
Charles Dumont in Paris, France, 1989. Photo: Getty Images

The Cahors-born musician was working with lyricist and long-time collaborator Michel Vaucaire in the mid-1950s when the pair wrote a dramatic, show-stopping tune called Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien.
They decided to show it to French music’s biggest star, Edith Piaf, undeterred by the fact she had previously rejected all their previous submissions.
By Dumont’s account it had been a meeting Piaf did not want to take, but after hearing the song she proclaimed it was the song she had been waiting for.
An instant success, it was the first of a further 30 songs he would write for her.
Dumont later wrote songs for Tino Rossi, Jacques Brel and Barbra Streisand.
He died on November 18, aged 95. — Agencies