[3][4] The son of a French father and an Italian mother, Claude Antoine Marie François was born in Egypt, in the city of Ismaïlia, where his father, Aimé François (1908–1961), was working as a senior manager in the Anglo-French Suez canal company on the Suez Canal.

François found a job as a bank clerk and at night earned extra money playing drums with an orchestra at the luxury hotels along the French Riviera.

His show was well received, and he began to perform at the nightclubs along the Côte d'Azur, including the Monte-Carlo Sporting, where in 1959, he met Janet Woollacott; they wed in 1960.

At the time, American rock and roll was taking hold in France and he took a job as part of a singing group to make a living.

François met Michel Bourdais who was working for the French magazine Salut les Copains ("Hi Buddies") and he asked him to draw his portrait.

[citation needed] At the end of that year, François created original new dance steps, and Bourdais drew them.

[6] In 1967, he and Jacques Revaux wrote and composed a song in French called "Comme d'habitude" ("As Usual"), which became a hit in Francophone countries.

François sang the original version of "Parce que je t'aime, mon enfant" ("Because I Love You My Child") in 1971; it remained relatively little-known in France but Elvis Presley covered it under the title "My Boy".

He hid the existence from the public of his second son for five years because he thought that being a father of two would destroy his boyish image as "a free man and seducer".

His loyal fans knew & had photos taken with him but kept it a secret By 1972 he was single again, dating several well-known European stars.

In 1975, while in London, he narrowly escaped death when an IRA bomb exploded in the lobby of the Hilton hotel and two years later a fan tried to shoot him while he drove his car.

[9] On 16 January 1978, he performed, for the first time for a French singer, a gala at the Royal Albert Hall in London to an audience of 6000.

After recording a television special for the BBC on 10 March 1978, François returned to his Paris apartment at 46 Boulevard Exelmans.

While preparing for a bath, François attempted to straighten a lightbulb in his bathroom lamp, causing him to receive a severe electric shock.

[10] His body was buried in the village of Dannemois, in the Essonne department (about 55 km (34 mi) south of Paris), near which Claude François owned a house where he spent his weekends.

On 11 March 2000, the 22nd anniversary of his death, Place Claude-François in Paris was named in his memory; it is located in front of the building where he died.