and drugs. For a while, the singer himself had problems with cocaine. Christine turned out to be capricious, hysterical and unbalanced, and soon Joe Dassin stopped recognizing in her the woman he loved. Drugs became for him the only way to get away from problems and depression. Even the birth of a second child did not save the marriage. Immediately after his birth, the singer filed for divorce and through the court obtained custody of the children.

The exhausting struggle for children affected the singer's health - he had a heart attack. Knowing that he had heart problems from a young age, Dassin did not listen to the recommendations of doctors and did not refrain from worrying and traveling. In 1980, he and his sons went to rest in Tahiti. But the very next day after arrival, during lunch at a restaurant, Joe Dassin had another heart attack, which became fatal for him. The singer did not live to see his 42nd birthday just a few months. His relatives believed that the reason for his departure was nervous exhaustion and depression, into which Christine drove him.

Many of his songs have become worldwide hits, such as "Salut" - a song that was popular all over the world.