Catherine Ringer, frontwoman of French rock duo Les Rita Mitsouko, dies at 68
The French singer and songwriter died from cancer on 14 September 2026, concluding a four-decade career defined by hits like Marcia Baïla and Andy.
Passing of a French rock icon
French singer-songwriter Catherine Ringer died on the night of 14 September 2026 at age 68 following an aggressive cancer. Her children announced her passing in a statement transmitted to Agence France-Presse on Tuesday morning. Ringer rose to national and international prominence as the frontwoman of Les Rita Mitsouko, the eccentric pop-rock duo she co-founded with guitarist Fred Chichin. Her death closes the final chapter of the duo nineteen years after Chichin died from cancer at age 53 in 2007. Family members emphasized her singular artistic independence across more than four decades in music, while concert organizers in Finistère and across western France recalled her accessible presence on and off stage.
The rise of Les Rita Mitsouko
Ringer was born on 18 October 1957 in the suburbs of Paris to an architect mother and the Polish-Jewish painter Sam Ringer, who had survived nine concentration camps. She left school at age 15 to pursue diverse artistic projects, including performing in musical theatre, voicing animated films for television, and appearing in adult films between 1975 and 1985. In 1986, she defended her background during a televised clash with singer Serge Gainsbourg on Canal+. She had met Chichin in 1979 during an audition for the musical Flashes rouges in Montreuil, initially forming the group Les Sprats before settling on Les Rita Mitsouko in 1980. The duo achieved widespread recognition in 1984 with the synthpop single Marcia Baïla, written about Argentine dancer Marcia Moretto, who had died of cancer. Further hits followed in 1986, including Andy, C'est comme ça, and Les Histoires d'A., alongside a 1988 international collaboration with American band Sparks titled Singing in the Shower.
- Born in the Paris suburbs to artist Sam Ringer and an architect mother
- Met guitarist Fred Chichin in Montreuil during the musical Flashes rouges
- Released breakthrough single Marcia Baïla
- Released hit tracks Andy, C'est comme ça, and Les Histoires d'A.
- Collaborated with American duo Sparks on Singing in the Shower
- Partner and bandmate Fred Chichin died from cancer at age 53
- Celebrated the 40th anniversary of Les Rita Mitsouko with a tour
- Performed rewritten Marseillaise at constitutional abortion ceremony
- Died of cancer at age 68
Solo projects and later career
Following the death of Chichin in 2007, Ringer temporarily stepped away from performing before resuming live concerts as a solo artist. In 2019, she celebrated the 40th anniversary of meeting Chichin by launching the concert tour Catherine Ringer chante les Rita Mitsouko, which included performances at the Philharmonie de Paris. She participated in designer Jean Paul Gaultier's final runway show in January 2020, having previously worn his corset dress in the 1984 Marcia Baïla music video. In 2023, she auctioned approximately 100 paintings created by her late father to preserve his artistic legacy. During a March 2024 ceremony sealing abortion rights into the French Constitution, she performed a revised, gender-inclusive version of the French national anthem.
Tributes across politics and culture
Condolences poured in across the French political spectrum and music industry following Tuesday's announcement. French President Emmanuel Macron described Ringer as an artist who transformed French song through irreverence and freedom.
Catherine Ringer made her voice a theatre and every song a freedom. With Fred Chichin, she gave Les Rita Mitsouko a sound and colours without equal. She was unclassifiable, irreverent, deeply French.
Music critic Philippe Manoeuvre recalled her distinctive vocal range spanning multiple octaves and her improvisational command of live performance.
She was a diva. On stage, you never knew what she was going to imagine. The concerts of Les Rita Mitsouko were events, happenings.
Musicians Clara Luciani and Benjamin Biolay, National Assembly President Yaël Braun-Pivet, regional leader Valérie Pécresse, and Minister of Culture Catherine Pégard also offered tributes acknowledging her lasting influence on European pop music.
