Jacques Brel's Real Name: Jacques Romain Georges Brel

Quick answer: Jacques Brel was born Jacques Romain Georges Brel on April 8, 1929, in Schaerbeek, Brussels, Belgium. He performed under his real name and died on October 9, 1978, near Paris (Britannica; Fondation Jacques Brel).

Early life

Brel grew up in a French-speaking Brussels family of Flemish origin. His father co-owned a cardboard-packaging factory, and young Jacques worked there after school. He disliked the job, and in 1953 he left for Paris to try a singing career.

Paris and the chanson

Brel began by playing small Paris cabarets and was signed by Philips. His early work was earnest and religious, and he was nicknamed "Abbé Brel." In the late 1950s he hit his stride with intense, theatrical performances and songs including:

• "Quand on n'a que l'amour" (1956), his first big success.
• "Ne me quitte pas" (1959), one of the most covered French songs. Nina Simone sang it, and Rod McKuen's English adaptation became "If You Go Away."
• "Le Plat Pays" (1962), a portrait of Flanders.
• "Amsterdam" (1964), later covered by David Bowie and Scott Walker.
• "Ces gens-là" and "Mathilde".

His songs reached English-language audiences through the 1968 revue Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris (Britannica).

Leaving the stage

In 1966–67, at the height of his fame, Brel stopped giving concerts. He turned to film acting, including Mon oncle Benjamin (1969), and directing, and starred in the French stage adaptation of Man of La Mancha (1968). He learned to fly and sail, and in 1975 he settled in the Marquesas Islands of French Polynesia.

Final album and death

Already ill with lung cancer, he returned to Paris to record his final album, Les Marquises (1977), which sold more than a million copies in its first days. He died on October 9, 1978, in Bobigny, near Paris, and is buried in Atuona on Hiva Oa, near the painter Paul Gauguin.