Charles Aznavour, a century after his birth

One of the most influential artists of the last century, Charles Aznavour - born Shahnourh Varinag Aznavourian to Armenian parents - would have been 100 years old on 22 May next. In his long and prolific career spanning more than seventy years, he sold more than three hundred million copies and recorded more than 1,200 songs in nine different languages, including Italian and Neapolitan. Always at the forefront of supporting the cause of his home country, in 2009 he was appointed Armenia's ambassador to Switzerland and to the UN office in Geneva.

Aznavour's career began at a very early age. By the age of nine, he had already been introduced by his parents to the Parisian theatre world under the stage name Aznavour. After a few years on the dance floor, his breakthrough came in 1946 when he was discovered by Edith Piaf who took him on tour to France, the United States and Canada. In 1950 he achieved notoriety in the French-speaking market, but by the middle of the same decade he had already become an international music star thanks to his performances at the Olympia in Paris and the song Sur ma vie, which topped the charts for four weeks.

But this was only the appetiser of what was to come in the following decade, as in the 1960s Aznavour reinforced his fame with a series of resounding hits (to name but a few Tu t'laisses aller, Il Faut Savoir, La Mamma, Et Pourtant, For Me Formidable) that would systematically reach the top of the greatest hits charts. In addition to gracing stages all over the world, the great singer also performed many times as an actor, appearing in eighty films, from his debut in 1936, between cinema and television.

His private life was also lively. Aznavour married three times, having five children, the last of whom, Patrick, died at the age of just 25. The 1970s, on the other hand, opened with some controversy over his tax exile in Switzerland, a circumstance that led him to perform outside France for some time but to intensify his appearances on the Italian market, even reintroducing some of his old 'warhorses' in Italian versions.

Many events have been organised to celebrate this legend of French music. One of them is the one on 25 May at the Grand Rex in Paris, where there will be a big concert attended by the most important voices of French music today.