Actor Elijah Wood has led tributes to Francoise Hardy after the French singer died on Tuesday night at the age of 80 after a long battle with cancer.
Hardy, known all over the world for her crystal clear voice and melancholic lyrics, suffered from various diseases for twenty years, including lymphoma and larynx.
It made her a passionate advocate for euthanasia, as she declared her home country “inhumane” for not allowing the procedure.
In the wake of her death, tributes poured in, the most notable coming from American actor Wood, 43, who shared a moving image of the singer on X, formerly Twitter.
Taking to the social media platform, the actor wrote: ‘Au revoir, Francoise Hardy’ – accompanied by a black and white photo of the singer.
Actor Elijah Wood has led tributes to Francoise Hardy after the French singer died on Tuesday night at the age of 80 after a long battle with cancer
Hardy, known worldwide for her crystal clear voice and melancholic lyrics, suffered from various diseases for over twenty years, including lymphoma and larynx.
Responding to Elijah, other fans also posted their own tributes to Francoise, posting: “Goodbye beautiful Francoise. My condolences to the family.’
Another said: ‘Thank you for everything Françoise. You will remain in my heart and on my playlist’.
A third wrote: ‘This morning I mourned the death of Françoise Hardy more than the death of my own mother!’
It follows another tribute from Françoise’s son Thomas Dutronc, whose father is fellow singer Jacques Dutronc, after the former announced her death in a simple post on Instagram that read: “Mama is gone.”
Other tributes to the iconic singer included those from prominent French politicians.
French Culture Minister Rachida Dati said in a message to X: “How do you say goodbye to her? Eternal Françoise Hardy, legend of French song, who entered the heart of an entire country through her sensitivity and her melodies.
‘I send my warmest thoughts to Thomas Dutronc, her son, her family and her loved ones.’
Far-right politician Marine Le Pen said on X: “Françoise Hardy, icon of French song, left tonight. Several generations have been touched by her melancholic voice and the poetry of her lyrics. My condolences to her family.”
Hardy rose to prominence at the age of 18 with her first hit “Tous les Garcons et les Filles” (“All the Boys and Girls”) in 1962, and helped found the ye-ye music style, a pop-inspired cultural movement that embraced the musical style. British and American rock in the sixties.
In the wake of her death, tributes poured in, the most notable coming from American actor Wood, 43, who shared a moving image of the singer on X, formerly Twitter.
Tributes also came from the singer’s fans following news of her death
Her status as a cultural juggernaut saw her rub shoulders with the biggest names in show business at the time, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Mick Jagger and Bob Dylan.
She also collaborated with songwriters such as Serge Gainsbourg, Patrick Modiano, Michel Berger and Catherine Lara.
Her later years were marred by illness, with Hardy at one point being put into an induced coma, before her life was saved by a new form of radiation.
She was a leading advocate for assisted suicide near the end of her life, telling the magazine it was “inhumane” for France not to legalize the controversial procedure.
‘It is not up to doctors to grant every request, but to shorten the unnecessary suffering of an incurable disease from the moment it becomes unbearable.’
She joked at the time that while she would have happily chosen to end her life, “given my low profile, no one will want to risk being removed from the medical establishment anymore.”
In one of her last interviews before her death, she said the only thing she would miss was her son.
She told Le Parisien: ‘I think above all of the immense sadness of leaving my son, of hurting him.
‘But I would much rather die than suffer unbearable conditions for a long time. And I always have the idea in the back of my mind that something more will follow.’