French might be a complicated language to learn, but it doesn’t stop foreign artists from singing their heart out on beautiful French songs… If you want to shake up your playlist of French songs, here are 11 French covers from international singers. Some of these covers of French songs are timeless classics, while other covers are unexpected.
1Lady Gaga, “La Vie En Rose” (From “A Star Is Born” Soundtrack)
Surely, you’ve heard this cover from “La Vie En Rose”, sung by Lady Gaga in the award-winning movie “A Star Is Born”. It’s not “Shallow”, the song written by Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando and Andrew Wyatt, which has won the Best Original Song award at the Oscars, but still. “La Vie En Rose” is an iconic song first performed by Edith Piaf in the 1940’s and it’s been one of the most famous French songs ever since. It is no coincidence that “La Vie En Rose” is probably the song with most covers.
2Shakira, “Je l’aime à mourir”
When you think about French covers, you might mention songs from Francis Cabrel. His song “Je l’aime à mourir” has become a classic in French music, and many artists like to cover it. But did you know that Shakira sings it too? Sure, she begins to sing in Spanish, but if you listen to the whole thing, you will hear her sing in French.
3Grace Jones, “La Vie en Rose”
Like we said, most of the French covers you might know are the covers of “La Vie en Rose” song. If so, you certainly know the Grace Jones’ version, released in 1977 with the first album of the top model. The song is 3,5 minutes on the album, but for the album version, it has been edited to last more than seven minutes.
