Édith Piaf.

Paris, 1915 — Édith Giovanna Gassion was born on the streets, the daughter of street performers Line Marsa and Louis Gassion. Her mother abandoned her early; her father, an acrobat, raised her in a brothel run by her paternal grandmother. Piaf sang to passers-by, accompanying her father’s acts. At 17, she gave birth to Marcelle Dupont, who died of meningitis at age two. Devastated, she returned to singing solo on the streets, hungry and homeless.

In 1935, impresario Louis Leplee heard Piaf and offered her a contract, changing her name from Édith Gassion to La Môme Piaf Kid Sparrow. She debuted in elegant cafés and cabarets, soon becoming a sensation. Leplee’s murder in 1936 embroiled her in scandal, but she persevered. She began recording and composing, writing over 80 songs including her signature La Vie en Rose in 1945. Piaf toured the United States and won over audiences with raw emotional power. She appeared in films like French Cancan 1955 and Royal Affairs in Versailles 1953, but her true stage was the concert hall.

Intense love affairs and tragedy defined Édith Piaf’s personal life. She had relationships with actor Paul Meurisse, composer Henri Contet, and boxer Marcel Cerdan. Cerdan’s death in a 1949 plane crash devastated her. She married actor Jacques Pills in 1952; the marriage ended in 1957. In 1962, she married protégé Théo Sarapo, 20 years younger. Two car accidents in 1951 led to morphine and alcohol addiction. She launched the careers of Yves Montand and Eddie Constantine.

Piaf embodies French chanson. Her song La Vie en Rose earned a Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1998. Marion Cotillard portrayed her in the 2007 biopic La Vie en Rose. Cocteau died the same day as Piaf in 1963. Her funeral drew massive crowds, stopping Paris traffic for the first time since WWII. A museum in Paris honors her. Elton John wrote Cage the Songbird about her, and her influence extends to modern singers. Her throbbing vocals and songs of love and sorrow are her hallmark.