Jacques Revaux Net Worth
A French melody, English lyrics and Frank Sinatra’s voice: My Way travelled around the world. Jacques Revaux is one of the musicians behind that standard. Lama Fortune’s editorial estimate puts his net worth at €70 million. His career spans the songs he composed, the artists he worked with and the Tréma label he co-founded.
Born on 11 July 1940 in Azay-sur-Cher, in France’s Indre-et-Loire department, the composer has also worked as a singer and producer. His name is less familiar than those of the performers. His melodies have a prominent place in French popular music.
Jacques Revaux
The Fortune of Jacques Revaux
The €70 million estimate concerns his wealth. His professional work extends beyond a single hit. Comme d’habitude and My Way represent the international side of his catalogue. The songs he composed for Michel Sardou form another substantial part of a career spanning decades.
Composition and production are different jobs. A composer creates the music of a work; a producer helps bring recordings and artistic projects into being. Revaux has done both. Co-founding Tréma added a business role to his musical career.
Claude François and Jacques Revaux
From Comme d’habitude to My Way
The declaration filed with Sacem on 19 November 1967 identifies the creators of Comme d’habitude: Jacques Revaux and Claude François composed the music, while Gilles Thibaut wrote the lyrics. Their work later became the starting point for another song.
Paul Anka wrote the English lyrics of My Way, recorded by Frank Sinatra and released in 1969. The English text looks back on a life lived on one’s own terms; it is not a literal translation of the French story. The melody thus connects two songs known under their own titles.
Jacques Revaux’s Income
Lama Fortune estimates his annual income at €5 million. This editorial estimate covers one year of income, while the €70 million figure refers to his estimated wealth.
Songwriting royalties are one source of income associated with his work. A song can be broadcast, performed live, recorded again or streamed. Sacem collects and distributes royalties for the uses it administers, under its distribution rules.
Those royalties relate to the musical work. They are distinct from recording revenue and ownership of shares in a record company. The distinction helps explain Revaux’s different roles: composing a song, working on its production and developing a label are separate activities.
- Composition: writing melodies for a performer’s repertoire.
- Songwriting royalties: receiving rights income from uses of his works.
- Production and collaborations: working with artists on recordings and projects.
- Tréma: helping build a music company alongside his composing work.
Jacques Revaux at the Victoires de la Musique
Tréma: another chapter in his career
In 1969, Jacques Revaux co-founded Tréma with Régis Talar. The label became Michel Sardou’s record company, providing a setting for a partnership that combined songs, recordings and artistic development.
Universal acquired Tréma in 2004.
Youth and Musical Training
Revaux’s career also began with singing. Before becoming best known as a composer, he sang for the films of Jacques Demy. He provided Jacques Perrin’s singing voice in Les Demoiselles de Rochefort and Peau d’Âne, and later Richard Berry’s in Une chambre en ville.
This work placed his voice behind another actor’s face. It also shows that his musical experience extends beyond writing melodies: he knows the work of performing and recording.
Musical Career and Collaborations
Johnny Hallyday, Jacques Revaux and Michel Sardou
His partnership with Michel Sardou is central to the story. Les Vieux Mariés, Les Villes de solitude, Je vais t’aimer, Le France, La Java de Broadway and Musulmanes are among the songs to which Revaux contributed. He also worked with Johnny Hallyday. These collaborations connect his name to several major French repertoires.
Les Lacs du Connemara and the Sardou songbook
In the summer of 1981, Jacques Revaux, Pierre Delanoë and Michel Sardou worked on Les Lacs du Connemara. Music, lyrics and performance came together in one of Sardou’s signature songs.
The stage show Je vais t’aimer draws on many songs from this repertoire. Its credits reveal Revaux’s contribution to titles audiences may first associate with their performer. He composed the music of La Maladie d’amour, with lyrics by Michel Sardou and Yves Dessca.
Cover of My Way, performed by Frank Sinatra
Private Life and Personal Story
In an interview published by Le Parisien on 12 March 2020, Revaux discussed his wife Lola and his life in Marrakech. The interview offers a dated glimpse of his daily life alongside his public career.
For his own account of his life, Revaux published Ma vie en chansons with Ramsay in 2014, in collaboration with Laurence Lorenzon. The autobiography offers another way into the musician’s story, beyond the credits on his records.
His professional circle includes people with distinct roles: Claude François on Comme d’habitude, Paul Anka on the English lyrics of My Way, Michel Sardou through a long creative partnership, and Régis Talar at Tréma. These working relationships provide concrete milestones in his career.
Portrait of Jacques Revaux
The Legacy and Influence of Jacques Revaux
In 2024, My Way, a documentary by Thierry Teston and Lisa Azuelos, revisited the song’s history. Revaux is among its participants. The film was programmed at Cannes’ Cinéma de la Plage on 16 May 2024.
The film brings the composer’s work into view behind a familiar tune. From Sardou’s songs to the international journey of My Way, his music connects several generations of performers and listeners.
Conclusion
Lama Fortune retains its €70 million estimate for Jacques Revaux’s net worth. His career combines composition, songwriting royalties and the history of Tréma. Its clearest milestones remain the works themselves: Comme d’habitude, My Way and the many songs composed for Michel Sardou.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Jacques Revaux’s net worth?
Lama Fortune’s editorial estimate is €70 million. This article explores the musical and business activities that have marked his career.
Who composed Comme d’habitude and wrote My Way?
The 1967 declaration credits Jacques Revaux and Claude François with the music of Comme d’habitude, and Gilles Thibaut with the lyrics. Paul Anka wrote the English lyrics of My Way, released in Frank Sinatra’s version in 1969.
What is Jacques Revaux’s connection to Sacem?
Sacem holds the declaration for Comme d’habitude. It collects and distributes royalties for works in its repertoire according to their uses and its distribution rules.
Who receives royalties from My Way?
Rights income from a song goes to the relevant rights holders under the applicable credits and agreements. The composition, lyric and adaptation credits distinguish the roles of Revaux, Claude François, Gilles Thibaut and Paul Anka. Performing a version does not make the singer its composer.
Where was Jacques Revaux born, and where can readers find his story?
He was born in Azay-sur-Cher on 11 July 1940. His autobiography Ma vie en chansons, written with Laurence Lorenzon, was published by Ramsay in 2014.
Who is Jacques Revaux’s wife?
His March 2020 interview with Le Parisien names his wife Lola. That dated account documents this aspect of his private life.
Where does Jacques Revaux live?
In the same 2020 interview, he discussed his life in Marrakech. This refers to the time of the interview, rather than a current address.
Key takeaways
- Lama Fortune retains its editorial estimate of €70 million for Jacques Revaux’s net worth.
- Comme d’habitude credits Jacques Revaux and Claude François for the music and Gilles Thibaut for the lyrics.
- His career combines composition, work with Michel Sardou and the co-founding of Tréma.
Editorial methodology
The estimates published by Lama Fortune rely on public sources, media references, and sector comparisons. They are provided for informational purposes only and do not constitute financial advice.