I
Maurane

About:

12 November 1960 - 7 may 2018

Maurane (real name Claudine Luypaerts) was born in Ixelles, Belgium on November 12, 1960. Her parents were both musicians: her mother was a pianist, her father director of the musique conservatory. Thus, Maurane and her brother and sister, were raised with classical music like Bach and Debussy. Maurane herself studied the violin, piano and guitar. But her true passion was singing, especially the classic Broadway songs like 'West Side Story'.

At the age of 16, she started to participate in numurous songcontests and festivals under the name of Claudie Claude. In 1979 she participated in the spectacle 'Brel en Mille Temps'. It was during this event that she was discovered by Pierre Barouh, a well-known French composer. He produced her very first 45" - 'J'me roule en boule' - in 1980 and released it on his record label 'Saravah'. Many 45" releases followed, without much commercial succes. During the first half of the eighties, Maurane made a living singing in the streets and in restaurants and occasionally she was asked to record backing vocals for among others Jo Lemaire and Philippe Lafontaine.

In 1985 she debuted on a Paris stage, in 'Sentier des Halles'. Thanks to the positive response from the audiences Maurane was offered the possibillity to record her first entire album, 'Danser'. The record was released in 1986 and contained a collection of jazzy songs, much inspired by Claude Nougaro, a very well known French, greatly admired by Maurane. In that same year, she appeared on the record 'H.L.M.', an artistic collaboration with Houben and Loos. She was awarded for her work with the 'Prix de la Sacem', the 'Prix de l'Académie Charles-Cros' and the 'Trophée du Midem' in Cannes.

In 1988, Maurane met Michel Berger, a French singer-songwriter who gained enormous fame with the musical 'Starmania' that he composed together with Luc Plamandon. He offered Maurane to play the part of Marie-Jeanne in a new edition of 'Starmania'.

In 1989, Maurane released a new - selftitled - album. She got a lot of radio airplay and the album sold more than 150.000 copies. She performed at the famous Paris theatre 'l 'Olympia', followed by an international tour that even brought her to stages in Japan. That year she was rewarded by Radio France Internationale the 'l'Octave féminin' and she received the 'Prix du Festival d'été international' in Québec.

On her next album, 'Ami ou Ennemi' (1991) she invited a variety of French and Belgian composers, lyricists and musicians. The album contained the hit 'Ça Casse' and displayed Maurane as a more mature performer. The record was followed by performances in 'L'Olympia' and a European tour (1992/1993) and - inevitable - a live album in 1994, entitled 'Une fille très Scène'.

Although she works and performes mostly in Paris, Maurane remained living in her house in Brussels with Pablo, also a singer. They married in 1992 and Maurane gave birth to a daughter Lou on Decembre 29, 1993. At the Victoires de la Musique in Paris (1994) she received the award for best French singer ofthe year, following the both artisticaqlly and commercially succesful album 'Ami ou Ennemi' (over 450.000 copies sold). In 1995 she released the album 'Différente', dedicated to her daughter. In 1996 she performed in Paris in the Grand Rex.

Maurane regularly performes for charity like, for example, the Sol En Si (for children with AIDS). In 1997 she toured for Sol En Si together with artists like Alain Souchon, Maxime Le Forestier, Michel Jonasz, Catherine Lara, Francis Cabrel and Zazie.

In 1998 the album 'l'Un pour l'autre' was released, which contained a compilation of some of Maurane's best songs and five new songs. For the title track, Maurane and her co-composer Peter Lorne were rewarded with the 'l'Oscar de la Chanson Française'. In the summer of the same year, Maurane performed a part in 'Le Comptoir', directed by Sophie Tatischeff, daughter of the famous French director Jacques Tati.

Together with Tomàs Gubitsch, Jean Dindinaud and Nicolas Repac, the trio of musicians and arrangers she frequently worked with in te past, she Maurane starts working on het new album. In 2000 she released 'Toi du monde'. The material on the album is more sober and has strong ethnic influences. Once again, the album was followed by a tour in France. The next album, 'Quand l'humain danse' (2003), displayd a more optimistic sound. Many well-known artists collaborated with Maurane: Marc Lavoine, Lara Fabian, Véronique Sanson, Peter Lorne, Daniel Lavoie, Louise Forestier, Jean-Jacques Goldman, Gildas Arzel and Jean-Claude Vannier. The live album 'L'heureux tour' was released in 2004.

In 2005 she participated in the succesful movie picture 'Palais Royal' with, among others, Catherine Deneuve. A second album with the trio 'H.L.M.' marked Maurane's 20 year carreer. In 2006 Maurane collaborated with Françoise Hardy, Daria de Martynoff, Mario Pelchat and Claudia Meyer. In 2007 she released the album 'Si aujourd’hui'. Apart from Maurane herself, many famous composers participated on this album, like Daran, Pierre-Yves Lebert, Philippe Lafontaine, Art Mengo and Sylvain Goldberg. After a tribute album to Nougaro she returns in 2011 with a collection of new songs going from jazz to blues to light pop almost completely recorded in New York.

On 7 May 2018 Maurane was found dead at the age of 57 beside her bath at her home in Schaerbeek. The first conclusions point to a probable heart attack. It was in the week that her last album was planned, an ode to Brel.

On the web:

- Maurane's website: http://www.maurane.be

If you like this, you probably like... / european counterparts:

Dimitra Galani (Greece)

Mari Trini (Spain)

What do we think:

PR: With her deep, dark voice Maurane definitely adds something unique to European spectrum of female singers. Her albums are usually of very high quality. She combines several different influences: jazz, classic French chanson, ethnic rythms etc. But the result is always very recognisable Maurane. If you are looking for drama like Piaff or Dalida: do not bother. But if you are open for elegant and subtle sounds and melodies, Maurane might just be your thing. although I have never attended one of her concerts yet, she had a great live reputation.

Recommended albums:

♪♪♪ - Danser - 1986

♪♪♪ - Maurane - 1989

♪♪♪♪ - Ami ou ennemi - 1991

♪♪♪ - Une fille très scene - 1994

Différente - 1996

  ♪♪♪ - L'un pour l'autre - 1998

L'Olympia - 1999

♪♪♪ - Toi du monde - 2000

♪♪♪ - Quand l'humain danse - 2003

- L'heureux tour - 2004

♪♪♪♪ - Si aujourd'hui - 2007

♪♪♪♪ - Fais moi une fleur - 2011

♪♪♪♪ - Ouvre - 2014

♪♪♪ - Brel - 2018

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♪♪♪♪♪ = outstanding album, an absolute must-have
♪♪♪♪ = great album, highly recomended
♪♪♪ = nice album
♪♪ = be careful, requires listening before buying
♪ = best to be avoided