C. Jérôme


Claude Dhotel, better known by his stage name C. Jérôme, was a French singer.

Biography

Raised by his grandparents, he grew up in Champenoux, a village of Meurthe-et-Moselle near Nancy, France. At 16 he starred in "The Storms", a rock'n'roll band. He then tried his luck in Paris where he attended the Golf-Drouot to mix with personalities of the music world. He finally met Jean Albertini who became his producteur.

Career

He had a musical career of three decades and sold 26 million records and was particularly popular in the 1970s.
In 1967, he records his first 45 rpm vinyl disc Les Fiancés, under the pseudonym C.Jérôme. This first shot didn't reach success, unlike Le petit Chaperon rouge est mort, and Quand la mer se retire that he sang on the TV show "Salut les copains".
In 1972, his first big hit Kiss Me reaches the first place in the French music charts, and the third in Austria, the 4th in Belgium and the 5th in Switzerland. More than a million copies are sold.
In 1974, his song C’est moi becomes a huge success. This one will stay in the collective memory.
He will sing other hits till 1977 Himalaya, Manhattan, La Petite Fille 73, C'est moi, Baby Boy, Cindy, Le Charme français, Rétro c'est trop...).
In 1985, he releases Et tu danses avec lui which will stay more than 6 months in the top 50.
In 1986, his song Dernier Baisers will be his last one being on the top charts. The same year he also takes part in the collective song Liban, then he'll write other classic songs in the nineties like Danielle s’en va, Les manons de la Nuit, Pardonne moi, A pleins tubes, and many mores.

Carriere on tv and radio

In 1995, He becomes and host and the radio Monte-Carlo where he introduces "Les années tubes" every morning with Claire Cardell. In 1996, he gets a job at TF1 where he presents a daily show called "La chanson trésor". He will also join Michel Drucker in the TV show "Vivement Dimanche".

Private life and death

C.Jérôme has been married to Annette Dhôtel, with whom he had a daughter Caroline born in 1977. She became a singing teacher.
In August 1997, he's treated for a tumor in the abdomen. He overcame the disease and recorded some other songs, but the cancer is back in 1999.
He dies on the 14th March 2000 at the age 53. He's buried at the graveyard of Boulogne-Billancourt. His widow releases a book in 2003 "C.Jérôme, c’est lui" in which she tells his fight against the sickness.

Discography