Françoise Madeleine Hardy (born 1944 in Paris) is a French singer, actress and astrologer.
Hardy is an iconic figure in fashion, music and style.
She grew up in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, the daughter of an unmarried mother.
She received a guitar on her sixteenth birthday as a reward for passing her baccalaureat.
After a year at the Sorbonne she answered a newspaper advertisement looking for young singers.
Hardy signed her first contract with the record label Vogue in November 1961.
In April 1962, shortly after finishing school, her first record "Oh Oh Chéri" appeared, written by Johnny Hallyday's writing duo.
Her own flip side of the record, "Tous les garçons et les filles" became a success, riding the wave of Yé-yé music in France, with two million sales.
She first appeared on television in 1962 during an interlude in a programme reporting the results of a presidential referendum.
Hardy sings in French, English, Italian, Spanish, and German.
In 1963 she came fifth for Monaco in the Eurovision Song Contest with "L'amour s'en va".
In 1963, she was awarded the Grand Prix Du Disque of the Charles Cros Academy.
In 1981, she married her long-time companion Jacques Dutronc, with whom she had had a son, Thomas Dutronc, in 1973.
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