LIFE

A tribute to Rachid Taha

Life, John Clewley, Published on 18/09/2018

» Rachid Taha, the iconoclastic and rebellious singer from Algeria, died last week in a Paris suburb. He was 59 years old. He had emigrated to France at the age of 10 with his family and emerged in the early 1980s with his band Carte de Sejour, which he founded in 1980 in Lyon. In 1986, he made waves with a cynical, mocking cover of chanson icon Charles Trenet's song, Douce France (Sweet France). Adding Arabic oud and drums and jumping into the song with a punkish snarl and biting (new) lyrics, this song set the tone for his entire career.