On October 28, 2025, Anthony Chaplain, a French singer and songwriter from Côtes-d’Armor, passed away at the age of 42, as announced by his loved ones. In Saint-Brieuc, the funeral will take place on November 4 at 3:30 PM, following a gathering in Lamballe. Between Marie La Dondaine, encounters with Aznavour, Hallyday, and Sardou, and a return in 2024, he leaves behind a loyal and fraternal voice. The cause remains debated, attributed differently depending on the sources.
Death of the French singer: funeral and practical information
The news fell in the gray silence of an autumn morning. Anthony Chaplain, a singer-songwriter from Côtes-d’Armor, died on October 28, 2025, at the age of forty-two. The announcement was made by his loved ones on his official page. Since then, messages have been pouring in, whether sober or emotional. They recall this calm voice, coming from village dances. It is shaped by character songs and nourished by romantic impulses. We remember an artist attached to his Brittany, clear about his strengths, persistent in his comebacks.
The funeral is to be held at the crematorium of Saint-Brieuc on Tuesday, November 4, 2025, at 3:30 PM. A time for gathering is announced at the Favrel funeral home in La Tourelle, Lamballe, from 2:30 PM to 6:30 PM. The information was given quickly, straightforwardly, as if to offer the faithful a place and time to express words and salute a journey.
A Breton childhood, a musical course
Born in Saint-Alban, not far from the moor and the sea, Chaplain grew up in a world where village festivals and impromptu stages make a profession of memory. He carried Brittany like a talisman. It surfaced in the grain of his voice and in the rhythmic foundation of his songs. From the early 2000s, he forged a grammar that mixed human-scale ballads, discreet swing, and rock nerve. The guitar held the helm. The accordion sometimes joined in, a partner in a popular heritage that does not blush at its intensity.
As venues opened, Chaplain confirmed a reputation for presence. On stage, he moved forward with a straightforward step, without effects, with a mix of smile and gravity that disarmed. His way of singing told his journey, the friendships that were reborn there. Moreover, it evoked life that persists. This economy of grand gestures pleased both families and fans of finely crafted songs.
The song of a French singer who marked a generation
The public first identifies him with a title. Marie La Dondaine becomes a tune hummed from its release. In cars and village squares. It features the simplicity of a nursery rhyme and the tenderness of portraits. 2003 marks this turning point, giving him national visibility. The piece establishes a melismatic signature, a catchy rhythm, and a sensitivity that is not mawkish. It is not an industrial hit, but a song passed from mouth to mouth. By affectionate contagion.
In its wake, Chaplain allows himself other covers and variations. Emmenez-moi gets a second life in a clip featuring Charles Aznavour, a benevolent mentor who recognizes a sincere fervor in the Costarmoricain. The words of the world song are then tinged with iodine, modest docks, low skies. The cover never flaunts performance. It simply installs an accent, a warmth, a fidelity to the spirit of French chanson.
Decisive encounters
Over the years, Chaplain crossed paths with monuments. Johnny Hallyday invited him to open at the Poupet festival in 2006. The confrontation might seem brutal. It transforms into a simple greeting between professionals who understand each other without long speeches. Later, Michel Sardou covered "Le Choix du fou" in 2017, a rare gesture confirming an elder’s esteem for a junior’s writing. These affiliations did not change his orbit. They rather framed his taste for straightforward melody, for choruses that fit in the hand.
The milieu also knew his loyalties. Patachou, whom Chaplain liked to cite as a spiritual godmother, offered him an emotional lineage. Pierre Billon, behind the scenes, accompanied sessions and choices. Around them, a small brotherhood of technicians, friends, musicians, kept the boat steady. We won’t list the cafes, nor the dressing rooms. Moreover, we won’t mention the record companies. It was there that ideas and doubts were exchanged. Let’s just say that Chaplain belonged to this constellation of shadow and stage workers who uphold the edifice of a living song.
Return to the stage in 2024: "La Belle de la baie"
After years of ups and downs, Chaplain reappears with "La Belle de la baie". The clips are shot on native land, in Hillion and Andel. The images say it all. The wind bends the grasses. The sky opens its theater. The voice, deeper, no longer forces anything. It tells of second chances, a maturity that knows its limits and chooses its impulses. The local audience responds. On social networks, shares indicate anticipation, curiosity. We rediscover the pleasure of hearing him play close to reality, without posture.
This return was not about nostalgia. It was necessary to hit the road again and add new titles to the repertoire. Then, enjoy the moment when the spotlights go out. At that moment, only the murmur of the room is heard. Chaplain looked straight ahead. For him, music was not confused with the fabrication of an image. It resided in the ethics of applied craftsmanship and in the hours spent shaping a phrase. Moreover, it was found in the takes that need to be redone until the exact angle is achieved.
The time of tributes
Upon the announcement of his death, musical Brittany stood tall. Messages arrived in waves, from stage companions to early listeners. Each highlights the generosity of the man and his availability after concerts. Furthermore, his way of thanking the hosting teams and volunteers is noted. Regional radios programmed his titles, replaying Marie La Dondaine as one would relight a nightlight.
The words return, insistent. Simplicity. Tenacity. Frankness. Basic notions that summarize a journey without vain obstinacy. One can reflect on the messages from former neighbors and colleagues met before the stage. Moreover, the messages from strangers who had crossed paths with him one evening by chance during the summers are moving. The grief is discreet and upright. It resembles the man.
What we know about the circumstances
Regarding the cause of death, caution is advised. According to his loved ones, he died following a bacterial infection related to Covid. According to several media, he died from an illness, without further details. According to Le Télégramme, he had been hospitalized for several weeks before October 28, 2025. In such a context, the editorial team retains the attributed formulations and refrains from unconfirmed medical details. Time may shed light. Meanwhile, it is appropriate to respect the families’ wishes and retain only what has been made public.
This terminological divergence says something about a moment when words are still knives. It invites a jeweler’s precision. The loved ones recount the struggle. The national titles, in part, summarize the news in two lines. The regional media, more attentive to the timing of the funeral, record the times and places. Each piece forms a sober puzzle, which serves no purpose to force.
The calendar of the final farewell
The community of Saint-Brieuc is preparing to welcome its own for the cremation on Tuesday, November 4, 2025, at 3:30 PM. In Lamballe, the Favrel de la Tourelle gathering room opens in the afternoon, from 2:30 PM to 6:30 PM. The practical information was disseminated on October 29 through the usual channel, that of the loved ones. They allow everyone to organize their visit, write a card, light a candle, or remain silent. One can imagine the musicians who, in the evening, will play for him. One imagines the accordion placed on a chair. One already hears, very softly, a song rising.
Legacies and loyalties
The refrains will remain, the rectitude of a timbre, the shadow of a smile. The encounters that punctuate a journey and eventually draw a lineage will also remain. The names of Aznavour, Sardou, Hallyday speak enough of the arc of tension between tradition and stage energy. They especially say that French chanson, when it strips down, continues to circulate between generations. Indeed, it passes like a letter entrusted to sure hands.
In Chaplain’s discography, we will remember what does not cheat. Marie La Dondaine remains the key entry. Ouvrez grand les oreilles is a title wink and a lasting invitation. The later songs, less exposed, show a relaxed writing, a taste for round refrains, a refusal of pyrotechnic effects. These are pieces that keep company. They are heard while preparing meals, tidying the house, on the way to work. They belong to ordinary hours, that is to say, to life as it presents itself.
A singular place
Brittany has always provided French chanson with recognizable voices. Chaplain found his place in this choir, neither folkloric nor cosmopolitan, rooted and open. He was not a troubadour out of time. He did not pose as a standard-bearer of a territory either. He moved at life’s level, with clear speech, with a sense of measure. Indeed, this constitutes, for some, an aesthetic. His texts, often direct, allow clear images. The writing does not crush reality. It embraces its angles, straightens its vertebrae.
One can seek great explanations. One can multiply systems. One quickly tires. Chaplain, he had chosen words that go straight. He did not apologize for it. This is also what explains the loyalty of his audience, bringing together generations that speak little to each other. In the halls, one saw grandparents singing the refrains while teenagers tapped the beat. This is due to the music, the structure, but above all to an attitude. Far from the spectacular, he defended sharing.
What we will remember
We will keep the image of an upright man, only forty-two years old and already a legacy of songs at the level of everyday life. We will remember the concentrated face behind the microphone. Moreover, we will remember the way of ending a title by barely raising the chin. This modesty allows for accuracy. We will remember a lover of the stage, far from postures, attached to his land. Moreover, he was happy to meet the audience of small towns as well as that of festivals. We will mainly remember a way of saying thank you, simple and whole, which illuminated the exit from the stage as much as the entrance.
In the landscape of French chanson, Chaplain will have occupied a discreet and necessary place. His alliances with prestigious elders were not a certificate. They were worth as gestures of musical fraternity. His own titles continue to circulate, chosen for family celebrations. Furthermore, they are covered by brass bands and downloaded because they accompany the hours. Music does not console for everything. It helps to hold on. In these late October days, that is already a lot.