The second of her parents’ four children, Barbara was born on June 9 1930. Her father came from Alsace, her mother from Odessa in the Ukraine, and like many other Jewish families during the Second World War, they were forced to flee from one hotel to the next, living out of a suitcase. After the war the family was finally able to settle down to a normal life in a boarding house in Vesinet.

It was here that one of their neighbours, a singing teacher, soon recognised Barbara’s musical talent and began training her voice and giving her piano lessons. With this help, Barbara gained a place at the Ecole Supérieure de Musique in 1947 where she studied classical music (Duparc, Fauré and Debussy) under Gabriel Paulet. Meanwhile Barbara was earning her living by working as a chorus girl at the Théâtre Mogador in Paris, performing in the review "Violettes Impériales" which starred Marcel Merkès. It was also during this period that Barbara discovered the stars of French chanson, listening to Piaf, Trenet and Mireille. Inspired by their work, the young girl started writing her own songs.

In 1949 Barbara met Jean Wiener who sent her off to audition with the Prévert brothers. Pierre Prévert was, at that time, director of the Fontaine des Quatre Saisons, a cabaret in the rue de Grenelle in Paris. Unfortunately, business was not good and all Prévert could offer Barbara was a job washing glasses. Barbara took the job and it was from her vantage point behind the bar that she watched the great stars of the day such as Boris Vian and Mouloudji perform.

Barbara left Paris in 1950 to move to Brussels, where she lived until 1952. There the young singer would meet a group of writers and painters in the Belgian capital who invited her to the huge old house they had transformed into ateliers and concert halls. The group installed a piano and Barbara began performing in public for the first time.

Encouraged by her friends, Barbara went on to open her own cabaret, Le Cheval Blanc. But, unfortunately, she soon ran out of money and had to return to Paris. On her arrival she promptly set off for an audition at L’Ecluse and was hired to perform at the cabaret for eight days.

In 1954, Barbara appeared at The Moineau, performing a new repertoire of Léo Ferré and Pierre Mac Orlan songs and even a few of Georges Brassens’s first works.

In 1957, the singer recorded her first single in Brussels, featuring "Mon pote le gitan" and "L’oeillet blanc". She went on to perform her own compositions in public for the first time in 1959, singing "J’ai troqué" and the classic "Dis quand reviendras-tu".

In 1960 Barbara recorded her début album on the Odéon label, featuring a selection of songs written by Brassens. The album won the singer great acclaim. Indeed she was not only awarded the "Grand Prix du Disque", but also won "Le Prix d’interprétation". From then on Barbara’s career began to take off in style. Philips released an album of her songs, "Barbara chante Barbara", in 1963 but it was the following year that the young singer really made a name for herself, after performing as a support act for Georges Brassens at Bobino in December 1964.

On March 14 1965, the album "Barbara chante Barbara" won the prestigious "Académie Charles Cros" award. At the close of the award ceremony, held at the Palais d’Orsay, an extremely emotional Barbara tore her award into four pieces which she presented to her technicians as a sign of her gratitude. On September 15 1965 Barbara began a stint as the headlining act at Bobino and thousands of fans flocked to see her. It was the series of Bobino concerts which inspired the singer to write "Ma plus belle histoire d’amour" ("My Greatest Love Affair"), a song which she dedicated to her fans.

In 1967, Barbara embarked upon a major European tour and recorded an album in German. While the tour proved successful, the German album was a commercial flop.

On January 22 1968, Lucien Morisse, director of the French radio station Europe 1, invited Barbara to perform a special one-off concert at the Olympia, which was broadcast live on the station. The following year the singer returned to the Olympia for a memorable concert where Georges Moustaki joined her on stage to perform their famous duet "La dame brune".

In 1970, Barbara made her acting début in "Madame", a stage play written by Rémo Forlani. Barbara played the role of a prostitute who sets off for Africa in the hope of finding love. She also composed the music which accompanied the play. Unfortunately, the play ended its run without commercial success or critical acclaim. Barbara returned to her singing career, recording a new album orchestrated by Jean-Claude Vannier. Later that year a second Barbara album, "L’Aigle Noir", was released and it soon went on to become the smash hit of the summer.

In 1971 Belgian-born singing star Jacques Brel, who had met Barbara in the early 50’s, asked Barbara to play a role in his film "Franz". Barbara not only accepted the role, she would also write the film’s theme tune "Eglantine". Later that year the singer returned to the studio to record a new album, entitled "La Fleur de l’amour".

In 1972 a young up-and-coming singer by the name of Catherine Lara wrote two songs for Barbara. The following year François Wertheimer and William Sheller offered their services to Barbara, Wertheimer penning the lyrics on her new album, "La Louve", while Sheller supervised the orchestration. "Marienbad", the first single release, (for which the score was written by Sheller) received massive airplay on French radio stations and went on to become an enormous hit. Later that year Barbara left her home in Paris and moved to the French countryside, settling in the village of Précis (in the Seine et Marne region).

At the start of 1974 Barbara returned to Paris for another series of concerts, beginning with a performance at the Théâtre des Variétés. The singer then embarked upon a European tour, followed by a series of concerts in Israel. She would continue to lead this itinerant lifestyle up until 1977.

In February 1978 François Reichenbach produced a film of Barbara’s concert at the Olympia, a document which goes some way to explaining the magnetic appeal the singer exerted upon her audiences.

A new Barbara album, "Seule", was released in February 1981. Following the success of this album Barbara went on to perform in Pantin (in the Paris suburbs) on October 28^th. The show was a veritable triumph. Indeed, thousands of screaming fans were so eager to get close to their idol that the police had to erect security barriers in front of the stage to stop people throwing themselves up there.

On December 22 1982, the French Culture Minister Jack Lang honoured Barbara’s long career by presenting the singer with the "Grand Prix National de la Chanson Française". After receiving this prestigious tribute, Barbara went on to perform in an extraordinary play, "Lily Passion", with the French actor Gérard Depardieu (whom she had met three years earlier). The "cruel and tender drama" described by the programme underwent a long period of gestation however - it would take four entire before the play finally premièred in Paris at the "Zénith".

On July 8 1982 the famous Russian dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov invited Barbara to perform with him at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. While Barbara performed her classic songs, including "Pierre" and "Cantate", Baryshnikov invented a series of improvisations around them.

Barbara, whom the press had now started to refer to as "La Dame en noir" ("The Lady in Black"), returned to the Théâtre de Châtelet in 1987, where she premièred her new song "Sid’amour à mort". The song is a moving tribute to those suffering from AIDS (Sida in French). The singer would then embark upon an extensive tour of Japan and Canada.

Later that year Barbara would also meet the French politician Jacques Attali who wrote the lyrics for her song "Colline" (set to a piece of music by Schubert).

By 1990, Barbara was considered to be one of the most important figures of French chanson. Her powerful vocals, melodramatic performances and exceptional songwriting talent had attracted an ever-growing number of fans. That year the singer performed a series of concerts at the Théâtre de Mogador in Paris. She then retired from the scene for a while, suffering from health problems. In 1993 she made a welcome comeback at the Theâtre de Châtelet. The strength of her fans’ feelings and Barbara’s reciprocal love for them is much in evidence on the live album recorded during the show.

In 1996 Barbara returned to the recording studio with a group of well-known musicians (such as violinist Didier Lockwood, accordion-player Richard Galliano, organist Eddy Louis and the singer Jean Louis Aubert). On her highly-acclaimed new album Barbara also surrounded herself with a talented songwriting team (which included Frédéric Botton, Luc Plamondon and the young French actor Guillaume Depardieu). The album "Barbara 96" proved to be an enormous commercial and critical success. But, much to fans' disappointment, no concert tours were planned to celebrate the success of the album - Barbara, suffering from severe breathing problems, was not fit enough to take to the stage.

Convalescing in her home in Précy-sur-Marne, the singer devoted much of her free time to writing her memoirs. Meanwhile, Barbara continued to be extremely supportive of the Act-Up movement (a radical French association dedicated to raising AIDS-awareness). Indeed, in 1996 the singer devoted the benefits from "Le Couloir" to the Act-Up, signing over the copyright of the song to the association. Barbara would also continue her work with local prisoners, visiting inmates in their cells and setting up a 24-hour phone-line for people in need of a shoulder to cry on. The singer was also renowned for her generosity in Précy - Barbara would often cook meals for local children and donate sumptuous presents for the village Christmas tree.

On 24 November Barbara was rushed to hospital suffering from respiratory problems. Her death on 25 November would come as a terrible shock to the nation, and thousands of grief-stricken fans would turn out to mourn the singer as her coffin was carried to a quiet corner of the Bagneux cemetery on 27 November.

The first weeks of the New Millennium found Barbara fans flocking to the auction houses when a number of the singer's personal effects - as well as her house in Précy - went under the auctioneer's hammer. The star's personal memorabilia - including her stage outfits and the famous rocking-chair came under the auctioneer's hammer in June of that year, provoking general outcry amidst Barbara's friends and fans. Fans complained bitterly about the break-up of the singer's belongings, saying they should be brought together in a museum. In fact, thanks to a number of generous donations, Barbara's fan club was able to buy several of the more famous pieces, but for the moment there is still no sign of a Barbara museum.

Barbara will be remembered for her intensely poetic lyrics, her dramatic on-stage performances and her incredible voice, permanently charged with emotion and often close to breaking-point. This intensely private woman whose personal life remained shrouded in mystery right to the end of her life, will always hold a very special place in French music history.

November 2000