Having begun her career touring with her father at age fourteen, her fame increased during the German occupation of France and in 1945, Piaf's signature song, "La Vie en rose" ('life in pink') was published.

Piaf continued to perform, including several series of concerts at the Paris Olympia music hall, until a few months before her death in 1963 at age 47.

Louis's father was Victor Alphonse Gassion (1850–1928) and his mother was Léontine Louise Descamps (1860–1937), who ran a brothel in Normandy and was known professionally as "Maman Tine".

[13][14] Piaf's mother abandoned her at birth, and she lived for a short time with her maternal grandmother, Emma (Aïcha), in Bethandy, Normandy.

When her father enlisted with the French Army in 1916 to fight in World War I, he took her to his mother, who ran a brothel in Bernay, Normandy.

According to one of her biographers, she recovered her sight after her grandmother's prostitutes pooled money to accompany her on a pilgrimage honouring Saint Thérèse of Lisieux.

This nervousness and her height of only 142 centimetres (4 ft 8 in),[4][21] inspired Leplée to give her the nickname La Môme Piaf,[5] which is Paris slang for "The Sparrow Kid".

[1] Prior to Piaf's opening night, Leplée ran an intense publicity campaign, resulting in the attendance of many celebrities.

[2]: 35  Her nightclub gigs led to her first two records produced that same year,[21] with one of them penned by Marguerite Monnot, a collaborator throughout Piaf's life and one of her favourite composers.

[23] She began forming friendships with prominent people, such as actor and singer Maurice Chevalier and poet Jacques Bourgeat.

[26] Piaf was invited to take part in a concert tour to Berlin, sponsored by the German officials, together with artists such as Loulou Gasté, Raymond Souplex, Viviane Romance and Albert Préjean.

[29] Piaf was accused of collaborating with the German occupying forces and had to testify before a Épuration légale (post-war legal trial), as there were plans to ban her from appearing on radio transmissions.

[31][32][33] Following the trial, Piaf was quickly back in the singing business and in December 1944, she performed for the Allied forces in Marseille, alongside singer/actor Yves Montand.

In Paris, she gave Argentinian guitarist-singer Atahualpa Yupanqui – a central figure in the Argentine folk music tradition – the opportunity to share the scene, making his debut in July 1950.

Piaf also helped launch the career of Charles Aznavour in the early 1950s, taking him on tour with her in France and the United States and recording some of his songs.

[1] However, after a glowing review by influential New York critic Virgil Thomson in 1947,[35][1] her popularity in the U.S. grew to the point where she eventually appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show eight times, and at Carnegie Hall twice (in 1956 and 1957).

While on approach to land at Santa Maria in the Azores for a scheduled stopover, the aircraft crashed into a mountain, killing Cerdan and everyone else on board.

[1] In 1952, Piaf married her first husband, singer Jacques Pills (real name René Ducos), with Marlene Dietrich performing the matron of honour duties.

[40] In 1962, she wed Théo Sarapo (Theophanis Lamboukas), a singer, actor, and former hairdresser who was born in France of Greek descent.

[1] In early 1963, soon after recording "L'Homme de Berlin" with her husband Théo Sarapo, Piaf slipped into a coma due to liver cancer.

[1] Shortly after her death, Piaf's funeral procession drew tens of thousands of mourners onto the streets of Paris,[1] and the ceremony at the cemetery was attended by more than 100,000 fans.

[25] However, at the time, Piaf had been denied a Catholic Requiem Mass by Cardinal Maurice Feltin, since she had remarried after divorce in the Orthodox Church.

[46] French media have continually published magazines, books, plays, television specials and films about the star, often on the anniversary of her death.

[51][52] At the 2024 Olympic Summer Games opening ceremony, Canadian singer Celine Dion performed "L'Hymne à l'amour".