It was their last farewell to Dani. Died on July 19 at the age of 77, the singer’s funeral took place this Tuesday, July 26, in the cathedral of Perpignan, her hometown. Before his burial in the Saint-Martin cemetery, several personalities from the world of song and cinema wanted to be present to pay a final tribute to the artist who died of a malaise at age.
Among them, the singer Cali, also from Perpignan, the actors Gérard Lanvin and Anthony Delon and Mathilde Seigner, Jean-Marie Périer, and the former manager of the France team Jo Maso. Emilie Marsh, “acolyte” and “artistic double” of the singer, according to the press release announcing her death, and who composed the music for her latest album, was also present to pay her a last tribute.
As Dani’s family had announced, the ceremony was intended to be “rather classic”. “The cathedral will be decorated with a thousand multicolored roses, songs will open and close the celebration. We follow the course presented to us by the priest Joël Marie. Father Joseph Marti who knew her well will be present but it is not he who will officiate”, explained Dani’s family to L’Indépendant before the ceremony. As his family had announced to the newspaper on Monday, the cathedral was therefore decorated with “a thousand multicolored roses”. The ceremony began and ended with music, but not with music by Dani. “She didn’t like to listen to herself”, had indeed specified one of her sons.
After the religious ceremony, Dani was buried privately in the Saint-Martin cemetery, in the family vault. “Dani had his communion in this cathedral and we were all baptized there. Our father, our mother and our sister Jeanne (Dani’s sister who died in 1999 editor’s note) were all buried here. We lived right next door (. ..) It was unthinkable to say goodbye to him elsewhere,” said Véronique Graule, Dani’s sister, to the regional daily.
Absent from the ceremony, singer Étienne Daho, who performed with the hit Comme un boomerang, paid tribute to the artist. “We talked to each other again last night. You were fully on the project for your next album and you wanted us to record it together. The title Attention, depart! like a premonition. I only saw it as a new chapter . So many memories, laughs, friendship and music come back to me. And this Boomerang, like a sign from Serge and that we carried so high”, he wrote.
He wanted to pay tribute to his freedom and audacity throughout his career. “You the unclassifiable, free, so young. Model, actress, magazine leader, singer, rose gardener. You did everything with the elegance of dilettantes, surfing, off the beaten path, without letting yourself be locked up in the boxes in which we wanted to lock you up, charming your world with your mischief and your deep, sensitive voice, hidden in the volutes smoke from your cigarettes. So rock, but you for real,” the singer concluded.
