Jane Birkin has died at the age of 76, French media report

Jane Birkin dies aged 76: Singer and actress who had on-off relationship with Serge Gainsbourg and lent her name to famous Hermes Birkin designer handbag is found at home in France by her carer

Singer and actress Jane Birkin has died at the age of 76, French media has reported.

It is understood that her caregiver found her dead at her home. Her cause of death remains unknown at this time.

Ms Birkin’s health his headlines back in 2002, when she was diagnosed with Leukemia. Following many torrid, youthful years of excess, she detailed her relationship with alcohol – and how her cancer changed that – a few years back.

The singer also suffered a stroke in 2021 and was forced to cancel several concerts that year. She cancelled shows again last March after breaking her shoulder blade.

Ms Birkin’s legacy features being the name behind the iconic Hermés Birkin handbag, which came to be in 1983.

She is one of Britain’s best-known Sixities sensations, known for her romantic affairs, striking looks and fashion sense. She is perhaps best known for the French duet Je T’aime… Moi Non Plus, which she sung with her ex Serge Gainsbourg in 1968. 

Singer and actress Jane Birkin has died at the age of 76. She is pictured in August 2021

Jane Birkin is one of Britain’s best-known Sixities sensations, known for her romantic affairs, striking looks and fashion sense

Jane Birkin and French singer-songwriter Serge Gainsbourg with their baby daughter, Charlotte, at Ms Birkin’s home in Cheyne Row, London in August 1971

Ms Birkin was an icon in her adopted France and catapulted to fame by her turbulent relationship with Mr Gainsbourg and her heavily accented French, which became her personal style signifier.

She crossed the Channel in 1968, at the age of 22, to star in a film alongside Mr Gainsbourg, who was 18 years her senior.

It was the start of a 13-year relationship that made them France’s most famous couple, in the spotlight as much for their bohemian and hedonistic lifestyle as for their work.

The doe-eyed Birkin, with her soft voice and androgynous silhouette, quickly became a sex symbol, recording a steamy duo with a growling Gainsbourg in 1969, ‘Je t’aime… moi non plus’.

Banned on radio in several countries and condemned by the Vatican, the song was a worldwide success.

‘He and I became the most famous of couples in that strange way because of ‘Je t’aime’ and because we stuck together for 13 years and he went on being my friend until the day he died. Who could ask for more?’ Birkin told CNN in 2006.

‘So Paris became my home. I’ve been adopted here. They like my accent,’ she said.

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