At the end of the 1950s, Brigitte Bardot bought a house on the Route des Canebiers in Saint-Tropez. The building, called La Madrague, and the atmosphere that surrounds its location at the end of the summer, will then be translated into song by lyricist Jean-Max Rivière. And the actress will experience her first real musical success in the summer of 1963.
While, on the storefronts of cinemas, Brigitte Bardot appears alongside Michel Piccoli, in Le Mépris, with "La Madrague" she finishes putting on an image that will never leave her again. Subversive icon, insolent mine, the cutthroat blonde overturns all the codes and the image of the women of that time, who are rather "baby dolls" with the airs of children. Brigitte Bardot, she rather embodies the independent woman.
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The start of a collaboration with Serge Gainsbourg
"La Madrague" was so successful that Brigitte Bardot allowed herself a small demand afterwards: she asked Serge Gainsbourg to write songs for her. And these are also what will help make her a true icon, from "Harley Davidson" to "Bonnie And Clyde".
Since then, many artists have captured "La Madrague": Laurent Voulzy, the reality TV star Loana and, more recently, Angèle, on piano-voice.