Claude TRUONG-NGOC · CC BY-SA 3.0

Born Lucien Ginsburg to Russian-Jewish immigrant parents in Paris, Serge Gainsbourg spent four decades making French pop uncategorizable, moving through jazz, chanson, funk, reggae and electronica while writing more than 550 songs laced with wordplay and provocation. His 1969 duet 'Je t'aime... moi non plus,' recorded with Jane Birkin, was banned by the BBC and condemned by the Vatican — and charted in Britain anyway.