Europe 1 6:52 p.m., December 05, 2021, modified at 6:52 p.m., December 05, 2021

The singer Chico confided on Saturday at the microphone of Isabelle Morizet, on the occasion of the return of the group Chico & The Gypsies and the release of their new album "Unidos", but also on his work, released by Amazon editions.

He took the opportunity to tell his memories of Charlie Chaplin and Brigitte Bardot.

A life full of encounters. The singer Chico confided this Saturday at the microphone of Europe 1, on the occasion of the return of the group Chico & The Gypsies and the release of their new album

Unidos

. He was interviewed by Isabelle Morizet in the show 

There is not only one life in life

on her book 

It was badly started

, where he recounts in particular the encounters that shaped his life.

Starting with the one with Charlie Chaplin, while he was in Lausanne with his girlfriend at the time.

One noon, Chico shows up to play at random in a restaurant in the city.

The boss loved gypsy music: "He told me 'go ahead' so we play with Canut, and everyone has a blast, it's a mini-festival," he says.

"As he leaves he thanks me and says 'if you want to come back tonight, Charlie Chaplin will be there'."

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The singer does not believe it, and yet the same evening, Charlot, already old, is there with his family.

"He who made the whole world laugh, when he listened to us, he started to cry", remembers Chico.

"For me, it was the time of my life."

Recounting that he grew up with his films, Chico says he saw it as a "sign of fate": "If we could make Charlie Chaplin cry, then our music had a future."

A brotherly friendship with Bardot

But his greatest meeting, which he cites as a providence, remains the one with Brigitte Bardot. It took place on September 28, 1987 on a beach in Saint-Tropez. That day, Chico goes to a music store to buy guitar strings. His owner calls him out, to ask if he is available to play at a birthday party. By accepting, he does not yet know that it is the birthday of the famous BB. "It was the miracle of the century," he says. "She received us in an incredible way. We played, sang, dined with. She played maracas and guitar."

At the end of the evening, the icon tells him that "it is one of the happiest birthdays of [his] life".

That evening, Chico refuses to receive a salary.

Brigitte Bardot therefore invites him the next day to La Madrague for another party.

"A friendship was born, and then it was she who came for my birthdays in the Camargue", he explains.

“She was an incredible lucky charm” for Chico, and for the group.