PARIS (AFP).- Belle du Berry, the lead singer of the cult French swing band Paris Combo, has died of cancer aged 54, the group announced Wednesday.

Du Berry, whose real name was Benedicte Grimault, was "taken from us suddenly by cancer", the group said in a statement to AFP.

She had just finished recording a new album for the group, which built up a large following in the US, Australia and Brazil on the back of their hit 1999 album "Living Room".

Paris Combo rode the wave of the swing revival in the early 2000s with their mix of jazz, French traditional chanson, North African, punk and Roma influences fusing into a unique retro sound.

Du Berry's creative partnership with Australian trumpeter and pianist David Lewis helped drive its success and establish a fiercely loyal fan base for their live concerts.

The couple also toured as a duo after their debut album "Quizz" in 2009.

Lewis described in a 2018 video how he fell for Du Berry after seeing her perform at the Cabaret Sauvage in Paris. "I was under her charm immediately. What more can I say?"




A gifted songwriter and accordionist, Du Berry studied cinema before diving into the punk and alternative music scene in the multicultural Paris district of Belleville, first fronting the post-punk band the Pervers Polymorphes Inorganises.

She later worked with French choreographer Philippe Decoufle on a ballet for the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics at Albertville in 1992.

But it was her songwriting and magnetic stage presence with Paris Combo that brought worldwide fame.

The group re-formed in 2011 after a five-year break to play the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles and began touring and recording again.

Their last album "Tako Tsubo" was released in 2017.

Du Berry took her stage name, which means "The beauty from Berry", from her home region in north central France.


© Agence France-Presse