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Jacques Brel

File:Jacques_Brel_(1962).jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons

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Jacques Brel

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Belgian singer (1929–1978)

OverviewAI-generated

Jacques Brel was a male singer-songwriter from Belgium, active in the chanson, chanson française, and chanson à texte genres. His professional work period spanned from 1953 until 1978. He is associated with the Fondation Brel à Bruxelles, which maintains an official website dedicated to his legacy.

Brel’s recorded works have accumulated significant listenership, with 11,264,241 plays recorded by Last.fm and 511,286 listeners. Bibliographic records list multiple works under his name, including *Plus Grandes Chansons de Jacques Brel* and titles identifying him as a poet. His writings have been referenced by 753 other encyclopedia articles.

His literary output includes quotes such as, "If we only have love Then tomorrow will dawn And the days of our years Will rise on that morn." Brel was born in 1929 and died in 1978.

Synthesized by Vinony from 29 facts across 9 sources: Wikidata, Last.fm, Crossref, Europeana Sparql, Firecrawl, Wikiquote, MusicBrainz, Open Library, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Official website

Fondation Brel à Bruxelles | Le site dédié à Jacques Brel

fondationbrel.be →

Link to the official site · 10,779 chars · not written by Vinony

Wikidata facts

Instance of
human
Given name
Georges
Gender
male
Citizenship
Belgium
Place of birth
Schaerbeek
Place of death
Avicenne Hospital
Occupation
screenwriter
Languages spoken
Dutch
Native language
French
Genre
chanson
Instrument
voice
Record label
Universal Music Group
Discography
Jacques Brel discography
Official website
fondationbrel.be
Image
Jacques Brel (1962).jpg
Show 16 more facts
manner of death
natural causes
Commons gallery
Jacques Brel
Commons category
Jacques Brel
cause of death
lung cancer
date of birth
1929-04-08
topic's main category
Category:Jacques Brel
birth name
Jacques Romain Georges Brel
name in native language
Jacques Brel
date of death
1978-10-09
copyright representative
SABAM
start of work period
1953-00-00
end of work period
1978-00-00
notable role
François Pignon
significant place
La Fleur en Papier Doré - Het Goudblommeke in Papier
P12674
McGehee
P12749
Douilly
Sources (9)

via Wikidata · CC0

Works in European collections

1 object attributed to Jacques Brel, held across European museums, libraries & archives · via Europeana

Jacques Brel still lives, 1982 Jacques Brel still lives, Jacques Brel is Jacques and well and Jacques in Paris

Jacques Brel still lives, 1982 Jacques Brel still lives, Jacques Brel is Jacques and well and Jacques in Paris

~40 min read

Encyclopedic overview

Jacques Romain Georges Brel ( French: [ʒɑk ʁɔmɛ̃ ʒɔʁʒ bʁɛl] ; 8 April 1929 – 9 October 1978) was a Belgian singer and actor who composed and performed theatrical songs. He generated a large, devoted following—initially in Belgium and France, but later throughout the world. He is considered a master of the modern chanson.

Although he recorded most of his songs in French and occasionally in Dutch, he became an influence on English-speaking songwriters and performers, such as Scott Walker, David Bowie, Brett Anderson, Alex Harvey, Marc Almond, Neil Hannon, and Rod McKuen. English translations of his songs were recorded by many performers, including Bowie, Walker, Anderson, Ray Charles, Judy Collins, John Denver, The Kingston Trio, Nina Simone, Shirley Bassey, James Dean Bradfield, Frank Sinatra, and Andy Williams.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Jacques Brel” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

Gallery (12)

Available in 69 languages

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via Wikidata sitelinks · CC0