These included "Tu m'étais destinée" ("You Are My Destiny"), "Peggy Sue", and "Nouvelle vague" ("Three Cool Cats") which became successful in France.

In the early 1960s he became one of the biggest French pop stars, with other hits including "Let's Twist Again", "C’est ma fête" ("It's My Party"), and "Et j'entends siffler le train" ("500 Miles").

[4][5] He started recording at the Abbey Road Studios in England, and reached the British charts with the English-language songs "Walking Alone" (#37, 1963) and "If I Loved You" (#18, 1964).

He remained popular in France, having one of his biggest hits in 1974 with "Amoureux de ma femme", which was a cover version of an Italian song originally by Caterina Caselli.

After returning to France in 1982, he continued to record, perform, and appear on TV shows, and in 1998 published an autobiography, Il faut croire aux étoiles.