RIP Herbert Léonard

 

Herbert Léonard, unforgettable interpreter of "Pour le plaisir", has died

The variety singer, who rose to fame in the 80s, passed away on Sunday at the age of 80. He had suffered from a series of health problems in recent years and was fighting lung cancer.

Le Dauphine

March 2, 2025

 

He had been experiencing health problems for a few years... Herbert Léonard is no more: the unforgettable singer of Pour le Plaisir, a hit released in 1981 and composed by Julien Lepers, died this Sunday at the age of 80.

Recently, his wife, Cléo Léonard, had given unreassuring news about the state of health of her husband, who had experienced many hardships during his life. It was she who announced his death to Agence France Presse, specifying that he was "fighting lung cancer". "Herbert died at 6 p.m. in the hospital of Fontainebleau," said his wife.

Born on February 25, 1945, in Strasbourg, the artist left school at a very early age to take up the guitar. At the age of 16, he set up a rock band with friends and scoured the balls of the Alsatian capital. After his military service, he joined another band and began touring. He was 21 years old at the time and signed his first contract with a label. He took part in Antoine and Sylvie Vartan's tours, listened to Otis Redding, recorded his first albums... And also met the woman who would become his wife, Cleo.

A serious accident at the age of 25

But in March 1970, everything changed: at the age of 25, he was the victim of a serious car accident while making a U-turn: "As I was late, I went for it and missed a turn, and I went under a truck. I took the whole windshield in the face. I lived for more than a year like Frankenstein with scars everywhere (...) I experienced it very badly," he told Gala in 2020. His partner Cléo would be his pillar in adversity. From their love a little girl, Eléa, was born in 1973.

A true miracle worker, Herbert Léonard temporarily moved away from the music scene... to come back better. Ten years later, in 1980, he met a promising author, a certain... Julien Lepers. From this meeting was born Pour le plaisir, his greatest success. Seductive and charming behind his microphone, he played a series of titles, sometimes in duets (Julie Pietri, Nathalie Lermitte...) and tours; he was even chosen for the credits of the television series Châteauvallon, a successful soap opera broadcast on Antenne 2.

Frollo in Notre-Dame de Paris

After several tours, notably in Quebec, in the ‘90s, the variety singer made his comeback to the forefront of the scene in 2000, taking over the role of Frollo, the clergyman, in the musical Notre-Dame de Paris, following the departure of Daniel Lavoie. After a foray into the world of television with a supporting role in the series Navarro, the release of best-ofs, appearances in the idol tour Âge Tendre or the release of his autobiography Pour le plaisir... and for the rest, he is caught up in health problems.

In2017, while he was supposed to leave for a tour in Quebec, he suffered a pulmonary embolism and spent a month in a coma.

Recovered, this football and Russian aviation history enthusiast then became a fierce activist for the anti-smoking cause. In recent years, he had been tired due to long covid and three vascular surgeries, consequences of the "damage that cigarettes", his most faithful companion, "had caused him..."

LEONARD, Herbert (Hubert Lœnhardt)

Born: 2/25/1945, Strasbourg, Bas-Rhin, France

Died: 3/2/2025, Fontainebleau, Seine-et-Marne, France

 

Herbert Léonard’s western – actor:

The Man Who Came from Cher (TV) – 1969 (The Baron)