Jane Birkin

Few could imagine that Jane Birkin, the long-limbed icon from the swingin' 1960s, would go on to forge a distinctive, rewarding career as an actress and interpretive singer for five decades. A beloved star in her adoptive France, Birkin kept house with the Gallic provocateur Serge Gainsbourg (after divorcing noted film composer John Barry). A trained actress, Birkin's role as the Continental symbol for a new era of sexual freedom was sealed when she appeared in the film Blow Up and then dueted with Gainsbourg on the banned international smash "Je T'Aime...Moi Non Plus" ("I Love You...Me Neither"). While Birkin kept collaborating with Gainsbourg until their amicable 1980 split, she also started recording on her own, often singing songs that he wrote for her. Like her stage and film work, Birkin's recordings balance pop influences with artistic risk-taking. Birkin stepped away from music for most of the 1990s before returning to it by the end of the decade. By 2000, she was again recording frequently, often collaborating with younger fans like Feist, Benjamin Biolay and Beth Gibbons. Her daughter, Charlotte Gainsbourg, is also a popular actress and recording artist.