The songwriter and singer Charles Dumont, who composed the song Non, je ne regrette rien (No, I do not regret anything) made world famous by Edith Piaf, has died aged 95, his partner told AFP Monday. 

Dumont, who had also collaborated with American singer Barbra Streisand, died at home after a long illness.

A trumpeter by training, Dumont’s career transformed at the turn of the 1960s when he convinced the star singer Piaf to perform one of his compositions, after having been refused several times.

Non, je ne regrette rien has since become an unforgettable classic of Piaf, who died in 1963.

“My mother gave birth to me, but Edith Piaf brought me into the world,” he told AFP in a 2015 interview. 

“Without her, I would never have done everything I did, neither as a composer nor as a singer,” he added.

For Dumont, this meeting marked the beginning of a fruitful working relationship with Piaf, writing more than 30 songs for her.

His last appearance on stage was in 2019 in Paris.

“When you come back in front of an audience, who come to see you as they came 20, 30 or 40 years ago and give you the same welcome, then they give you back your 20s,” he said.