1. Enrico Macias's father, Sylvain Ghrenassia, was a violinist in an orchestra that played primarily malouf, Andalusian classical music.
18 Facts About Enrico Macias
1. 2.
Enrico Macias pursued a school teacher career, but continued playing the guitar.
3.
Enrico Macias has not been permitted to return to Algeria ever since.
4.
Enrico Macias remained, though, a popular interpreter of Arab-Andalusian music and Judeo-Arab songs in France.
5.
Enrico Macias adopted the stage name Enrico Macias and made his first recording in 1962 after a meeting with Raymond Bernard of Pathe.
6.
Enrico Macias appeared on French television and became an overnight sensation.
7.
Enrico Macias toured Japan and recorded titles in Spanish and Italian and was popular in both countries.
8.
Enrico Macias continued to tour the United States, singing in Chicago, Dallas and Los Angeles.
9.
Enrico Macias toured France and went twice to Israel in 1976 and 1978.
10.
Enrico Macias was invited to Egypt by the Egyptian President Anwar El Sadat to sing for peace.
11.
Enrico Macias had a role as a local judge in the French TV film Monsieur Molina.
12.
In July 2019, Enrico Macias played himself in the comedy Family Business, broadcast on Netflix.
13.
Enrico Macias has sung in many languages including French, Italian, Spanish, Hebrew, Turkish, Greek, English, Armenian, Arabic and many of its dialects, and recently in Yiddish.
14.
Enrico Macias has collaborated with numerous artists and his songs have been interpreted in many languages.
15.
Enrico Macias confirmed his political convictions of the political left, but said he could not support the Socialist candidate Segolene Royal, although he would have supported Laurent Fabius or Dominique Strauss-Kahn if they had been the candidates.
16.
Enrico Macias attempted again unsuccessfully to visit Algeria in November 2007 accompanying French president Nicolas Sarkozy, but was faced with fierce resistance from several Algerian organizations and individuals, including Algerian Prime Minister Abdelaziz Belkhadem, due to his support of Israel.
17.
Enrico Macias has never been permitted to return to Algeria since he left in 1961.
18.
Enrico Macias has a son Jean-Claude, who worked with him as a musician and a daughter named Jocya.