"L'Aziza" is the name of a 1985 song recorded by French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 singer Daniel Balavoine

Daniel Balavoine

Daniel Balavoine was a French singer and songwriter. He was hugely popular in the French-speaking world, and inspired many singers in the 1980s, such as Jean-Jacques Goldman, and Michel Berger, his closest friend...

 and released as a single

Single (music)

In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

 from his album Sauver l'amour on November 1985. The song was very successful, particularly after the singer's death, topping the chart in France for two months.

Song information

The song was entirely composed by Balavoine, and was produced by the famous composer Léo Missir.

'L'Aziza' means 'My dear' in Arabic

Arabic language

Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...

, although all the lyrics are sung in French

French language

French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

. In this song, Balavoine paies a tribute to his Jewish Moroccan

Morocco

Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...

 wife Corinne, and denounces racism

Racism

Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...

. In France, "L'Aziza" became a standard song throughout the years.

The song was remixed the same year of the album release and came out as a 7". It features on Balavoine's best of Balavoine sans frontières, released about twenty years after the singer's death.

The music video was directed by Oliver Chavarot.

Cover versions

"L'Aziza" was also recorded in 2000 by Khaled

Khaled (musician)

Khaled Hadj Ibrahim , better known as Khaled, is a raï singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist born in Sidi El Houari in Oran Province of Algeria...

 for the compilation album Balavoine: Hommages... on which various artists covered Balavoine's songs. The song was also covered in France by Star Academy 5

Star Academy France

Star Academy was a French reality television show produced by the Dutch company Endemol, based on the Spanish format called Operación Triunfo. It consists of a contest of young singers. It spawned an equally successful show in Quebec called Star Académie. It was broadcast on TF1...

 for its album Chante Daniel Balavoine, on which it features as fifth track.

The B-side, "Tous les cris, les S.O.S.", was covered by many artists, including Jeanne Mas

Jeanne Mas

Jeanne Mas, born on 28 February 1958 in Alicante, Spain, is a French pop singer and actress.She was well known in France, Switzerland and Belgium for a number of hit singles released in the 1980s. From the late eighties onwards her career slid into the has-been category. Her first success was...

 in 1987, Marie-Denise Pelletier, Lena Kann in 1998 (#14 in France) and Les Enfoirés

Les Enfoirés

Les Enfoirés , is the name given to the singers and performers in the yearly charity concert for the Restaurants du Cœur .-History:...

 in 2008.

Chart performances

"L'Aziza" entered the French Singles Chart at #40 on November 23, 1985 and gained a few places every week, but when the singer's death was announced in the media, the single jumped straight to #1 and stayed there for eight consecutive weeks, with huge weekly sales. Thereafter, it dropped rather quickly and remained for 14 weeks in the top ten and for 26 weeks in the top 50.

Although it was not certified by the SNEP, the single sold more than 1 million copies and is to date the 70th best-selling single of all time in France.

Certifications and sales

Country	Certification	Date	Sales certified	Physical sales
France	Should be Platinum	—	—	1,090,000

Charts

Chart (1985-1986)	Peak position
Eurochart Hot 100	23
French SNEP Singles Chart	1