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!!!!!Fan Page ENRICO MACIAS!!!!
This is NOT the real Enrico Macias. . I made this page because I love his music & wanted to get his music out to the world.
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Enrico Macias, whose real name is Gaston Ghrenassia, was born on December 11 1938 in Constantine, Algeria, into a Jewish family. He had a normal schooling, but also enjoyed music, particularly the guitar. His father was a violinist in the orchestra of Cheick Raymond Leyris, the great master of Maalouf, the Arab-Andalucian music unique to Constantine. At 15, young Gaston was already a member of this prestigious orchestra, and soon became the heir-apparent to Cheick Raymond.
In 1956, he passed his school-leaving certificate and applied for a post as a supervisor in a school. Music did not seem to him to offer many prospects. Because schools were crying out for teachers, he was hired as a primary schoolmaster. He still continued, however, to play the guitar.
But French Algeria was living its last hours, at a time when Catholics, Jews and Muslims cohabited on the same territory. The nationalist movement, the Front National de Libration (FLN), was fighting for independence for this country which had been a French colony since the eighteenth century. War meant guerrilla warfare, murders and assassinations. On June 22 1961, Cheick Raymond was killed in Constantine. Young Gaston realised that exile was the only solution, and that he had reached the end of an epoch.
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Ne dans une famille juive, il a cotoy une famille de tradition musicale du maalouf, son pere etait violoniste dans lorchestre de Raymond Leyris dit Cheikh Raymond, mais il apprend aussi la guitare avec des amis gitans, ce qui lui vaudra le pseudonyme du petit Enrico, qui se transformera par la suite en son nom dartiste.Il a choisi son nom d'artiste d'apres un boxeur des annees 50 (Macias).
Dabord instituteur en 1956, il rejoindra lorchestre de Cheikh Raymond. La mort de ce dernier, symbole de lechange entre les communauts dAlgrie, assassin par le FLN en 1961, decide Gaston Ghrenassia et sa famille quitter lAlgrie, ce quil font le 29 juillet 1961 - alors quil allait celebrer son union avec Suzy, la fille de Raymond Leyris, et un peu avant la fin de la Guerre d'Algrie.
Installe a Paris, il travaille irregulirement jusqu ce quil fasse la premire partie dun concert de Gilbert Becaud et passe la television dans lemission Cinq colonnes la une. Il adopte alors le pseudonyme dEnrico Macias. Tres appreci du public Pieds-Noirs, son audience slargira rapidement.
Reconnu internationalement et chantre de la paix, il reoit le titre de chanteur de la paix en 1980 de Kurt Waldheim.
En 1985, il reoit la Legion d'honneur de Laurent Fabius.
