France to pay national homage to Aznavour at Paris ceremony
France will pay "national homage" to legendary Charles Aznavour in a ceremony on Friday, 5 October, France 24 reports, citing the French presidency.
French President Emmanuel Macron himself will deliver a speech at a ceremony to be held in the courtyard of Les Invalides, a complex of buildings and monuments related to French military history.
The world-famous French Armenian singer will be buried in a special small family crypt in a 12th century monastery in the commune of Montfort-l'Amaury not far from Paris.
Aznavour, 94, passed away on 1 October in his home in southeastern France. An autopsy found the death occurred in the wake of an acute oedema caused by cardiorespiratory failure.
On Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles, wellwishers layed flowers on the pavement star bearing his name, while Armenia commemorated him in parliament and on the underground train stations in the capital Yerevan, which played his songs.
The Armenian government also decreed a day of mourning to coincide with the day on which he will be buried in France.
The singer, born to Armenian immigrants, sold more than 180 million records and featured in over 60 films.
He was best known for his 1974 hit She and was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2017. Aznavour married three times and had six children.
“I’m not afraid of death, I am just happy that I live, see, hear, feel and enjoy the surrounding world,” said Aznavour in his biography.
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