Curious by nature, Bertrand is always on the lookout for the slightest little scoop. Passionate about football, he is never far from football and all the news that comes with it. However, showbiz or political events are also part of his preferred journalistic research.
In 2003, an emblematic musician of rumba flamenca recounted how he experienced his brutal exclusion from a famous group. Then he explained how he subsequently rebuilt his career by creating his own band. He has just recently paid tribute to Brigitte Bardot whom he appreciated so much.
“I found myself with nothing”: After leaving a legendary group, this singer had to start all over again
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On Sunday, December 28, France learned with sadness of the disappearance of Brigitte Bardot, at the age of 91. Guest on BFMTV, Chico Bouchikhi paid a moving tribute to the one he considered much more than a friend. “She was our fairy, our godmother, our good luck charm. An extraordinary person, of incredible generosity and loyalty in friendship.” he confided.
As a reminder, he is one of the co-founders of the Gipsy Kings, a famous French rumba flamenca and flamenco group, originally from Montpellier and Arles (a group made up of musicians from two families of Catalan and Gypsy origin). Excluded from the group in 1991, he founded his own group the following year: Chico and the Gypsies. In 2003, he spoke of his separation from the band, facing Mireille Dumas: “She hurt me a lot at the time. Suddenly I found myself with nothing. I was told ‘you’re no longer part of the group’, I left with nothing. They were returned by the producer. My wife had confidence, knew who I was. I put together a group and it worked for me.”
Chico Bouchikhi, his secrets about his departure from the Gipsy Kings
In an interview given to Parisian last May (the group had just returned to the immense hall of the Palais des Congrès in Paris for a meeting not to be missed), Chico Bouchikhi already returned to the reasons for his estrangement with the other members of the Gipsy Kings. If they owe their success to producer Claude Martinez “which will bring them out of anonymity in the 1980s” according to the daily, they also owe the fall and the rupture to him: “We played concerts all over the world without financial returns.”
But all this is nothing more than ancient history for those who celebrated their 71st candle on October 13. The Gipsy Kings had enjoyed success from 1987, notably with titles like Bamboléo et Djobi Djoba, widely broadcast on the airwaves. That year, Brigitte Bardot called on them to host her birthday party, thus establishing them as a symbol of the celebration.
