Charles Aznavour was a French-Armenian singer, actor, activist, diplomat and lyricist. He is dubbed as the ‘Frank Sinatra of France’. Charles Aznavour net worth before his death is estimated to be $25 million.
Charles was born on May 22, 1924 in Paris, France to Michael Aznavourian and Knar Baghdasarian who were immigrants from Armenia. He dropped out of school at the age of nine to become a child actor. His big break came in 1946 after singer Edith Piaf heard him sing and arranged to take him with her on tour in France and United States.
He started his early career working with Edith Piaf. She then pursued him to start his career in singing. He is now dubbed as the ‘Frank Sinatra of France’ due to his upper reaches and unique tenor. Over the course of his career, he has collaborated with artists like Fred Astaire, Frank Sinatra, Andrea Bocelli, Ray Charles, Bob Dylan, Mia Martini, Dalida, Josh Groban, Laura Pausini, Julio Iglesias and many more.
Over the course of seven decades of his career, he recorded more than 1200 songs interpreted in eight languages. He has co-wrote more than 1,000 songs and was one of the popular and enduring singers in France. He also sold more than 180 million records worldwide and was recognized as the century’s outstanding performer edging out rockstars like Elvis Presley and Bob Dylan.
In-addition to that, he also sang for presidents, popes, royal families and at number of humanitarian events. French president Emmanuel Macron was a big fan of Aznavour and sang many of his songs during his time as a student.
As an actor, he has appeared on several popular movies like La Tete contre les murs, Tomorrow is my turn, Les Quatre verities, Candy, The Blockhouse, And Then There Were none, Sky Riders, Floies bourgeoisies, The Tin Drum and many more. In 2009 he was appointed ambassador of Armenia to Switzerland and he also became Armenia’s delegate to the United Nations in Geneva.
On October 1, 2018, Aznavour died at his home in south France at the age of 94.