Serge Gainsbourg. Real name: Lucien Ginzburg. He's a French artist. And loved throughout France. His parents emmigrated to France after the Bolsheviks' uprising. He's dabbled in Reggae (he performed a Reggae version of the French national anthem to much indignation) and Arabic. Most of his music is a mixture between Rock and Jazz, the genre at which father became adroit, performing in Jazz cafes around Paris. He's basically the stylish and talented (in a non-demonic way) equivalent of Mark E. Smith. A drunken genius. He married Jane Birkin - who was hot. He also had an affair with Brigid Bardot. And performed
Je t'aime non plus (you'd know the song if you heard it) with her. He died of a heart attack in the early nineties.
There was recently an tribute album to him, featuring lots of prominent artists world-wide.
You should listen to
Histoire De Melody Nelson. It's number
94 in Rate Your Music.com all time albums.