Did Bob Dylan write love letters to Françoise Hardy? All about legendary rocker's fascination with French pop singer

With the recent passing of the iconic French singer Françoise Hardy, fans and music enthusiasts worldwide have been reminiscing about her life and career.

One story involving American musician Bob Dylan has come up among the many revelations. Dylan allegedly wrote love letters to Françoise Hardy at the height of his fame in the 1960s, per The Independent. However, the two had never been involved with each other and had never collaborated on any of their songs or projects.

Françoise Madeleine Hardy was a French singer-songwriter and actress. Hardy rose to prominence in the early 1960s as a leading figure of the yé-yé wave. She was known for singing melancholic. sentimental ballads. She also sang in English, Italian, and German. Her top hits include Le Temps De L'amour, Voilà, Comment te dire adieu, L'amitié, and Tant de belles choses.

Hardy passed away on June 11, 2024, after battling with lymphatic cancer diagnosed in 2004, as NPR reports.

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The tale of Bob Dylan's affection: letters to Françoise Hardy revealed

As per Vogue, Dylan, living in New York's Greenwich Village, spent major hours of his day in corner cafés writing notes and letters. Some of those letters were written for Françoise Hardy, purportedly expressing his admiration for the French singer's talent and her music's profound impact on his life and artistry.

Hardy received those letters in 2018, as per Vogue. During an interview with Uncut at the chic Hotel De Sers in 2018, Hardy revealed that she was reached out to by an American couple who owned the café where Dylan used to write letters and notes. The couple gave her the letters written by Dylan. The singer said she was "moved."

"Earlier this year, two Americans got in touch with me. They had inherited some drafts of the poem that Dylan had left in a café. They sent me these drafts, and I was very moved," Hardy told Uncut.

She continued ,

"This was a young man, a very romantic artist, who had a fixation on somebody only from a picture. You know how very young people are, I realised it had been very important for him."

As per The Independent, Dylan penned multiple love letters to her and dedicated a Beat poem to her on the sleeve of his 1964 album Another Side of Bob Dylan.

According to various accounts, Dylan's infatuation with Hardy reached a height that he once halted a scheduled performance, insisting on meeting her in person before taking the stage.

As per The Rake, on May 24, 1966, Dylan's 25th birthday, the rock artist was due to perform his first concert in Paris. After the first part of the performance, he insisted on seeing Françoise Hardy first, and then he could continue his performance. Per the source, one of Dylan's friends contacted Hardy, who narrated the scenario.

Hardy told Uncut in 2018 that she went to meet Dylan backstage. Later, the duo went to Dylon's suite along with other French artists, and Françoise Hardy revealed that it was her first and last meeting with the rock musician.

"So I went to meet him. After the concert, we were with some other French artists, like Johnny Hallyday, in Bob Dylan's suite at the Georges V Hotel. Usually, I never do this, it's very embarrassing!"

She continued suggesting that Dylan played two of his unreleased songs when she went to meet him with fellow artists.

"Bob Dylan was already in his room, he wanted me to come in, and he played me two songs from his last album, which wasn't yet released in France, Blonde On Blonde's 'Just Like A Woman' and 'I Want You'. And that was it! I never saw him again."

Françoise Hardy never revealed what was written on those letters. Bob Dylan also never expressed his interest in or addressed the letters he wrote for Hardy.

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An icon of the Swinging Sixties, Françoise Hardy, died at 80, as confirmed by her son Thomas Dutronc on Facebook. He shared a picture from his childhood with Hardy holding her, captioning "Maman est partie," which reads "mom is gone" in English. She married a French singer and songwriter, Jacques Dutronc, in 1981.