Danyel Gérard

Danyel Gérard (born Gérard Daniel Kherlakian, 7 March 1939, Paris) is a French pop singer and composer.

Gérard was born in Paris to an Armenian father and an Italian mother, but grew up mainly in Rio de Janeiro. In 1953 he returned again to Paris and became a choir boy at Notre Dame. Following this he played in the rock and roll band The Dangers. From 1959 to 1961 he was a soldier in North Africa. Subsequently he was a singer and guitarist in various bistros. He began to write songs, penning tunes for Johnny Hallyday, Sylvie Vartan, Dalida, Richard Anthony, Caterina Valente and Udo Jürgens.

His first recording as a singer was "Memphis, Tennessee". In 1958 he had a hit in France with "Where Do You Come From, Billy Boy" and became known as the French Elvis Presley as one of France's first rock stars. His breakthrough came in 1971 with "Butterfly", which he recorded in several languages and has sold seven million copies. It charted across Europe, reaching #1 in Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, and France, #5 in the Netherlands, and #10 in the UK; in the U.S. it peaked at #78. It has since became a pop standard, and was also used in the film Die tollen Tanten schlagen zu.

After his brief success, he dedicated himself to composing music for other artists.

In the late 1970's, Danyel Gérard made a successful 'comeback' to the live scene with a spectacular show at the Paris Olympia theatre on November 20, 1978. The concert was a sell-out and included a special 21-piece band and orchestra conducted by French composer and trumpeter Yvan Julien made up of French, British and American musicians. A full troupe of circus performers surprised the audience, joining Danyel on stage for the finale. Another surprise was the appearance of composer and Zither player Anton Karas, whom Danyel Gérard had brought out of retirement from his home in Vienna for this one show to perform his well-known composition "The Harry Lime Theme" from the movie, "The Third Man".

The height of this comeback was reached when Gérard made the #1 spot in the French pop charts with the song 'Melodie Melodie', taken from his 1978 album of the same name. This led to various TV and radio appearances in France and Germany and following the Paris Olympia concert, he took the nucleus of the orchestra and formed a seven-piece band, Horde, with which he played a number of shows in Paris and the south of France in 1978/79. The Olympia show was filmed and also recorded with a view to releasing a live album but this was never realized.

See also

• Number-one hits of 1971 (Germany)
• One-hit wonders in the UK
• List of French singers
• List of best-selling singles worldwide