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Enrico Macias
Chanson Francaise
Oldies

Music like Enrico Macias

Enrico Macias

Enrico Macias

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Gaston Ghrenassia (born 11 December 1938), known by his stage name Enrico Macias French pronunciation: ​[ɛn.ʁi.ko.ma'sjas], is an Algerian-French singer, songwriter and musician of Algerian Jewish descent.

He was born to a Sephardic Algerian Jewish family in Constantine, Algeria, and played the guitar from childhood. His father, Sylvain Ghrenassia (1914–2004), was a violinist in an orchestra that played primarily malouf, Andalo-Arabic music. Gaston started playing with the Cheikh Raymond Leyris Orchestra at age 15.

He pursued a career as a school teacher, but continued practising the guitar. In 1961, the Algerian War of Independence was raging, and the situation became untenable for the Jewish and European residents of Constantine. Of immense effect on Gaston Ghrenassia was the assassination in 1961 of his father-in-law and musician Cheikh Raymond Leyris by the National Liberation Front (FLN), which appears to have been due to his opposition to the independence of Algeria from France. Gaston left Algeria with his wife, Suzy, on 29 July 1961, eleven months before the end of the Algerian War of Independence, and went into exile in mainland France. He has not been permitted to return to Algeria ever since.

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