Claude Piron born 25 January 1936

Claude Piron (January 25, 1936 – August 7, 2020) was a pioneering French rock 'n' roll singer-songwriter better known by his stage name Danny Boy. Often cited as one of the first French rock artists, he achieved fame in the early 1960s, particularly as the frontman for Danny Boy & The Pénitents. 

Claude Louis René Piron was born in 1936 in Saint-Pierre-de-Cormeilles (Eure). He began his career as a singer after having worked for some time as a fishmonger. The young Piron performed in the casinos of Cassis, Bandol and La Ciotat. His artistic career took a turn when he met the singer Henri Genès in 1956, who invited him to join his tour .That year he also began his solo recording career with the Ducretet Thomson record label which included a cover of  When, a hit by the Kalin Twins, renamed Viens. But the success was only very moderate: he was unable to persuade his record company to focus his singing on the rock 'n' roll he had just discovered and loved.         

                          

                                   

In 1960, he changed record companies to put more rock in his repertoire and became the leader of the group Danny Boy and his Pénitents, originally composed of three studio jazzmen: Raymond Beau (guitar), Marc Thomas (double bass), and a drummer whose name does not seem to have been preserved by posterity. According to legend, they did not want to be known backing a rocker. Danny then has the idea of putting balaclavas on them. After a few months, the trio was replaced by four young, more convinced instrumentalists: Bruno (guitar), Ralaï (guitar), Louis (bass guitar) and José (drums). This time, his record sales were more successful.

In 1962, Danny Boy and his Penitents were hired for an eight-month tour with the Pinder circus. As disagreements settled in the group, they did not end it and Les Penguins replaced the Penitents at short notice, for the last month. In total, the show was seen by one and a half million spectators in two hundred and eighty-four cities. Danny Boy continued his career for a while, accompanied by various bands, including The Penguins, The Smurfs and even a reunion of Les Pénitents (this time without a balaclava). In the cinema, Danny Boy played himself in the 1964 Italian-French film The Difficulty of Being Unfaithful, directed by Bernard Toublanc-Michel and nominated at the Berlin Film Festival for the Golden Bear. 

His "swan song" was his participation in 1967 in the "L'Épopée du rock" tour, with Vince Taylor. Danny Boy then returned to his former activity as a fishmonger in the Normandy markets. But the call of the stage was too strong: he made his comeback in 2004 with a new band, Les Guitar Express. He performed regularly in Paris at Le Petit Journal - Montparnasse and performed at a few galas in the provinces. He was also part of the "Rock'n'Roll Legend" tour, alongside Jean Veidly of the Pirates, Vic Laurens of the Vautours, and Mike Shannon of the Wild Cats. 

In the fall of 2019, Danny Boy released a new and final album, which he presented on stage in Pont-Audemer, his Normandy stronghold. The track Every Day, a duet with his partner Rosy Kikour, closes the career of this pioneer of French rock in romanticism. He  died on August 7, 2020 in Le Havre, where he had been hospitalized for several days. 

(Edited from Wikipedia & Le Figaro)