I am no stranger to French singers, and yet I thought the Rolling Stones were doing well with Mick Jagger turning 70 recently and still going strong.
If this is a new benchmark then we may have another 20 years of the Rolling Stones to look forward to. Charles Aznavour is booked out till November this year - so far!
Not to mention so many other music legends! The You Tube clip is 10 years old but you get the picture.
London (AFP) - Legendary
French-Armenian singer Charles Aznavour, who celebrated his 90th
birthday on stage in Berlin last month, defied the years to charm 5,500
spectators at London's prestigious Royal Albert Hall on Sunday.
Taking the
limelight to a standing ovation, the activist-singer promised the
audience: "I'll sing half in English, half in French...tonight is about
Entente cordiale".
Surrounded
by seven musicians and two singers, the giant of French song began his
set with "Les emigrants", in tribute to the world's migrants.
Looking
relaxed in a dark suit, blue shirt with Mao collar and red braces,
Aznavour made light his 90 years -- an age when "one sees badly and
hears badly" -- but warned the audience he needed a teleprompter in case
of memory lapse.
Despite
frequently resting on a high chair, the chanteur's well-honed
showmanship commanded the stage, with the audience reacting to every
clenched fist and pained lament.
Aznavour recently said he still "writes every day, often a song a day," and revealed the secrets of his success.
"I try to be free with respect to music, and to find a good melody that is easy to remember," he explained.
The
audience -- made up of many French and Armenians -- heard many of
Aznavour's best-known songs, including "Mes Emmerdes", "She" and "Take
Me Along", but it was his gypsy-inspired "Les deux guitares" and "La
Boheme" that ignited the grand old venue.
Bouquets
of flowers rained down on the stage as the crowd stood for a
minute-long ovation, but their pleas for an encore went unheeded.
So it was without "La Mama", "Pour faire une Jam" and "Les Comediens" that the concert ended after nearly two hours.
Aznavour
will play Barcelona on June 26, Rome on July 1, Los Angeles on
September 13, Geneva on October 10 and Antwerp on November 22.
By Maureen Cofflard
With thanks to Yahoo News.
