Who is Jacques Dutronc? All about Françoise Hardy's husband as French pop singer dies at 80 

French singer and songwriter Jacques Dutronc was the husband of French pop singer Françoise Hardy, who passed away at 80 on June 12, 2024. Her son, Thomas Dutronc, shared the news of Françoise Hardy's death via Instagram.

Dutronc was born on April 28, 1943, in Paris and met Françoise Hardy in 1967. The duo got married in 1981 and shared a son, Thomas. Jacques and Françoise got separated in 1987. However, the duo remained married and kept in contact over the years.

Apart from working as a singer, songwriter, and guitarist, Dutronc has also worked as an actor since 1973. He was the guitarist for the rock band El Toro et les Cyclone in the 1960s and left them eventually to start his solo career. He played the artist in Maurice Pialat's 1991 movie Van Gogh, based on the life of Vincent Van Gogh. Dutronc also won the Cesar Award for Best Actor for his performance in the movie.

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Jacques Dutronc's music career, collaboration with his son on tour, and other details explored

Before Françoise Hardy got married to Jacques Dutronc, she had admirers like Mick Jagger who called her his ideal woman, Bob Dylan who wrote a poem for her on the back cover of his album Another Side of Bob Dylan, and David Bowie who confessed to being "passionately in love" with Françoise. However, she married Dutronc.

According to information mentioned in Dutronc's biography written by Timothy Monger available on the All Music website, the French singer's songs had smart, provocative lyrics with a rebellious spirit. Jacques Dutronc became famous with songs like Et moi, et moi, et moi, Les play boys, and Il est cinq heures, Paris s'éveille, and spent the 70s trying to make his mark as a film actor. Shortly after his stint at the movies, the French singer resumed making albums wherein he released Guerre et pets in 1980 in collaboration with Serge Gainsbourg.

Jacques Dutronc also served in the army till 1963 post which he worked as a guitarist in Eddy Mitchell's band. After that, Dutronc became a staff songwriter alongside Jacques Lanzmann and wrote songs for Françoise Hardy as well.

While the French singer didn't stay very active in the musical arena, he made several comebacks, first in 1995 with Brèves rencontres and then in 2003 with Madame l'existence. Dutronc went on a co-headlining tour with his son Thomas Dutronc in 2022, resulting in a studio album called Dutronc & Dutronc.

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While there haven't been many instances of the family giving interviews about one another, Thomas Dutronc mentioned in his father's 80th birthday wish post on Instagram on April 28, 2023, that:

"Jacques is eternal... 'til tomorrow, and every day after that.."

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Françoise Hardy died because of cancer of the pharynx and lymphatic system. She got a lymphoma diagnosis in 2004 and revealed she had cancer in one of her ears in 2021.