Real name: Victor-Emilien Lejal

French singer and comedian.
Born: February 2, 1863 in Paris
Died: July 17, 1916 in Paris

Lejal was a star of the French café-concert (a.k.a. caf'conc') in Paris. He grew up performing at singing societies that met at cafés (so-called goguettes), but at the wish of his parents, he apprenticed as a printer. At the age of 21, however, he became a professional singer, making his debut at the Alcazar in Dijon in 1884. After touring abroad in Belgium, Morocco, and Algeria to perfect his craft, he had his professional breakthrough in 1894 at the Bataclan café-concert in Paris. From then on, he performed with great success at one well-known Paris venue after the other, such as the Eldorado, La Scala, the Ambassadeurs, the Folies-Bergère, and the Moulin-Rouge. After 1910, his career began to falter, and by 1914, he seems to have stopped performing.

Between 1899 and 1904, Lejal made dozens of recordings for The Gramophone Co. Ltd. in Paris, including several under the pseudonym Monsieur Bravo.