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Edith Piaf music biography continued...

was a singer and her father a street acrobat, who Edith accompanied as a singer. In 1935 Piaf was discovered in the Pigalle area of Paris by the nightclub owner Louis Leplée, who persuaded the singer to overcome her stage fright and perform at his club, Le Gerny. Her nervousness and small stature led her to give her the stage name, La Môme Piaf (The Waif Sparrow) which would stick with her for the rest of her life. Her nightclub performances led to her first two records produced that same year. On April 6, 1936, Leplée was murdered and Piaf was questioned in the matter and accused of being an accessory. Afterward, she changed her stage name to "Édith Piaf and tried to rehabilitated her image by befriending luminaries in Parisian cultural society. She wrote the lyrics to many of her songs and collaborated with great French composers, making her one of the most popular entertainers in that country.
During World War II, Piaf became a frequent performer at German Forces social gatherings in occupied France. While some said she was a traitor, she retained her popularity. Post War, Piaf became internationally known when she toured Europe, the United States, and South America. Initially, she did not meet with much success in the United States, but after a prominent New York critic gave her glowing reviews, audiences warmed to her. Afterward, she became so popular that she was a frequent guest on the Ed Sullivan Show and appeared at Carnegie Hall twice (1956 and 1957), performing such signature Edith Piaf songs as "La Vie En Rose" and Hymne à l'amour" (1949), "Milord" (1959) and "Non, je ne regrette rien "(1960)." "La Vie En Rose" was won a Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1998. Piaf died of liver cancer at Plascassier, on the French Riviera, on October 11, 1963. About 100,000 people turned out for her funeral, which friend Charles Aznavour said was the only time, other than the end of World War II, that traffic came to a complete halt--a fitting tribute indeed to one of the greatest performers of the 20th Century.