Grégory Jean-Paul Lemarchal (May 13, 1983 – April 30, 2007) was a French singer and winner of the fourth series of the reality TV programme Star Academy, broadcast on the TF1 television network.
Personal life
Grégory was born in La Tronche, and raised near Chambéry, as the first child of mother Laurence and father Pierre Lemarchal, with a sister Leslie. At twenty months of age, he was diagnosed with the hereditary disease cystic fibrosis.
Professional career
In 1995, he became France's champion of acrobatic rock.
In 1998, he unsuccessfully participated in the show "Graines de stars", but became a local star.
Through a friend, in mid-June 2004, Lemarchal was contacted by the producers of Star Academy in Paris who needed one more male singer for the show. On December 22, Lemarchal was announced the winner, with 80% of the total vote, an unmatched score.
His debut single, "Ecris l'histoire" peaked at number two on the French singles chart in March 2005 and was certified platinum. His album, "Je deviens moi", released on April 18, entered at number one.
At the NRJ Music Awards in January 2006, Lemarchal was awarded "breakthrough artist of the year" ("Révélation francophone de l'année"). In the spring, he completed his first solo nationwide tour, and a DVD of his performance at the Olympia was released. A new French duet version of the British singer Lucie Silvas' hit single "What You're Made Of" went to number two in the singles chart.
In 2007, Lemarchal announced that his health was deteriorating and that he was ordered by doctors to take a few months off in order to recuperate. However, he died of complications from cystic fibrosis on the morning of April 30, 2007, waiting for a lung transplant.
The story was in the news headlines all week, and five thousand fans went to Chambery to lay flowers on the day of his funeral. On May 4, a special television programme was broadcast on TF1 to commemorate his life, and its 10.5 million viewers were asked to donate money to help progress research into finding a cure. So far more than 7.5 million euros have been raised.
Since his death, Gregory and mourning girlfriend Karine have been featured in a wide number of tabloid stories. A posthumous album was released, and controversy has been raised on whether he would have wanted the songs featured in it to surface or not. Record company Universal Music Group France has also been accused of cashing in on the renewed interest in his work that followed his passing.
On December 28, 2007, Star Academy 7 had a Gregory tribute titled "La voix d'un ange" (the voice of an angel). It raised over 6.3 million euros for the foundation "vaincre la mucoviscidose".
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Legacy
Grégory's family founded "Association Grégory Lemarchal", an organization dedicated to improving the quality of life of people and the families of people with cystic fibrosis, on June 7, 2007, a month after Grégory's death. The organization assists in information outreach, scientific research and combating negative public perception and discrimination of people with cystic fibrosis.
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