David Christie

David Christie, real name Jacques Pepino, French singer, was born on January 1, 1948 in Tarare, in the Rhône, and died on May 11, 1997 in Capbreton in the Landes.

He is best known for his hit single "Saddle Up" (1982), which appeared on numerous compilations throughout the 1980s and also on Disco Collection 25th anniversary.

He had his first child, Nathalie, with Françoise Richard in 1973. In 1986 a second daughter, Julia, born from his affair with the singer Nina Morato. Julia died of an overdose of sleeping pills at the age of 11. David Christie committed suicide three months after his daughter's death. He was cremated and his ashes were scattered off the coast of Landes.

David Christie had retired since 1983, far from the limelight and showbiz, to raise his daughter, writing novels in peace under the aforementioned pseudonym Bolden. In 1965, at the age of 18, under the aegis of ORTF, he took another name. Jacques Pépino, the future Christie and Bolden, had found success, the unexpected applause of Jeu de la chance, a hit Sunday show that launched Le Luron, and the famous Mireille Mathieu. At the time, “French rock” was born (Ronnie Bird and Noël Deschamps arrived, Dutronc and Manset to come), the teenager who would one day be recognized for his refrain Jolie Julie, was doing well, campy at the piano, pleasant blond physique and piano boogie, a type yet to be taken in the cast: that of the local Jerry Lee Lewis.

Very convincing in this electric role, the dashing Pépino was to release, under this first name, two or three 45s without much result or interest, that of the live performances being a little lost in the studio passage.