Death of Régine: "She had such a taste for celebration and life, she was great", confides Jane Birkin

Jane Birkin, who shares the same agent as Régine, wants above all to keep the memory of the generosity and joie de vivre of "the queen of the night", who died this Sunday, May 1.

She tells us about this outstanding businesswoman, singer and dancer.

“We have known each other for a very, very long time, through Serge

He loved her raspy voice.

He tried to persuade her to stop the stuff with the boas, the music hall.

That's why he made

for her.

The songs he composed for Régine, he said that she was really the only one who could sing them… They had a real bond.

But for him, Régine was first of all this girl who arrived in France with her small suitcase in the 1930s, someone who had suffered.

I believe that it is indeed the real Régine…”

Read alsoMort de Régine: queen of the night, cult singer … “la Grande Zoa” had lived so many lives

“We first saw each other on the dance floors, in her clubs where she invited us, continues the artist.

With Jacques Doillon too, she had us come to her club in Brazil and to her presbytery in Normandy, with the whole family.

He was an extremely generous person.

We managed to see each other, not so long ago, during confinement.

I went to her house, I had brought a Japanese meal.

We talked about the past, all the stories, the anecdotes with Serge.

She had an elephant's memory.

We laughed a lot.

She was always funny, full of life.

I wanted to have dinner with her, Charlotte and Lou… We didn't have time, and I'm sorry.

We had talked about these projects too: she was to do the Madame Arthur cabaret in September.

She wanted to go back on stage.

»

“At home, it was always open for friends, still remembers Jane Birkin.

He was truly a human being with a big heart.

We had sung together for the sans-papiers because, as soon as she could put herself at the service of a cause, she did it.

I knew she was sick, but she's one of those people whose death you can't imagine.

She had such a taste for celebration and life.

She was awesome.

»

Didier Wampas: “She was much more punk than a lot of bands”

In 2009, for a surprising album of duets, the Wampas cover with Régine one of his greatest hits, "La Grande Zoa".

“We met at that time, remembers Didier Wampas, very saddened by the disappearance of the singer.

But I already liked his quirky side, his way of not taking himself seriously.

I discovered someone very simple, kind, natural.

It was funny because after the recording, the sound engineer thought we had the same voice!

Me who thought I was singing like Joe Strummer

"Afterwards, she came to sing with us at the Casino de Paris," he says.

The musicians didn't really dare to go there.

She said to me:

Only Régine found the Wampas too soft… Another time, in 2012, she came to sing with Les Producteurs de porcs, a collective from Groland, a song by Gainsbourg,

.

Just for the occasion, she had had a big blond hairdo done at the hairdresser.

It was much more punk than a lot of bands that claim to be today!

»