Author, composer and performer, Leny Escudero has popularized gypsy culture through his songs with committed lyrics. Born in Spain in 1932, he grew up in France with his family, who had fled the 1939 civil war. From the Mayenne region of France, he moved to Paris, where he made a living from odd jobs in the building trade, before taking to the cabarets, guitar in hand. A few years after his debut, he found success in the early 1960s with songs like "Ballade à Sylvie " and "Pour une amourette". Against all expectations, he set off on a solo world tour, returning only to record the 1971 album Escudero, which won him the Grand Prix de l'Académie Charles-Cros. His politically charged lyrics, such as "Vivre pour des idées", made him a spokesman for the underprivileged and a defender of freedoms. At the same time, between concerts and albums, he appeared in film and television for a number of tailor-made roles. In the 1980s and 1990s, he continued to sing relentlessly about his beloved themes, as evidenced by the album Leny Escudero Chante la Liberté (1997), in which he covers the words of poets such as Aragon, Kessel, Vian and Clément. In 2013, his autobiography Ma vie n'a pas commencé was published. He died on October 9, 2015 at the age of 82.
