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Dalida (17 January 1933 – 3 May 1987), born with Italian name of Iolanda Cristina Gigliotti, was a world-famous singer and actress born in Egypt with Italian origins but naturalised French with the name Yolanda Gigliotti. She spent her early years in Egypt amongst the Italian Egyptian community, but she lived most of her adult life in France. She received 55 gold records and was the first singer to receive a diamond disc. Dalida performed and recorded in more than 10 languages including: French, Arabic, Italian, Greek, German, English, Japanese, Hebrew, Dutch and Spanish.
Renowned for the changes she wrought to the French and global music industry with her powerful and colourful performances, she is today still remembered by aficionados throughout the world. A 30-year career (she debuted in 1956 and recorded her last album in 1986, a few months before her death) and her death led to an iconic image as a tragic diva and renowned singer.
Iolanda Cristina Gigliotti was born in Shubra, Cairo, Egypt. Her family was of Italian origin, from Calabria, Italy, but were living in Egypt, where Dalida’s father, Pietro Gigliotti, was first violinist (primo violino) at the Cairo Opera House. She was the middle child between two brothers, Orlando and Bruno (who would later in Dalida's career change his name to Orlando like his brother and become her manager). Dalida’s early life was spent in the district of Shoubra, where she attended the Scuola Tecnica Commerciale Maria Ausiliatrice, an Italian Catholic school.
In 1950, Dalida participated in the Miss Ondine beauty pageant and won the title, and shortly after began working as a model for Donna, a Cairo-based fashion house. In 1954, at the age of 20, Dalida competed in and won the Miss Egypt pageant, and was crowned Miss Egypt. It was then that she was spotted by French director Marc de Gastyne and, much to the reluctance of her parents, she moved to Paris on Christmas Eve of the same year with the intention of pursuing a career in motion pictures. It was about this time she adopted the name Dalila, which was shortly thereafter changed to the more familiar Dalida.
Dalida collected 19 number one hit singles to her name in four languages (French, Italian, German, and Arabic) and has a long list of top 10, and top 20 hits in French, Italian, German, Spanish, and Arabic, and accumulated myriad top selling singles and albums largely, in France, Italy, Germany, Belgium, Spain, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Austria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Greece, Canada, Russia, Japan, and Israel, spanning over forty years. Four of Dalida's English language recordings ("Alabama Song", "Money Money", "Let Me Dance Tonight", and "Kalimba de Luna"), gained moderate success primarily in France and Germany, without being widely distributed in the UK and US markets. Worldwide sales of her music are estimated at over 130 million, establishing her as one of the most noteworthy multi-lingual recording artists of the 20th century.
Dalida's mother tongue was Italian. She learned Egyptian Arabic and French growing up in Cairo, and improved her French after establishing herself in Paris in 1954. She later achieved command of the English language as well as reasonable conversational skills in German and Spanish. Dalida also had the aptitude of greeting her fans in basic Japanese. She was considered as a pop and music icon in Japan and her concerts there were met with almost unprecedented enthusiasm. Once during a concert in Japan, Dalida felt ill and couldn't continue to perform. The organisers expected an enraged reaction due to the cancellation of the concert but when Dalida came onstage and explained to her fans that she couldn't perform, she was met with great applause and her name echoed everywhere. She promised to hold the concert again, a promise which she soon fulfilled.
Dalida's singing career started in Egypt when she was discovered by Cherif Kamel, host of the "Hit Parade" at the Geuzira Sporting Club during the early 1950s. Dalida’s quest for a career in French cinema proved to be of limited success. Instead, she began taking singing lessons, and was booked as a cabaret act on the Champs Élysées, which proved successful. Performing the song "Étrangère au Paradis" in a variety show at Bruno Coquatrix’ recently opened Paris Olympia theatre, Dalida was introduced to Lucien Morisse and Eddie Barclay, who played a considerable part in launching the starlet’s career. Morisse was artistic producer of the popular Radio Europe 1, and Barclay an established record producer. After signing a recording contract with Barclay, Dalida’s debut single "Madona" was promoted heavily by Morisse, and was a moderate success. However, the release of "Bambino" in 1956 would prove to be even more triumphant – it spent 46 weeks in the French top ten and remains one of the biggest-selling singles in French history, and for its sales (which exceeded 300,000 copies) Dalida was awarded her first gold disc, presented on 17 September 1957. The song bambino echoed everywhere in France and was a success even beyond the French frontiers. In the same year, she would also support Charles Aznavour at The Olympia. The follow-up single to "Bambino", the exotic-sounding and mesmerizing "Gondolier", was released in the Christmas on 1957, was also a great success, as were other early releases such as "Come Prima (Tu Me Donnes)", "Ciao Ciao Bambina", and a cover of The Drifters’ "Save the Last Dance For Me", "Garde-Moi la Dernière Danse". These classical songs mark the first phase of Dalida's album and maintain their charm even today.
Dalida toured extensively from 1958 through the early 1960s, playing dates in France, Egypt, Italy, and the United States. Her tours of Egypt, and Italy spread her fame outside of France and Dalida soon became well-known throughout Europe. However, she waited too long before entering America's music scene and though great names of the American music industry wanted to introduce her to the United States, she refused commenting that "I took too long to start here". However some of her English songs and her performance at the Carnegie Hall were much applauded.
In 1961, Dalida performed a month of shows at the Olympia, with each selling out completely.a Shortly afterwards Dalida embarked upon a tour of Hong Kong and Vietnam. Throughout the 1960s Dalida would frequently perform sell-out shows at The Olympia, and international dates became more frequent. In December 1968, she was awarded the Médaille de la Présidence de la République by General Charles de Gaulle, the only person from the music industry to have received this medal.
The early 1970s became a transitional period for the singer, highlighted by some of her most successful singles. After gaining a keen interest in academia in the mid-1960s she chose to sing songs with more profound lyrics. She tried to probe into her inner-self and declared that she would sing only those songs which have a meaning for her. Bruno Coquatrix was dubious about Dalida’s career evolution, and was hesitant to book her for a series of performances in 1971. Dalida hired the hall herself, and her show was met with an impressive public response, thus forcing the world to acknowledge that a new and more powerful performer had emerged in Dalida. In 1973, a French version of the Italian song "Paroles Paroles", originally performed by Mina, was recorded by Dalida and her close friend Alain Delon. The song became a big hit and was the number one single in France and Japan. It was played consistently on French radios, at the request of listeners. The follow-up, "Il Venait d’Avoir Dix-Huit Ans", reached number one in nine countries, and sold three and a half million copies in Germany. The way Dalida interpreted the song left people amazed."Gigi l’Amoroso", released in 1974, would actually perform better in the charts than its predecessor, reaching number one in 12 countries. A success which many other singers couldn't achieve. Touring would follow this period of unprecedented sales, with Dalida performing in Japan, Canada and Germany. In February 1975, French music critics presented the singer with the prestigious Prix de l'Académie du Disque Français.
1976–1987
1976 saw another career reinvention for Dalida; releasing what is widely regarded as the first French disco single, "J’attendrai". Around the same time, the popularity of the variety show in France was soaring, and Dalida made many television appearances during this period, not only in France but across Europe. In 1978, she recorded "Salma ya Salama", based on a traditional Egyptian folk song, which due to its chart success was translated from Arabic into French, Italian, and German. It was amongst the first Ethnic fusion hits in the world. Part of the lyrics are based on an Egyptian folk song about homesickness and celebrating the Egyptian nation.
This and other songs in Arabic by Dalida (such as "Helwa ya Baladi", and "Ahsan Nass") became extremely popular in Egypt, making Dalida one of the first singers to break through the barrier separating Arab and Western musics. She was received in Egypt like a queen with the Egyptian President himself coming at the airport to welcome her. Egyptians were soon wooed by her beauty, voice, charm, determination and wonderful songs and interpretations.
Her close friend Fairouz was the other major artist to be crossing the boundaries from East to West, with her immense success throughout Europe, North and South America, and Australia.
The success of "Salma ya Salama" was followed by the first French medley single, "Génération ‘78", a disco-fused combination of her biggest hit singles to date. It also became the first French single to be accompanied by a video clip. During this disco period, Dalida would earn a gay audience, a following which is still maintained today. In November, Dalida performed a Broadway-themed show at Carnegie Hall in New York, choreographed by Lester Wilson, who created the dance routines for John Travolta in the previous year’s cinema smash Saturday Night Fever. Her performance was highly praised by critics and audiences alike. Two years later, following the success of "Monday Tuesday... Laissez-Moi Danser" in the summer of 1979, she would replicate the show at the Palais des Sports, and each show sold-out, encouraging the singer to embark on a national tour which lasted until the autumn. In the same year, the lengthy "Gigi in Paradisco", a follow-up to the earlier "Gigi l’Amoroso", was released. Though it was not as popular as its predecessor, it was highly acclaimed and the new generation was soon dancing on Dalida disco tunes. The way Dalida shifted from a classical performer to a grave performer singing songs full of emotion (such as "Avec le temps", "Parlez-moi de lui" and "Darla dirladada", amongst others), to a Diva and pop star like figure making the stage glow with her hit dance numbers and colourful costumes and finally to a grief-stricken singer singing famous songs which announce her death (particularly songs such as "Mourir sur Scene", "Bravo" and "Téléphonez-moi"), Dalida showed that she was a strong-willed woman shifting with time and fashion. Her personal problems and troubling relationships, however, trapped her in the jaws of sadness leading to her suicide.
1981 marked the release of "Rio do Brasil", and several dates were played at The Olympia, emulating her successful 1980 tour. On the night of her first performance she became the first singer in the world to be awarded with a diamond disc, in recognition of her record sales which at that point in her career had exceeded 86 million. She was therefore much ahead of American singer Madonna since she was the first person to receive this success, thus paving the way for women to deliver powerful performances. Dalida spent much of 1982 and 1984 on tour, releasing the album "Les P'tits Mots" in 1983 which featured hit singles "Lucas" and "Mourir Sur Scène". The album "Dali" was released in 1984, and was accompanied by the release of several singles, including "Soleil", "Pour te dire je t’aime", a cover of Stevie Wonder’s "I Just Called to Say I Love You", and "Kalimba de Luna", originally recorded by Tony Esposito. All three achieved moderate chart success, and her next 1986 album, "Le visage de l'amour", would become her last album of completely new recordings (except the final song being "Mourir sur scène").
Other hit performances of Dalida include "The Lambeth Walk"; both in English and in French. The song "Je suis malade" written by Serge Lama and made into a success by Dalida reflects the singer's personal torments and unhappiness. The emotions with which she sang the song is unmatched even today. At the peak of her success, an obsessed fan of her tried to kidnap her in Canada by using a hammer. Fortunately enough, he didn't succeed.
Undaunted, she continued to deliver success after success: namely "Ensemble", "Ne lui dis pas", "La Valse des vacances", a cover version of Édith Piaf's "La vie en rose", "Born to sing"/"Mourir sur scène", amongst others.
Dalida underwent two major ophthalmic operations in 1985, forcing her to put her career on hiatus. The fear of her childhood days return as she again had to operate her eyes. The stage lights started to trouble her. In 1986, she would play the role of a young grandmother in the Youssef Chahine film "Le Sixième Jour", for which she received favourable critical response. Her last live performance, took place in Ankara, Turkey, in 1987.
On 3 May 1987 Dalida died as a result of an overdose of barbiturates, leaving a suicide note "La vie m'est insupportable... Pardonnez-moi" which reads "Life has become unbearable for me... Forgive me."
Dalida was buried in the Montmartre Cemetery (French: Cimetière de Montmartre), Paris, and a life-size statue of her was erected outside her tomb.
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