 jacques romain georges brel (; 8 april 1929 â 9 october 1978) was a belgian singer-songwriter who composed and performed literate, thoughtful, and theatrical songs that generated a large, devoted following, initially in belgium and france, later throughout the world. he was widely considered a master of the modern chanson. although he recorded most of his songs in french, he became a major influence on english-speaking songwriters and performers such as david bowie, alex harvey, leonard cohen, marc almond and rod mckuen. english translations of his songs were recorded by many top performers in the united states, including ray charles, judy collins, john denver, the kingston trio, nina simone, frank sinatra, scott walker, and andy williams. in french-speaking countries, brel was a successful actor, appearing in ten films. he also directed two films, one of which, le far west, was nominated for the palme d'or at the cannes film festival in 1973. having sold over 25 million records worldwide, brel is the third best-selling belgian recording artist of all time. ==early life== jacques romain georges brel was born on 8 april 1929 in schaerbeek, brussels, belgium to Ãlisabeth "lisette" (nÃ©e lambertine) and romain brel.clayson p. 22. although his family spoke french, they were of flemish descent, with some of the family originating from zandvoorde, near ypres.clayson p. 20. his father worked for cominex, an importâexport firm, and later became co-director of a company that manufactured cardboard.clayson p. 23. jacques and his older brother pierre grew up in an austere household, and attended a catholic primary school, Ãcole saint-viateur, run by the saint-viateur brothers.clayson p. 26. remembered as a courteous and manageable pupil, jacques did well in reading and writing, but struggled through arithmetic and flemish. the boys were also members of the local cub scouts troop, enjoyed their time at summer camp and on family outings to the north sea coast.clayson p. 27. i
1929_births 1978_deaths 20th-century_singers Belgian_atheists Belgian_male_actors Belgian_male_singers Belgian_poets Belgian_republicans Belgian_singer-songwriters Cabaret_singers Cancer_deaths_in_France Deaths_from_lung_cancer French-language_singers_of_Belgium Jacques_Brel People_from_Schaerbeek