French singer-songwriter Melaine Favennec, a legend of Breton music died on July 13 at the age of 75.
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According to The Telegram France, Favennec died around 1 a.m. “Melaine left in the hours he finished his shows and came home,” his wife Mary le Lez announced.
Favennec started his music career in the early 1970s playing violin with Diaouled ar Menez. He was best known for mixing folk, blues and contemporary poetry. In addition to his music, he also founded an independent music label.
Gérard Delahaye, who is a member of the group Trio EDF alongside Favennec and Patrick Ewen, confirmed his death in a Facebook post. “Melaine left us last night,” he wrote, alongside pictures of the group performing.
He made another post on July 24, sharing pictures from a tribute to Favennec. The post includes lyrics to the Trio EDF song “Salut Vieux Frère.”
“The day Melaine offered us this song, the last verse read: ‘When one of us leaves, we will cry, but we will continue to sing ‘Salut Vieux Frère’!’ And we told him: ‘Oh no, not really, it’s too sad.’! Look what he did in the end, it’s really joyful,” Delahaye wrote.
“I think we live in a modern world and that is a world of communication and therefore, it is not very important where we are, but it is especially important from where we leave,” he said in an interview on France Culture, France 3 reported.
“I see myself as a shaman. That is, I would like my songs to be small acupuncture needles that release energy passages and do good,” he said of his music.
Much of Favennec’s later career was spent with Trio EDF. In 2014, Delahaye said of the group, “We were utopian and revolting, we are 40 or 50 years later, but we try to keep the same state of mind.”
As an example, their 2011 album touched on a lack of humanity in people. “It is this indignation that brings life and reality. At some point, we’ll see that people’s place in the world is stronger than the system,” Favennec said.