Gérard Jouannest

Jouannest was born on 2 May 1933 in Vanves near Paris.[1][2] His father was a piano manufacturer.[1]

Jouannest graduated from the Conservatoire de Paris in 1954.[1] During the Algerian War, he served in the French Army, although he was based in Meknes, Morocco.[1]

Jouannest began his career as a pianist in music halls.[1] He later worked as a pianist for François Rauber.[2] In 1959, he was introduced to Jacques Brel by music producer Jacques Canetti, and he worked for Brel for nearly a decade.[3] It was Brel who introduced Jouannest to his future wife, singer Juliette Gréco in 1968, and Jouannest played the piano for Greco during the rest of his career.[1][4]

Jouannest composed more than 250 songs over the course of his life.[1] For example, he composed classic songs for Jacques Brel like "Ne me quitte pas", "Ces gens-là", "Bruxelles", "Mathilde" and "Les Vieux".[4] He also composed songs for younger artists like Miossec, Benjamin Biolay and Abd al Malik.[4][2]

In 1988, Jouannest married Juliette Gréco.[1] Jouannest supported Jean-Luc Mélenchon in the 2012 presidential election.[5]

Jouannest died on 16 May 2018 in Ramatuelle, in the South of France.[1][4] He was 85.[4][2]