1. Charles Aznavour was known for his distinctive vibrato tenor voice: clear and ringing in its upper reaches, with gravelly and profound low notes.
56 Facts About Charles Aznavour
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Charles Aznavour is regarded as one of the greatest songwriters in history and an icon of 20th-century pop culture.
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Charles Aznavour sang for presidents, popes and royalty, as well as at humanitarian events.
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Jean Cocteau, who cast him in his 1960's Le Testament d'Orphee, joked "Before Charles Aznavour despair was unpopular".
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Between 1974 and 2016, Charles Aznavour received around sixty gold and platinum records around the world.
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In 2017, Charles Aznavour was awarded the 2,618th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
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Charles Aznavour was born on 22 May 1924 at the clinic Tarnier at 89, rue d'Assas in Saint-Germain-des-Pres, 6th arrondissement of Paris, into a family of artists living on rue Monsieur-le-Prince.
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Charles Aznavour had one older sister, Aida, born in January 1923 in Thessaloniki, Greece before their family moved to France.
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Charles Aznavour was already familiar with performing on stage by the time he began his career as a musician.
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Charles Aznavour then turned to professional dancing and performed in several nightclubs.
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Piaf helped Charles Aznavour develop a distinctive voice that stimulated the best of his abilities.
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Sometimes described as "France's Frank Sinatra", Charles Aznavour sang frequently about love.
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Charles Aznavour wrote or co-wrote musicals, more than one thousand songs, and recorded ninety-one studio albums.
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Charles Aznavour's voice was shaded towards the tenor range, but possessed the low range and coloration more typical of a baritone, contributing to his unique sound.
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Charles Aznavour spoke and sang in many languages, which helped him perform at Carnegie Hall, in the US, and other major venues around the world.
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Charles Aznavour recorded at least one song from the 18th-century Armenian poet Sayat-Nova, an Armenian-French song with Bratsch, and a popular song, in Armenian.
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In 1974, Charles Aznavour became a major success in the United Kingdom when his song "She" was number 1 on the UK Singles Chart for four weeks during a fourteen-week run.
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In 1974, Jack Jones recorded an entire album of Charles Aznavour compositions entitled Write Me A Love Song, Charlie, re-released on CD in 2006.
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Charles Aznavour performed with Russian cellist and friend Mstislav Rostropovich to inaugurate the French presidency of the European Union in 1995.
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At the start of autumn 2006, Charles Aznavour initiated his farewell tour, performing in the United States and Canada, and earning very positive reviews.
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Charles Aznavour started 2007 with concerts all over Japan and Asia.
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Aznavour had repeatedly stated that this farewell tour, health permitting, would likely last beyond 2010; after that Charles Aznavour continued performing worldwide throughout the year.
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On 30 September 2006, Charles Aznavour performed a major concert in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, to start off the cultural season "".
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In 2006, Charles Aznavour recorded his album in Cuba, with Chucho Valdes.
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Later, in July 2007, Charles Aznavour was invited to perform at the Vieilles Charrues Festival.
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Charles Aznavour performed the following day on the Plains of Abraham as a feature of the celebration of the 400th anniversary of the founding of Quebec City.
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Charles Aznavour's next album, Charles Aznavour and The Clayton Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, is a continuation in the same vein as his hit album Jazznavour released in 1998, involving new arrangements on his classic songs with a jazz orchestra and other guest jazz artists.
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In 2012, Charles Aznavour embarked on a new North American leg of his tour, visiting Quebec and the Gibson Amphitheatre in Los Angeles, the third-largest such venue in California, for multiple shows.
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On 16 August 2012, Charles Aznavour performed in his father's birthplace, Akhaltsikhe, in Georgia in a special concert as part of the opening ceremony of the recently restored Rabati castle.
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On 25 October 2013, Charles Aznavour performed in London for the first time in 25 years at the Royal Albert Hall; demand was so high that a second concert at the Royal Albert Hall was scheduled for June 2014.
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In November 2013, Charles Aznavour appeared with Achinoam Nini in a concert, dedicated to peace, at the Nokia Arena in Tel Aviv.
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In December 2013, Charles Aznavour gave two concerts in the Netherlands at the Heineken Music Hall in Amsterdam, and again in January 2016.
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Charles Aznavour continued his international tour performing in many cities around the world between 2014 and 2018.
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Charles Aznavour had a long and varied parallel career as an actor, appearing in over 80 films and TV movies.
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In 1960, Charles Aznavour starred in Francois Truffaut's Tirez sur le pianiste, playing a character called Edouard Saroyan, a cafe pianist.
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Charles Aznavour put in a critically acclaimed performance in the 1974 movie And Then There Were None.
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Charles Aznavour had an important supporting role in 1979's The Tin Drum, winner of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1980.
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Charles Aznavour co-starred in Claude Chabrol's Les Fantomes du chapelier from 1982.
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Charles Aznavour starred in the 2002 movie Ararat, reprising his role of Edward Saroyan.
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Charles Aznavour was well known for being a lifelong and active supporter of civil rights, fighting for equality among all races, religions and nationalities as he stated in many of his interviews during his lifetime.
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In 1995 Charles Aznavour was appointed an Ambassador and Permanent Delegate of Armenia to UNESCO.
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Charles Aznavour was a member of the Armenia Fund International Board of Trustees.
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Charles Aznavour was appointed as "Officier" of the Legion d'honneur in 1997.
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In 2002, Charles Aznavour appeared in director Atom Egoyan's film Ararat, about the genocide of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in the early 20th century.
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In 2004, Charles Aznavour received the title of National Hero of Armenia, Armenia's highest award.
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Charles Aznavour wrote a song about the Armenian genocide, entitled "Ils sont tombes".
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Charles Aznavour was increasingly involved in French, Armenian and international politics as his career progressed.
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Charles Aznavour was a vocal proponent of the measure and considered it a rousing victory:.
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Charles Aznavour was highly regarded by Frank Sinatra, Celine Dion, Edith Piaf, and Liza Minnelli, with whom he performed and recorded.
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Charles Aznavour has been widely regarded as one of the most famous Armenians of his time, and a major pop culture icon of the 20th century.
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Charles Aznavour's name inspired the alias of the character Char Aznable by Yoshiyuki Tomino in his 1979 mecha anime series Mobile Suit Gundam.
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Charles Aznavour was married three times: to Micheline Rugel, Evelyn Plessis and his widow, Ulla Thorsell.
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Charles Aznavour made this a source of self-deprecating humour over the years.
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On 1 October 2018, Charles Aznavour was found dead in a bathtub at his home at Mouries at the age of 94.
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The autopsy report concluded that Charles Aznavour died of cardiorespiratory arrest complicated by an acute pulmonary edema.
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Charles Aznavour is interred in the family crypt at the Montfort-l'Amaury cemetery.