Michel Emer

St. Petersburg, Russian Empire [now Russia]

Michel Emer (June 19, 1906 – November 23, 1984), (real name Emer Rosenstein), was a French musician, composer and lyricist. His songs have been performed by Edith Piaf, Fréhel, Damia, Lys Gauty, Yves Montand, Jean Sablon, André Claveau, Ray Ventura and his Collegians, Luis Mariano, Tino Rossi, and Eartha Kitt. He also wrote songs for at least one of his wife Jacqueline Maillan's shows.

The first of his songs to be sung by Edith Piaf was "L'Accordéoniste", which he composed in 1940. He went on to write more than twenty songs for her, including "J'm'en fous pas mal", "Bal dans ma rue", and "A quoi ça sert l'amour?", one of her most famous songs, which she sang as a duet with her second husband Theo Sarapo.

He co-authored with Charles Trenet the music for the song "Y'a d'la joie", and arranged many of Trenet's songs. Jean Sablon performed and recorded his song "Béguin-Biguine" in 1932.

In 1954 he married the actress Jacqueline Maillan. He is buried in the Cimetière de Bagneux in Paris

Source: Article "Michel Emer" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.