Paris (AFP)

For a whole generation, she was "Tata Yoyo" or "The priest's maid".

At 92, singer Annie Cordy died, after a career between music hall, funny songs and cinema, driven by the desire to have fun above all.

The Belgian singer and actress died on Friday in Vallauris (Alpes-Maritimes), her niece Michèle Lebon told AFP.

"She became unwell around 6:00 p.m. The firefighters arrived very quickly, tried everything to revive her," and "she left in a few minutes," she said.

Many personalities have testified to their attachment to the one her friends affectionately called "Nini" and paid tribute to her career.

"Popular and sunny, in the city as on the stage. Joyful and generous, with her audience as well as her friends. So was Annie Cordy. With her disappears the soundtrack of a life made of simple, sincere and communicative happiness. Thank you. madam! ”tweeted French Prime Minister Jean Castex.

For her, "Annie was a pretty butterfly flower. + Tata Yoyo + and + La bonne du curé + are going to join the stars' paradise of music".

"Annie was my lifelong friend. I have so many memories by her side. We both laughed so much! (...) I will miss you terribly my Nini", commented on Twitter Line Renaud.

- Energy -

"She had memory problems, I'm not very surprised (by her death), but deeply sad," reacted her friend, singer Dave, interviewed on BFMTV, stressing how Annie Cordy embodied "energy".

With her immaculate "maid of the priest" apron, her articulated braids of "Frida Oum Papa" and her feathered thing of "Tata Yoyo", the queen of the French music hall has devoted her life to the stage where she did not want to give "Que du bonheur", title of a jazz and swing show she gave at the Casino de Paris and at the Olympia.

Léonie Cooreman was born in Laeken, district of Brussels, on June 16, 1928.

Spicy blonde, she made her debut in orchestras singing American standards, before being hired as a leader of reviews at "Bœuf sur le Toit" in Brussels, then in Paris at "Lido" in 1950, where she became Annie Cordy.

From operettas to musicals, through laughter, song, theater, cinema and television films, the indefatigable fantasy artist shows an almost maniacal perfectionism.

And the professional entertainer was also an excellent actress.

After making her debut with Sacha Guitry ("Si Versailles m'ait conté", 1953), she broadened and moved her audience with dramatic roles in "Le Passager de la forêt" by René Clément, "Le Chat" (Pierre Granier- Deferre), alongside Jean Gabin and Simone Signoret, or "La Rupture" (Claude Chabrol).

- Belgitude -

In 2015, it rings just as true in its role of runaway grandmother in "The memories" of Jean-Paul Rouve.

"I learn with infinite sadness and a lot of emotion the death of Annie Cordy, a faithful and caring friend as much as a good-humored fairy, a generous show girl full of talents. Tonight I mourn your departure my Nini ... ", reacted Stéphane Bern on Twitter.

On the occasion of its 90th anniversary in 2018, Brussels named a park in his name.

"It has an incredible effect to be recognized in this way by your own people," the artist told AFP, very moved by this tribute in her native country.

"Annie Cordy was an accomplished artist whose humor and joie de vivre represented so well this belgitude that we love so much. She has won the hearts of many generations", greeted the head of the Belgian government, Sophie Wilmès, on Twitter.

"For many French people, this cousin from Belgium was a familiar, warm, friendly presence, which gave lightness to their life", reacted for its part the French Ministry of Culture.

© 2020 AFP