SINGER

Jacques Brel

1929 - 1978

Photo of Jacques Brel

Icon of person Jacques Brel

Jacques Romain Georges Brel (French: [ʒɑk ʁɔmɛ̃ ʒɔʁʒ bʁɛl], listen ; 8 April 1929 – 9 October 1978) was a Belgian singer, songwriter, actor and director who composed and performed literate, thoughtful, and theatrical songs that generated a large, devoted following—initially in Belgium and France, later throughout the world. He is considered a master of the modern chanson. Although he recorded most of his songs in French and occasionally in Dutch, he became an influence on English-speaking songwriters and performers, such as Scott Walker, David Bowie, Alex Harvey, Marc Almond, Neil Hannon, and Rod McKuen. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Jacques Brel has received more than 1,513,093 page views. His biography is available in 68 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 66 in 2019). Jacques Brel is the 38th most popular singer (down from 26th in 2019), the 28th most popular biography from Belgium (down from 23rd in 2019) and the most popular Belgian Singer.

Jacques Brel is most famous for his song "Ne me quitte pas" which was translated into English as "Don't Leave Me."

Memorability Metrics

  • 1.5M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 77.42

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 68

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 5.90

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 4.46

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Page views of Jacques Brels by language


Among SINGERS

Among singers, Jacques Brel ranks 38 out of 3,541. Before him are Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin, Serge Gainsbourg, Barry White, Nico, and Andrea Bocelli. After him are Nina Simone, Amanda Lear, Ozzy Osbourne, Joe Cocker, Mireille Mathieu, and Phil Collins.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1929, Jacques Brel ranks 15. Before him are Sergio Leone, Max von Sydow, Lev Yashin, Grace Kelly, Imre Kertész, and Jean Baudrillard. After him are Michael Ende, Frank Gehry, Hassan II of Morocco, Christopher Plummer, Alejandro Jodorowsky, and Peter Higgs. Among people deceased in 1978, Jacques Brel ranks 8. Before him are Pope Paul VI, Golda Meir, Aram Khachaturian, Kurt Gödel, Adolf Dassler, and Santiago Bernabéu Yeste. After him are Aldo Moro, Giorgio de Chirico, Ramón Mercader, Margaret Mead, Umberto Nobile, and Anastas Mikoyan.

Others Born in 1929

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Others Deceased in 1978

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In Belgium

Among people born in Belgium, Jacques Brel ranks 28 out of 899. Before him are Georges Lemaître (1894), Margaret of Austria, Duchess of Savoy (1480), Mary of Hungary (1505), Jean-Claude Van Damme (1960), Charles VII, Holy Roman Emperor (1697), and Adolphe Sax (1814). After him are Baudouin of Belgium (1930), Hergé (1907), Pieter Brueghel the Younger (1564), Victor Horta (1861), Django Reinhardt (1910), and Eddy Merckx (1945).

Others born in Belgium

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Among SINGERS In Belgium

Among singers born in Belgium, Jacques Brel ranks 1. After him are The Singing Nun (1933), Lara Fabian (1970), Violetta Villas (1938), Stromae (1985), José van Dam (1940), Edgar P. Jacobs (1904), René Jacobs (1946), Kate Ryan (1980), Sandra Kim (1972), Natacha Atlas (1964), and Solange Berry (1932).

Belgian born Singers

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