One hundred years after his birth and six years after his death, Charles Aznavour is at the heart of numerous projects. And this is not to displease his heirs who manage a real empire…
Shows all over France, including an event concert broadcast on France 3 this Friday, a film dedicated to his life with a breathtaking Tahar Rahim in the lead role, streets and squares renamed in several cities… While Charles Aznavour would have been 100 years old this year and he left the stage just six years ago, in October 2018, he is at the heart of numerous projects and tributes in the fall of 2024. With a few million euros up for grabs in ticketing, fees, broadcasting rights, or advertising.
But it is undoubtedly the copyright that impresses the most when we know that the works of the singing legend, who was both author and composer, are still widely broadcast on television and radio. Anecdote among others on this always phenomenal success: Charles Aznavour is today the most sampled French artist in the world, as recalled Radio France not long ago.
His music and voice were recently covered by the DJs performing at the Olympic ceremonies, but also by Bad Bunny, the most streamed Puerto Rican rapper on the planet today. Before, it was artists such as Passy or even Dr Dre, in “What’s The Difference” in 1999, who covered the background music of “Parce que tu Crois” and other monuments of song. During his lifetime, Aznavour assured him: “rappers and slammers write our language wonderfully”. And so they give it back to him…
Radio France estimated at the end of 2023 that Bad Bunny should pay 50% of the publishing rights to the heirs of Charles Aznavour, Mischa Aznavour, his sister Katia, his brother Nicolas and their half-sister Seda, all four of whom manage the enormous heritage left by the star. In total, the royalties (amounts paid to its rights holders each time an Aznavour piece is broadcast) would represent more than 10 million euros per year. All in a global heritage estimated last May in the press at 145 million euros.
In Gala, Mischa Aznavour then confided on this sensitive subject, ensuring that “everything is decided together” with his brothers and sisters and “in good agreement, so that the projects do not interfere with each other”. It must be said that the legacy was well prepared by the legend of the song. “My father had organized everything before his departure. He wanted us to have no problems,” explained Mischa Aznavour. Which did not prevent some annoyances. “To give you an idea, we had a forest in Montfort-l’Amaury, which I loved. I wanted him to leave it to me, but he didn’t want to hear anything. He said: ‘It’s not buildable, I’m going to sell it, you won’t know what to do with it…'”
The Aznavour family also had to manage the sale of the singer’s property in Mouriès, in Provence: “It was almost thirty years of my father’s life, but it’s not a place we knew too much. At the same time, I would have kept Mouriès to do the Aznavour museum because Yerevan is a bit like Johnny’s grave in Saint-Barth: it’s too far for the fans,” admitted Mischa. Aznavour.