French rock icon Catherine Ringer dies at 68 following cancer diagnosis

 

French music has lost one of its most unforgettable voices. Catherine Ringer, the legendary singer and co-founder of French rock duo Les Rita Mitsouko, has died at age 68.

Ringer’s children announced the heartbreaking news in a statement to AFP, saying Ringer died on September 14 after being struck by a fast-acting cancer

“It is with immense sadness that the family and loved ones of Catherine Ringer announce her death, taken by a fast-acting cancer in the night of September the 14th, 2026. A major French artist and one half of Les Rita Mitsouko, Catherine Ringer left her mark on several generations with her voice and songs, her immense freedom, and her uniqueness,” the statement read.

Born on October 18, 1957, in Suresnes, near Paris, in France, Catherine’s father, Sam Ringer, was a Holocaust survivor. She would later write a song about his story, C’était un homme, translated as “He was a man.”

In 1979, she met guitarist Fred Chichin, with whom she went on to form the rock group Les Rita Mitsouko. The duo created a unique sound, blending many different genres such as rock, funk, electronic music, and French chanson.

“I met Fred and entered the rock’n’roll circus,” she told The Art Desk. “The rock people were like, ‘She’s not a real rocker. She’s not a blues singer.’ I sang easy-listening tracks that I loved. I didn’t have their way to wear the clothes.”

The group peaked in the 1980s, having many hits such as Marcia Baïla, C’est comme ça, and Andy. The first, Marcia Baïla, made the group part of French music history and turned them into household names.

French rock icon Catherine Ringer dies at 68

Their music became a phenomenon that reached far beyond rock music. On a personal level, the two became not only colleagues but soulmates. They were deeply in love and had three children: Ginger Romàn, Simone Ringer and Raoul Chichin.

But tragically, in 2007, Fred Chichin died from cancer at just 53. Ringer kept performing in his honor and embarked on a successful solo career.

“I wasn’t sure I was going to make an album [after Fred’s death],” she said. “I had stopped, not even singing in the shower anymore, I worked in my studio mostly alone, sometimes with other people, I wasn’t nervous, but I wasn’t sure. When I had 10 songs, I thought, hey, I have something.”

On each anniversary of Fred’s death, Ringer said in 2024 she felt “a total lack of energy, as if everything had been sucked out of me.”

PARIS, FRANCE – MARCH 12: Catherine Ringer arrives at the 46th Cesar Film Awards Ceremony At L’Olympia In Paris on March 12, 2021 in Paris, France. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Pool/SC Pool – Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images)

“So, I need to take a little break at that time,” she said. “It’s not a goal in life to only be happy. Life is made up of ups and downs. And if there were no downs, there would be no ups; it would be flat.”

As late as in february, Catherine Ringer appeared on stage while performing in Paris. She spent much of her life focused not only on music, but also on women’s

 rights and ecology.

Mourned by whole of France

After her death, the singer is mourned across France. On X, French President Emmanuel Macron paid her tribute.

“Catherine Ringer had turned her voice into a theater and every song into an expression of freedom. With Fred Chichin, she gave Les Rita Mitsouko a sound and colors like no other,” Macron wrote. “She was impossible to categorize, irreverent, and deeply French, She danced, She radiated. She will be missed.”

Rest in peace, Catherine Ringer. Our thoughts and prayers are with her loved ones.