By Cédric Vernet 
Bordeaux singer, guitarist and harmonica player Lenny Lafargue passed away on the evening of 24 August 2026. For nearly half a century, he championed a distinctive style of blues, rooted in the American South and deeply committed to the French language. Artists, musicians and members of the blues community have paid tribute to a sincere and generous man. Blues Actu pays tribute to him.
French blues has lost one of its most distinctive figures. Lenny Lafargue, whose real name was Gérald Lafargue, passed away. A guitarist, singer, harmonica player and songwriter, he had created a sound that was recognisable from the very first bars, blending swamp blues, boogie, rock’n’roll, zydeco and French chanson. Blues Actu Radio has always supported and featured his recordings.
He taught himself to play guitar at a very young age, trying to reproduce the records of the great American bluesmen by ear. A stay in England between 1968 and 1970 allowed him to witness the explosion of the British blues boom. Back in France, he left home at the age of 16 and began playing in the streets and cafés.
In the mid-1970s, while working as a metal carpenter and welder, he also taught music to young offenders at a training centre. He then founded Mojo Blues and performed all along the Atlantic coast and as far as Spain.
Blues in the language of Molière
His career entered a new phase in the 1980s. In 1983, Lenny Lafargue was invited to accompany Memphis Slim. Two years later, he recorded Free Way, his first release, featuring covers and original songs in English. In Bordeaux, he also founded a blues school and helped train several musicians, including Raoul Ficel, Cadijo, Florian Royo, Pierre J. Bernard and Julien Dubois.
At the end of the 1980s, his path crossed that of Jacques Garcia, then director of the Salaise Blues Festival and head of Rhésus Blues Productions. The meeting marked the beginning of a collaboration and friendship that would last more than 40 years. It was also with him that Gérald Lafargue chose his stage name: “We spent two days and two nights finding his new stage name and eventually settled on Lenny, his birth name being Gérald, before going into the studio and producing his first album, Mauvaise carte, in Lyon in 1990,” recalls Jacques Garcia, who now runs the Maison du Blues in Châtres-sur-Cher. This recording, made in that magical place, can be found on Lenny Lafargue’s YouTube channel…
On the album Mauvaise Carte, produced by Broadway Records, Otis Grand played on two tracks, while Guillaume Petite also contributed to the recording. Through his songs in French, Lenny Lafargue established what would become one of his greatest strengths: making the blues sound natural in his own language without trying to imitate his American influences.
He went on to share the bill with numerous artists, including John Hammond, Jimmy Johnson, Bernard Allison, Otis Grand, Lurrie Bell, Lazy Lester and Louisiana Red.
Blues from the Gironde bayous
The albums followed: Les clefs du paradis in 1996, L’Estuaire in 1999, À qui parler ? in 2004, Intemporel in 2007, Je ne pense qu’à ça in 2011, Blues Hymns in 2014 and Un ange in 2017.
Produced by Benoît Blue Boy, L’Estuaire remains one of the landmark albums of his career. With tracks such as La Cigale, King of The Bayou and Gayteloup Mambo, Lenny Lafargue placed his blues somewhere between Louisiana and the landscapes of the Gironde.
The day after his passing, Benoît Blue Boy shared a few simple words: “My mate Lenny Lafargue left us last night. He is at peace now.”
On stage, Lenny Lafargue performed at Cognac Blues Passions, Cahors Blues Festival, RhinoJazz Festival, Blues en Loire and the New Morning, among other venues and festivals. He also played in French prisons in collaboration with the prisoners’ support charity founded by Lili Le Forestier.
In 2017, he gave the inaugural concert at the Maison du Blues in Châtres-sur-Cher. He regularly returned there to meet Jacques Garcia, with whom he also hosted several talks devoted to the blues.
“More than 40 years of working together is no small thing. We can only be saddened by the loss of a friend and a true bluesman who spent his life championing this music and blues in French,” says Jacques Garcia. “He will leave his mark on the history of French blues, ensuring that he will never be forgotten.”
In 2020, Unplugged Secret marked a return to a more stripped-down country blues sound. Armed with his acoustic Gibson, he delivered ten tracks, four of them recorded solo. The album topped the Collectif des radios blues airplay chart in December 2020 and was named among Blues Actu Radio’s albums of the year.
In 2021, Lenny Lafargue was inducted into the French Blues Hall of Fame. The physical version of this distinction is now displayed at the European Blues Museum in Châtres-sur-Cher.
His final album, Rouler rouler…, was released in 2024. Across nine tracks, he continued on his path, combining humour, observations on society, references to the great blues masters and an enduring commitment to the French language. The album also earned him a nomination in the French-language Group or Artist category at the 2025 France Blues Awards.
In 2018, our friend Tibo Degraeuwe filmed the track “Bluesman à plein temps” at Blues Fest, held at the Château de Douy. The song appears on his album Un ange. Let’s listen to Lenny…
So long, Lenny…
Tributes have poured in since news of his passing was announced.
Rod Barthet remembers “a truly wonderful person, deeply sincere, who passionately championed blues in French.” The guitarist recalls the pleasure of talking with him “with great sincerity and friendship,” before concluding: “How sad… Rest in peace, Lenny.”
Jack Parker remembers a meeting that turned into a friendship after they shared the same stage: “A sensitive man with a fascinating knowledge of blues styles. There was always a healthy dose of positivity in his concerts. His albums, his lyrics and his view of society had that feel-good quality.” He also emphasises the simplicity with which Lenny Lafargue spoke about emotions and feelings: “After the sadness comes the joy of having known this man. It was a privilege.”
For more than ten years, Julien Dubois played alongside him. He recalls the decisive role Lenny Lafargue played in his own career: “When I arrived in Bordeaux in the early 2000s, he was the first person to give me a chance. I played alongside him for more than ten years and learnt so much, about the blues and music, but also on a personal level. He played a major part in helping me make music my profession.” Borrowing a few words from one of Lenny Lafargue’s songs, he bids him a final farewell: “I’m going to take a rocket, fly up there, and the star of Jupiter will tell me what I must do… Lenny Lafargue has taken the rocket. Have a good journey, Lenny.”
An instantly recognisable voice
Lenny Lafargue belonged to a generation of artists who chose to tell the blues in their own words. Like Benoît Blue Boy, Patrick Verbeke, Bill Deraime and Paul Personne, he proved that this music could be written and sung in French without losing any of its power.
His blues spoke of love, break-ups, roads, loneliness and the world around him. It also carried the colours of Bordeaux, the estuary and the imaginary Louisiana he had brought into his music.
With his guitar, harmonica and instantly recognisable voice, Lenny Lafargue leaves behind around ten albums and hundreds of concerts. Above all, he leaves songs that sounded like no one else.
Blues Actu will continue to keep Lenny’s music alive on air. Farewell, my friend!