Jacques Joseph Victor Higelin (18 October 1940 – 6 April 2018) was a prominent French pop artist who gained recognition in the early 1970s.
Born in 1940, Higelin was introduced to a variety of musical influences by his father, Paul, a railway worker and musician of Alsatian heritage, while his mother, Renée, who hailed from Belgium, took care of the family.
Higelin's journey in the entertainment industry commenced at the age of 14 when he departed from school to pursue work as a stunt double. During his time in the film industry, he took on several minor roles and learned guitar from Henri Crolla, a notable French-Italian jazz guitarist and film score composer. By the early 1960s, he was a student at the René Simon drama school, where he garnered the François Perier award.
After a two-year stint in the French military beginning in 1961, Higelin returned to France and gradually shifted his focus from film to music. By the end of the 1960s, he was deeply involved in Paris's artistic underground and began using his music as a platform for radical activism.
Higelin gained widespread acclaim through his live performances in intimate venues and released his debut solo album in 1971. By the mid-1970s, he had established himself as one of France's leading pop musicians, leaving a lasting legacy.
In the 1970s, he was romantically linked to Kuelan Nguyen, a French-Vietnamese woman who was present during the recording of an album at Château d'Hérouville Studio, where Iggy Pop was also working on his first solo project, "The Idiot." Pop's infatuation with Nguyen, who rebuffed his advances, inspired the song "China Girl," which later became a hit for David Bowie.
Higelin had three artistic children: Arthur H, a singer from his relationship with Nicole Courto
