Hugues Aufray considers having “failed his life”, for a very specific reason: Femme Actuelle Le MAG

Young married and renowned singer, Hugues Aufray seems to have everything to be happy. At 94, the interpreter of Santiano can boast of already having more than six decades of career behind him, which has earned him some prestigious distinctions such as that of Knight of the Legion of Honor and Commander of Arts and Letters. With more than 400 songs in his repertoire, which have spanned the ages – to the point that his latest album Self-portrait found itself on the French sales podium again in 2020 – it’s hard to deny that Hugues Aufray has succeeded. Yet, he himself believes he has “missed his life”…and in particular its vocation. This is what he said on the set of Good morning !the TF1 morning show, Tuesday April 16, 2024. Faced with Maud Descamps, Bruce Toussaint’s replacement, the singer said he was very surprised by his popularity.

Hugues Aufray dreamed of pursuing a completely different profession, but always in the artistic field

“Is it surprising to you that young people know your songs today?”, the presenter first asked her. And Hugues Aufray responds: “I never envisioned, when I was young, being a popular singer. I didn’t even know it was possible.” And if he had never thought of making a career in singing, it was mainly because he had a very different vocation: “I was modest, I wanted to be Van Gogh, Cézanne… That’s what I wanted. I wanted to be a great painter or a great sculptor so… I failed my life.” It was finally at the age of 70 that Hugues Aufray decided to make his dream come true. by producing his first sculptureswhich represent the artists of his personal Pantheon.

“I make portraits of everyone who gave me the desire to live”he summarized in a video for Paris Match in 2014. All his works are signed “Zugh”, because that’s how he pronounced his first name when he was a child, and didn’t yet know how to speak perfectly! His first bronze, baptized Tribute to Bob Dylan, was exhibited at the Cité de la Musique in Paris in 2012. Then, the following year, the rest of his sculptures were presented during an exhibition at the Maillol Museum in Banyuls-Sur-Mer. Moreover, coincidence or sign of destiny, the singer now lives in the former house of the painter and sculptor Aristide Maillol, in Marly-le-Roi, with his new wife Murielle Megevand.