Magali Noël
(Magali Noel)
Magali Noël was the first French woman to sing a rock'n'roll song. Introduced to
the genre by Boris Vian, who was mainly interested in pastiching it, she created
the immortal "Fais-moi mal Johnny " (1956). After becoming an actress (she acted
in films directed by Henri Decoin, René Clair, Jean Renoir and Federico
Fellini), Magali Noël abandoned song, returning to it in the 1980s with a show
in tribute to Boris Vian, followed by a recital devoted to Jacques Prévert. Born
in 1932 in Izmir, Turkey, she died on June 23, 2015, just a few days shy of her
84th birthday.
