EDITH PIAF was born Edith Giovanna Gassion on December 19, 1915, in Ménilmontant, one of the poorer districts of Paris. Her entertainment career began humbly by passing the hat for her father, an acrobatic street performer in Paris. At 15 while singing on the streets, Piaf’s musical talent was discovered by Louis Leplée. She soon skyrocketed to become the resident singer at one of the most elegant cabarets on the Champs Elysées. But her youth was marked with tragedy as well as upcoming fame, when Leplée was shot and killed. It was the first of many painful losses for Piaf.

“The Sparrow,” as she was nicknamed, became the darling of Paris's intellectual elite by 1940. When World War II ended in 1944, 30-year-old Piaf was at the height of her fame in France, but her first American concerts failed to attract large audiences and the singer was on the verge of giving up. Encouraged by a rapturous review in a New York newspaper, Piaf stayed. Her week-long run at Manhattan’s elegant cabaret, Versailles, turned into a four month stint of stardom in the States. She returned to perform sell-out concerts in America on several occasions.

“Piaf’s life was the stuff of legend, starting with her dramatic rise from uneducated Paris street urchin to star of international renown,” writes Steve Huey, of All Music Guide. Following the death of her lover, boxer Marcel Cerdan, in 1949, Piaf spiraled into depression. She began expressing her personal suffering through tragic and increasingly melodramatic songs. Drugs and alcohol began to take their toll on her fragile health. In the early 50's she began a series of treatments in a private health clinic, attempting to wean off of alcohol and morphine. Despite her waning health, Piaf's voice was as raw and powerful as ever, washing over her audience in a tide of incredible emotion. In 1956, she set off upon another extensive tour of the United States, which culminated in an enormously successful gala performance at Carnegie Hall.

Edith Piaf’s life ended tragically early due to her unexpected death in 1963. The news of her death caused a national outpouring of grief. Tens of thousands of fans flocked to Paris to follow her coffin to its final resting-place. Today she is still remembered and revered as one of the greatest singers France has ever produced. Her life was one of sharp contrasts with her fragile small figure offering a resounding and unforgettable vocal power.