On this May 22nd, he would have been 101 years old !
A true icon of French music, Charles Aznavour passed away at the age of 94 (22/5/1924 – 1/10/2018). With over 70 years in the industry and more than 1300 songs released, his music was known worldwide and inspired numerous artists. Besides the countless covers and adaptations his catalog has seen, he was also one of the most frequently sampled French singers, both domestically and internationally.
In 1999, American producer and rapper Dr. Dre isolated and slowed down a portion of the rhythm from the 1966 single “Parce que tu crois” to craft his hit “What’s The Difference” with his cohorts Xzibit and Eminem. This same instrumental was also used by Sean Paul and Blue Cantrell on the track “Breathe,” as well as by the duo Bitter:Sweet on “Dirty Laundry.” Rappers Big John, ZPU, La Brigade, and Fonky Family each capitalized on the brilliant “Comme il disent” to birth their own respective successes.
Among those who skillfully repurposed the musical legacy of the great Charles are Passi, Idéal J, Sniper, Guizmo, Psy4 De La Rime, Roger Molls, Anno Domini Beats, Dope D.O.D, and The Doppelgangaz. More recently, global star of Puerto Rican descent Bad Bunny chose to sample the track “Hier encore” for his song “Monaco,” featured on his latest album, “Nadie sabe lo que va a pasar mañana,” released in 2023. This single currently boasts over 628 million streams on Spotify and over 160 million views on YouTube.
With our “Who sampled Aznavour?” playlist, we invite you to (re)discover a selection of his songs sampled by artists from around the world. After each original track, you’ll find one or more songs created using it.
