Marie-Paule Belle, the singer of the hit “La Parisienne”, died at 80. What do we know about the artist who was going through a serious illness?
Marie-Paule Belle died this July 25 at the age of 80, in Neuilly-sur-Seine, “following a long illness“, announced her press officer. The French singer and pianist has been very rare on the media and musical scene in recent years. The artist known for her hit The Parisian, released in 1976, had gone through a serious illness. Here’s everything you need to know about the late singer…
Marie-Paule Belle suffered from a “very serious” illness: “She no longer wanted to…”
Marie-Paule Belle was the victim of a “very serious recurrence of breast cancer“in 2024, according to his confidences France Sunday. But the singer still insisted on going on stage for concerts and assured that she was feeling better: “I have come from a long way away. Now I’m fine. I am still under treatment but I am very fit. When I was sick, all I thought about was getting back on stage. Without that I would have let myself go and I would not have been here to talk to you“.
The singer gave a final concert as part of her “Au Revoir et Merci” tour at the Passy theater on May 19. But according to her faithful friend Serge Lama, she was still fighting her cancer during the last months of her life. “I found it very courageous for her to go on stage in May, despite her illness. (…) She had wanted this last turn of singing. I was happy for her for this success” he told Paris Match after the announcement of his death.
And added: “I got her ten days ago, her voice was good. But she told me that she no longer wanted to see anyone, she was at home, in her little room. I understood that things would go quickly“.
Marie-Paule Belle: Will Serge Lama attend his funeral?
If no details have yet been published about Marie-Paule Belle’s funeral, we already know that her friend Serge Lama will not attend. “No. I can’t travel anymore and I’ve had my fair share of funerals from people I loved… And Marie-Paule and I don’t need that to know that we loved each other. She knows I’m where she is. She knows everything“, he assured Paris Match.
Who was Marie-Paule Belle’s companion?
Françoise Mallet-Joris is the artist’s only known companion. In this same interview with Europe 1, she remembered their relationship. The singer was 24 years old when they met, Françoise Mallet-Joris was 40. They were first friends and colleagues for a year, then the relationship evolved: “It was very strong. We felt it was growing, we held back and one day, after lunch at Petit Zinc and a good bottle, we broke down.“.
In her book, she said: “In the 1970s we were a couple of women without worries, without shame, without modesty. We were together naturally, without looking for the scandal that we nevertheless created in a rigid society which did not recognize that two women could love each other openly and without reservation. We loved each other so much“.
Marie-Paule Belle: her “passionate love story”
In February 2020, the star released a book called As if you were always therepublished by Plon, the preface of which is written by Serge Lama. A work written in tribute to his partner, the writer Françoise Mallet-Joris, who died in 2016. Marie-Paule Belle, with the help of letters received from her lover, told their love story. The two women were together for eleven years, from 1970 to 1981. During an interview with Europe 1, in February 2020, she revealed that she had wanted to write this book.to show that a true love story, passionate, which crosses all ages, even beyond death” is possible.
The singer also returned to the writing of the work at the microphone of Europe 1: “Writing this book was very painful, it brought back a lot of memories, and then I found some very funny letters. She was funny, which we don’t know! In an interview, she had a calm voice, very ‘Academy Goncourt’, but she had a gap in relation to reality“.
Where did Marie-Paule Belle live?
Marie-Paule Belle would have lived in a beautiful apartment in Montmartre, in Paris, if we are to believe information from Audiencebut she would have been forced to leave this place so dear to her heart. According to the media, her home being located on the fifth floor without an elevator, the singer, weakened by her recent health problems, could no longer make as much effort every day and would have finally found an apartment that was easier to access in Hauts-de-Seine.
Marie-Paule Belle did not stop music at the end of her life
Even if Marie-Paule Belle has not released an album since the eleven titles of Rebel in 2011, she performed on stage from time to time. She notably participated in the show Sing in the laughs in June 2022. A show that mixed music and humor. In 2020, Marie-Paule Belle announced on her YouTube channel that an album was being prepared in the studio and in 2023, she released her album One evening among a thousanda title of which was written by his great friend Serge Lama.
