The 77-year-old singer could not contain his tears in the face of the musical tribute paid to him by Terrenoire, Jeanne Cherhal, Olivia Ruiz, Catherine Ringer and Faada Freddy.
It was undoubtedly the most moving moment of this 39 edition of the Victoires de la Musique, which took place this Friday at the Seine Musicale. A few moments before receiving a Victory of Honor for his entire career, Bernard Lavilliers attended a musical tribute to which he could not hold back his tears.
Several artists took the stage one after the other to sing some of his most emblematic songs. First the duo Terrenoire, who offered their version of the song Saint-Étienne. Jeanne Cherhal then offered her interpretation of the title On the Road Again, before Olivia Ruiz sang Les mains d’or.
Obviously very moved, Bernard Lavilliers dried his tears to surprise the audience by leaving his chair and getting on stage himself to sing Dark Ideas in a duet with Catherine Ringer, then Noir et blanc alongside Faada Freddy.
A speech by Sandrine Bonnaire
The surprises continued with the arrival on stage of actress Sandrine Bonnaire, who presented her trophy to the 77-year-old singer after an emotional speech.
Bernard Lavilliers then took the floor to “share” his Victory “with all the musicians, dead or alive like Ray Barretto, Bob Marley, all the musicians who inspired me.”
“The studio technicians, the stage technicians, some have been following me for 40 years!”, he continued.
And to conclude: “There are three kinds of people: the dead, the living and those who are at sea. For the moment, I am at sea. I am going to dedicate this Victory to Monsieur Richard, artistic director of Léo Ferré and mine. He’s here with me and with you. So Richard, one last one for the road?”