We don't know his name, less his face, but his melodies are in the heads of millions of people: "I'm sick", "It's water, it's wind
",
"Algeria" or “The singer at twenty”.
Alice Dona, who celebrates her 78th birthday this February 17, has composed some of the most beautiful melodies of French song.
The composer put her talents at the service of others, notably Serge Lama, her “Aquarius-brother”, as she confided to Le Figaro in 2021. “
I am the wife of, mother of... there are famous people in the family.
I resist
,” she explained to Thierry Ardisson in Tout le monde en parole in December 2003 – available on the INA ArdiTube channel.
Composer of Serge Lama, mother of Raphaëlle Ricci - the cult teacher of the Star Académy, first version - and wife, at the time of Laurent Boyer - the former host of M6 and RTL -, Dona has often been erased.
Her relationship with Laurent Boyer in the 1990s and 2000s was a delight in interviews.
She was 34 and a half and he was 22 when they met in Isola 2000. “
I didn't know he was so young.
I thought he was a little older than that.
He had a Viking mustache and very long hair.
We slow danced to Richard Cocciante’s sunburn
,” she explains 20 years ago.
If their love story ended, they kept very strong friendly ties.
“My parents were mechanics”
Summarizing Alice Dona as a couple quickly forgets the formidable career of the woman who began singing very early.
“
I started at 3 years old by climbing on tables to sing, because I loved singing.
My parents were mechanics, but dad strummed the guitar and mom the accordion and my grandmother the cornet.
The music was very present
,” she remembers.
She began a career as a singer - she was part of the Hello Friends team - and made her first Olympia in 1963. “
My first at the Olympia, I bit my nails.
I had fake nails fitted.
I had a very pretty dress with a belt that fitted.
I lost my false nails and my belt the same evening... on stage.
It was a beautiful moment.
»
It was as a composer that she recorded her greatest successes.
His meeting with Serge Lama, Claude Lemesle and Pierre Delanoë allowed him to write for Claude François, Joe Dassin, Dalida and Serge Reggiani.
And to go down in memory.
“
The singer is (still) twenty years old
”.
An extract to discover: