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10/10/2011Still going: French crooner Aznavour, 87, gears up for nationwide tour

Still going: French crooner Aznavour, 87, gears up for nationwide tour The famous French singer and actor is back, at 87 years old, on a fall tour with old and new songs polished and ready to perform.

Paris -- He may be 87, but don't suggest to French crooner and veritable national monument Charles Aznavour that his forthcoming tour is a goodbye. "I have never, ever used the word farewell," he quickly points out.

The legendary singer-songwriter pleased fans the world over when he announced plans for a month-long residency at Paris' landmark Olympia theatre, followed by a nationwide tour throughout the fall.

Aznavour's stint in the capital is a return to the stage that launched his career 55 years ago. Close to 1,000 songs and some 60 films later, there is -- once again -- speculation that he may choose the moment to announce his retirement.


"Some of the press say anything!" he told AFP. "I said that I was going to do one of my last tours. But when (US director) Martin Scorsese presents his latest film, you don't say he's not going to make another."

The performer of such hits as "She", rerecorded by Elvis Costello for the Julia Roberts-Hugh Grant comedy "Notting Hill", and "Yesterday When I Was Young" said he is embarking on his new tour without first-night nerves -- but a bit of anxiety.

"I used to get nervous, at the start, when the audience hadn't come to see me but from the moment they did, it stopped," he said.

Anxiety, on the other hand, "it's about the set, the songs. Was I right to do this tour? Should I have stopped before?" he said.

Born in Paris in 1924 to Armenian origin parents, Aznavour -- originally Aznavourian -- grew up in the city's poorer neighbourhoods before finding a home on the stage.

Starting out in cabaret, he later teamed up with young songwriter and composer Pierre Roche and the iconic Edith Piaf, who would take him to America and a solo career.


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