Image of Frédéric François

Frédéric François

Frédéric François (born Francesco Barracato; 3 June 1950 in Lercara Friddi, Sicily, Italy), is a French-speaking singer-composer living in Belgium. Born on 3 June 1950 in Lercara Friddi in Sicily, in a very modest Italian family, he is the second child of Antonina (Nina) Salemi and Giuseppe (Peppino) Barracato. His mother was a seamstress in Lercara and his father was initially a miner in a sulphur mine in Lercara. He emigrated to Belgium in the coal basin of Liège, where he signed a three-year contract as a miner. In 1951, Nina and her two sons joined Giuseppe in Tilleur in a Red Cross Convoy. Francesco Barracato grew up in a family of eight children. Peppino used to sing Neapolitan songs and opera arias for pleasure and accompanied himself on the guitar. Young Francesco was only 10 when he sang O Sole Mio for the first time in public in a café frequented mostly by Sicilians in Tilleur, "Le Passage à Niveau" [The Level Crossing]. In 1963, he turned semi-professional as a singer-guitarist in a group called "Les Eperviers" [The Sparrow hawks]. He left the technical college in 1965 for the Liège conservatoire to study violin, where he took courses particularly in diction, declamation and voice. In 1966, he joined a new group called "Les Tigres Sauvages" [Wild Tigers] and won the "Microsillon d'Argent" [Silver Microgroove Record] at the Festival of Châtelet in Belgium – a prize that included the recording of a single. He recorded two titles: “Petite fille” [Little Girl] and "”Ne pleure pas" [Don't cry], under the pseudonym of François Bara. His father bought the 500 records that were pressed and managed to sell them for jukeboxes. The winner also got to perform as a warm-up act for three confirmed artists: Johnny Hallyday, Pascal Danel and Michel Polnareff, his idol. In 1969, his meeting with the Belgian producer Constant Defourny led to his first contract with a record company: Barclay-Belgique. He recorded “Sylvie” in July 1969, and released his first single under the name of Frédéric François, in homage to the composer Chopin, whose real first name was Frédéric-François. He gave his first performances as a solo artist in venues in the Liège region during the tour of The Best Group orchestra: he performed five of his own compositions, including Sylvie, of course. He released a new single, “Les Orgues de Saint Michel” [The Organ of Saint Michael], which was not at all successful, then another one, "Marian," accompanied by a second title "Comme tous les amoureux," [Like all people in love], which was written especially to represent Belgium at the Eurovision contest in 1970, but was not selected. ... Source: Article "Frédéric François" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.


Read bio at tmdb | Read bio at Wikipedia
Born:
Jun 3, 1950 In Lercara Friddi, Sicily, Italy
Movie/TV Credits:
21
First Appeared:
In the series Samedi soir 1971-01-09
Latest Project:
Series Il était une fois Champs-Élysées 2022-12-21
Known For
Poster of Ces chansons de nos vacances
Poster of Les Enfoirés - Les Enfoirés en chœur de 1985 à aujourd'hui
Poster of Fan School
Poster of Midi Première
Filmography
Series Il était une fois Champs-Élysées Self (archive footage) 2022-12-21
Movie Ces chansons de nos vacances Self 2022-09-02
Series Amanda Self 2016-09-05
Movie Les Enfoirés - Les Enfoirés en chœur de 1985 à aujourd'hui 2014-12-13
Series Les années bonheur Self 2006-12-16
Series Stars à domicile Self 2001-02-03
Series Star Academy Self 2001-10-20
Movie Les Enfoirés 1999 - Dernière édition avant l'an 2000 1999-02-13
Series Vivement dimanche Self 1998-09-20
Series Stars 90 Self 1990-09-03
Series Le monde est à vous Self 1987-09-13
Series La Chance aux chansons Self (archive footage) 1984-03-26
Series Champs-Elysées Self 1982-01-16
Series Fan School Self 1977-01-30
Series Les Jeux de 20 heures Self 1976-03-22
Series Midi Première Self 1975-01-06
Series Système 2 Self 1975-01-19
Series Les Rendez-vous du dimanche Self 1975-01-12
Series Midi trente Self 1972-03-06
Series Samedi soir Self 1971-01-09
Series Cadet Rousselle Self 1971-11-04