The singer, the only representative of France in this ranking of 200 world stars, reacted to RTL.
She is the only Frenchwoman to appear in the ranking of the 200 best singers of all time, published on January 1 by RollingStone. Françoise Hardy, if she says she is flattered, takes a step back from this distinction. That’s what she told RTL:
“I was blown away to no end,” the 78-year-old singer says. “It touches me and makes me happy, (but) I don’t quite deserve to be in this ranking.”
“You shouldn’t pay too much attention to this kind of rankings, which change a lot from one year to the next,” she adds.
“I won’t resist the temptation to brag about it”
Françoise Hardy occupies the 162nd place from the selection of the American magazine, which earned him to supplant Alicia Keys (185th), Iggy Pop (176th), Marianne Faithfull (173rd), or the young Rosalía (200th) and Billie Eilish (198th). The publication describes the French singer as an “international superstar” who “wrote what she sang herself”, “a rarity in the mid-1960s, especially for women”.
“Before me, there was Barbara”, recalls however the person concerned, and from 1972 there was Véronique Sanson”. She is also surprised that Edith Piaf was not retained by RollingStone. She concludes, despite everything: “It’s quite incomprehensible but very flattering. I will not resist the temptation to brag about it.”
Selection discussed
Since its publication, the ranking of the 200 best singers of all time of RollingStone is debated. The most recurring criticism concerns the absence of Celine Dion, but other points astonish and annoy Internet users: the fact that Madonna, Cher or Judy Garland were not selected, or even that Michael Jackson was relegated to the 86th place. TJ Jackson, the latter’s nephew, accused Rolling Stone of “trying to make icons disappear”.
The magazine, in the preamble to the ranking, had presented its selection criteria: “This is the list of the greatest singers, not that of the greatest voices. (…) In the majority of cases, what we mattered was the artist’s originality, influence, depth of catalog, and breadth of musical heritage”,
