French composer Charles Dumont behind iconic ‘Non, je ne regrette rien’ dies

Charles Dumont helped turn Edith Piaf into an international singing superstar after ‘Non, je ne regrette rien’ came out, with lyrics by Michel Vaucaire.

The French composer who composed the legendary ‘No, I regret nothing’ for Edith Piaf died today at the age of 95.

Charles Dumont helped turn Piaf into an international singing superstar after ‘Non, je ne regrette rien’ came out, with lyrics by Michel Vaucaire.

Dumont, who was born in Cahors, in south west France, and grew up in Toulouse, told how he cold called Piaf at her home in Paris in 1960, and she was orginally very rude. She let him and Vaucaire wait an hour before telling them: ‘As you can see I am extremely tired’, adding that they were allowed to play her ‘one song’.

Dumont sang ‘I regret nothing’ in a low voice and then – after an embarrassed silence – Piaf said ‘Fantastic! This is the song I have been waiting for’. Piaf made the song famous around the world and – following her own death in 1963 at the age of 47 – it was covered by a range of others stars, such as Shirley Bassey.

Piaf originally dedicated ‘Non, je ne regrette rien’ to mutinous French Foreign Legionnaires , who were involved in the Algerian War of Independence at the time. Members of the 1st Foreign Parachute Regiment were arrested and tried for backing a failed 1961 putsch against the French government, and they walked out of their barracks singing the song.

Beyond writing around 30 hits for La Môme (The Kid) – as Piaf was called – Dumont worked with other music legends, such as Barbara Streisand and Dalida. In March this year, he celebrated his half-a-century long career at the Bataclan music hall in Paris.

Charles Dumont died at his home in the French capital on Monday ‘after a long illness,’ said a family member.