French composer Georges Moustaki dies at 79

PARIS: French singer and composer Georges Moustaki, whose romantic ballads including the 1958 hit “Milord” won him global fame, died yesterday at the age of 79, his entourage said.
Born on May 3, 1934 to an immigrant European couple who had settled in Egypt, Moustaki — whose real name was Giuseppe Mustacchi — penned some 300 songs, marked by their poetic and haunting quality.
“He died early in the morning at 6 a.m. after a long illness. He passed away peacefully,” a friend said.
Moustaki’s soft eyes and curly locks gave him a attractive appearance. It was one of the biggest selling songs in Germany and figured on top of the charts elsewhere. US singer Bobby Darin also did a version with slightly altered lyrics.
Moustaki quit the scene in 2011 following what he said were “irreversible” respiratory problems that rendered him “definitively incapable of singing.”
He left Paris for the sunny southern city of Nice.
In his last interview to Nice Matin newspaper in February, he said: “I regret not being able to sing alone. But singing in public, no. I’ve done it all... I’ve witnessed magical moments.”
“I want to write and paint. Spend my time on things I like doing, as I have always done,” he said.