[2] His artistic output ranged from his early work in jazz, chanson, and yé-yé to later efforts in rock, zouk, funk, reggae, and electronica.

[3] Gainsbourg's varied musical style and individuality make him difficult to categorise, although his legacy has been firmly established and he is often regarded as one of the world's most influential popular musicians.

He never saw action and spent the time playing dirty songs on his guitar, visiting prostitutes and drinking, later admitting that the service made him an alcoholic.

[13] Whilst filling in a form to join the songwriting society SACEM, Gainsbourg decided to change his first name to Serge, as his future partner Jane Birkin relates: "Lucien reminded him of a hairdresser's assistant".

It was released in September, becoming a commercial and critical failure, despite winning the grand prize at L'Academie Charles Cross and the praise of Boris Vian, who compared him to Cole Porter.

He made his film debut in 1959 with a supporting role in the French-Italian co-production Come Dance with Me, starring his future lover Brigitte Bardot.

[22] Gainsbourg's first commercial success came in 1960 with his single "L'Eau à la bouche", the title song from the film of the same name, for which he had composed the score.

[26][27] Despite initially mocking yé-yé, a style of French pop typically sung by young female singers, Gainsbourg would soon become one of its most important figures after writing a string of hits for artists like Brigitte Bardot, Petula Clark and France Gall.

[28] He had met Gall after being introduced by a friend as they were Philips Records labelmates,[29] thus beginning a successful collaboration that would produce hits like "N'écoute pas les idoles", the frequently covered "Laisse tomber les filles", and "Poupée de cire, poupée de son", the latter of which was the Luxembourgish winning entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 1965.

[34] Between 1965 and 1966, Gainsbourg composed the music and sang the words of science fiction writer André Ruellan for several songs made for a series of animated Marie-Mathematics shorts created by Jean-Claude Forest.

One day she asked him to write the most beautiful love song he could imagine and, that night, he wrote the duets "Je t'aime... moi non plus" and "Bonnie and Clyde" for her.

[43] In mid-1968 Gainsbourg started a relationship with English singer and actress Jane Birkin, 18 years his junior, whom he met when she was cast as his co-star in Slogan (1969).

[40] He and Birkin would share the screen in another Gainsbourg-scored film, Cannabis (1970), in which he played an American gangster who falls in love with a girl from a wealthy family.

[52] The album heavily features Gainsbourg's distinctive half-spoken, half-sung vocal delivery, loose drums, guitar, and bass evoking funk music, and lush string and choral arrangements by Jean-Claude Vannier.

[51][54] In that year, Gainsbourg also wrote all of the tracks on Birkin's debut solo album Di doo dah and he would continue to write for her until his death.

[56] The next year saw the release of yet another concept album, L'Homme à tête de chou (The Cabbage Head Man), a nickname used by Gainsbourg himself in reference to his large ears.

But it was not without controversy, as the title track—a reggae version of the French national anthem "La Marseillaise"—received harsh criticism in the newspaper Le Figaro from Michel Droit, who condemned the song and opined that it may cause a rise in antisemitism.

[63] Gainsbourg also received death threats from right-wing veteran soldiers of the Algerian War of Independence, who were opposed to their national anthem being arranged in reggae style.

Also in 1980, Gainsbourg dueted with actress Catherine Deneuve on the hit song "Dieu fumeur de havanes" from the film Je vous aime and published a novella entitled Evguénie Sokolov, the tale of an avant-garde painter who exploits his flatulence by creating a style known as "gasograms".

[71] His second film as a director, Équateur (1983), was adapted from the 1933 novel Tropic Moon by Belgian writer Georges Simenon and is set in colonialist French Equatorial Africa.

[73] The album is known for addressing taboo sexual subject matters, with Gainsbourg dressed in drag on the cover and the highly controversial duet with his daughter Charlotte, "Lemon Incest", which seemed to clearly refer to his fantasy of wanting to make love to his child.

[4] In April 1986, on Michel Drucker's live Saturday evening television show Champs-Élysées, with the American singer Whitney Houston, he objected to Drucker's translating his comments to Houston and, in English, stated: "I said, I want to fuck her"—Drucker, utterly embarrassed, insisted that this meant "He says you are great..."[64] That same year, in another talk show interview, he appeared alongside Les Rita Mitsouko singer Catherine Ringer.

[76] His sixteenth and final studio album, You're Under Arrest (1987), largely retained the funky new wave sound of Love on the Beat, but also introduced hip hop elements.

While on stage he began to tell an obscene story about Brigitte Bardot and a champagne bottle, only to stagger offstage and collapse in a nearby seat.

[79] He continued to write for other artists, including the lyrics to "White and Black Blues" by Joëlle Ursull, the French entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1990, coming in second place.

[2][86] He has also gained a following in the English-speaking world from artists like Jarvis Cocker of Pulp, Beck, Michael Stipe of R.E.M., Alex Turner of Arctic Monkeys, Portishead, Massive Attack, Mike Patton of Faith No More and Neil Hannon of The Divine Comedy.

[87][52][88] Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds guitarist Mick Harvey has recorded four cover albums sung in English and he is referenced by name in the song "Aloo Gobi" by American rock band Weezer.

[89][90] Gainsbourg's music has been sampled by several hip hop artists, including songs by Nas, Wu-Tang Clan, Busta Rhymes and MC Solaar.

[87][91] The Parisian house in which Gainsbourg lived from 1969 until 1991, at 5 bis Rue de Verneuil, remains a celebrated shrine, with his ashtrays and collections of various items, such as police badges and bullets, intact.

[92][93] Gainsbourg has been described as an unlikely sex symbol and fashion icon, noted for his sharp suits, white Repetto shoes, double-denim, green United States Army shirts and pinstripe jackets.