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Lily Lian, the last street singer in Paris, died at 103

May 24, 2020 by archyde

Lily Lian, considered the last street singer in Paris, friend of Maurice Chevalier, died on Sunday May 24, 2020 at the hospital of Ivry (Val-de-Marne), her godson announced to Agence France-Presse Michaël Gautier. “Lily Paname” had been one of her record successes in the 1950s and 1960s. She had been immortalized in a square, a megaphone in her hand, in two famous shots of Robert Doisneau for his series illustrating small trades Parisians.

Born on May 1, 1917, she had started by singing the popular repertoire of her childhood before becoming a recognized street singer in the thirties: a fluctuating career, which was to make her meet Edith Piaf, Tino Rossi, Maurice Chevalier, Yves Montand especially. Obliged to retrain after the war, due to the inexorable decline of her profession competed by the radio and the microgroove, she had not really managed to establish herself as a traditional singer.

Muse by Vincent Scotto

Muse of the composer and actor Vincent Scotto, Lily Lian had published her memoirs in 1981: “Lady Paname, Memoirs of the last singer on the streets”. She was often invited by host Pascal Sevran, whom she had helped at the start of her career on her show “La Chance aux chansons”.