"Pour toi Arménie" is a 1989 song written and composed by Charles Aznavour

Charles Aznavour

Charles Aznavour, OC is an Armenian-French singer, songwriter, actor, public activist and diplomat. Besides being one of France's most popular and enduring singers, he is also one of the best-known singers in the world...

, and recorded by a group of French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 singers (and also a few actor

Actor

An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...

s and TV presenter

Presenter

A presenter, or host , is a person or organization responsible for running an event. A museum or university, for example, may be the presenter or host of an exhibit. Likewise, a master of ceremonies is a person that hosts or presents a show...

s) who were popular at the time. This charity single was intended to raise funds to help the Armenians

Armenians

Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....

 who lived a terrible earthquake

Earthquake

An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...

 (see 1988 Spitak earthquake) on December 7, 1988. It sold more than 1 million copies under the Trema-EMI label.

Background and writing

This song was entirely written and composed by Charles Aznavour

Charles Aznavour

Charles Aznavour, OC is an Armenian-French singer, songwriter, actor, public activist and diplomat. Besides being one of France's most popular and enduring singers, he is also one of the best-known singers in the world...

 which made a great tribute to the country of his ancestral origins and his relationship that he always have kept in his heart. After the earthquake

Earthquake

An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...

 in Armenia

Armenia

Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...

, he asked his singers, actors and TV presenters friends to sing with him "Pour toi Arménie", song devoted to help victims of this tragedy.

At the same time, in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, the collective band named Rock Aid Armenia

Rock Aid Armenia

Rock Aid Armenia was a humanitarian effort by the British music industry to raise money to help those affected by the Leninakan Earthquake of 1988 that struck Armenia....

 made a cover of "Smoke on the Water

Smoke on the Water

"Smoke on the Water" is a song by the British hard rock band Deep Purple. It was first released on their 1972 album Machine Head. In 2004, the song was ranked number 426 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest songs of all time, and in March 2005, Q magazine placed "Smoke on the Water"...

" also for the same charitable purpose.

Vocalists

The artists that composed this group were :

• Adamo
  Adamo
  -Given name:*Adamo Abate, Italian saint*Adamo Boari, Italian civil engineer and architect*Adamo Coulibaly, French footballer*Adamo Didur, Polish bass*Adamo Ruggiero, Canadian actor-Surname:*Délizia Adamo, Italian / Belgian singer*Mark Adamo, American composer...
  
  
• Serge Avedikian
  Serge Avedikian
  Serge Avedikian , sometimes credited as Serje Avetikian, is an Armenian-French film and theatre actor, director, writer and producer, winner of Cannes Festival prize.-Early life:...
  
  
• Marcel Amont
• Animo
• Rosy Armen
• Charles Aznavour
  Charles Aznavour
  Charles Aznavour, OC is an Armenian-French singer, songwriter, actor, public activist and diplomat. Besides being one of France's most popular and enduring singers, he is also one of the best-known singers in the world...
  
  
• Katia Aznavour
• Didier Barbelivien
  Didier Barbelivien
  Didier Barbelivien is a French author, lyricist, songwriter and singer. Beginning in the 1970s, he wrote a number of successful songs for artists such as: Dalida, Johnny Hallyday, Michel Sardou, Daniel Guichard, Claude François, Gilbert Montagné, Sylvie Vartan, Patti Layne, Gilbert Bécaud, Enrico...
  
  
• Phil Barney
  Phil Barney
  Phil Barney is a French singer-songwriter. He was particularly successful with his 1987 song "Un Enfant de toi".-Biography:...
  
  
• Gilbert Bécaud
  Gilbert Bécaud
  Gilbert Bécaud was a French singer, composer and actor, known as "Monsieur 100,000 Volts" for his energetic performances. His best-known hits are "Nathalie" and "Et Maintenant", a 1961 release that became an English language hit as "What Now My Love"...
  
  
• Jane Birkin
  Jane Birkin
  Jane Mallory Birkin, OBE is an English-born actress and singer who lives in France. In recent years she has written her own album, directed a film and become an outspoken proponent of democracy in Burma.- Early life :...
  
  
• Gérard Blanc
  Gérard Blanc
  Gérard Blanc was a French singer and guitarist.-Biography:He began to sing in the 1970s with the band Martin Circus. Then in the 1980s, he participated in the production of Princess Stephanie of Monaco's first album, and started a solo career...
  
  
• Richard Bohringer
  Richard Bohringer
  Richard Bohringer is a French actor.-Personal life:Bohringer was born in Moulins, Allier. He is the father of actress Romane Bohringer, and has two other children, Richard and Lou.-Career:...
  
  
• Zani Boni
• Carlos
  Carlos (singer)
  Carlos , born Yvan-Chrysostome Dolto, and sometimes called Jean-Christophe Doltovitch, was a leading French singer, entertainer and actor.-Biography:...
  
  
• Jean Carmet
  Jean Carmet
  Jean Carmet, born July 25, 1920 in Bourgueil, Indre-et-Loire, France; died April 20, 1994 in Sèvres, Hauts-de-Seine, was a French actor.-Biography:...
  
  
• Jean-Pierre Cassel
  Jean-Pierre Cassel
  Jean-Pierre Cassel was a French actor.-Life and career:Cassel was born Jean-Pierre Crochon in Paris, the son of Louise-Marguerite , an opera singer, and Georges Crochon, a doctor. Cassel was discovered by Gene Kelly as he tap danced on stage, and later cast in the 1957 film The Happy Road...
  
  
• Alain Chamfort
  Alain Chamfort
  Alain Chamfort, born Alain Le Govic, is a French singer of Breton origin, born on 2 March 1949 in Paris.He was a promising pianist in his youth, and the piano became his instrument of choice...
  
  
• Frédéric Château
• Louis Chédid
  Louis Chedid
  Louis Chedid is a French singer-songwriter of Lebanese origin.-Biography:Louis Chedid is the son of the writer Andrée Chedid and the father of Matthieu Chedid ....
  
  
• Julien Clerc
  Julien Clerc
  Julien Clerc, , born as Paul Alain Leclerc on 4 October 1947 in Paris, Clerc's parents divorced when he was still young. He grew up listening to classical music in his father's home, while his mother introduced him to the music of such singers as Georges Brassens and Edith Piaf...
  
  
• Nicolle Croisille
• Dallas
• David et Jonathan
  David et Jonathan
  David et Jonathan was a 1980s vocal duet composed of David Marouani and Jonathan Bermudes . Their notoriety is due to their hits "Bella vita", "Gina" and "Est-ce que tu viens pour les vacances ?" which achieved huge success in France in 1987-1988 and earned Silver and Gold certifications. Several...
  
  
• Michel Delpech
  Michel Delpech
  Jean-Michel Delpech, known as Michel Delpech, is a French singer-songwriter.-Career:In 1963, he had his debut release hit "Anatole" on Disques Vogue...
  
  
• Sacha Distel
  Sacha Distel
  Sacha Distel was a French singer and guitarist who had hits with a cover version of the Academy Award-winning "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head" , "Scoubidou", and "The Good Life". He was born in Paris.-Career:Sacha Distel, born Alexandre Distel, was a son of Russian White émigré Leonid Distel...
  
  
• Dorothée
  Dorothée
  Dorothée , the stage name of Frédérique Hoschedé, is a French singer and TV presenter.- Biography :1. Her childhood :...
  
  
• Michel Drucker
  Michel Drucker
  Michel Drucker, CQ is a popular French journalist and TV host.Michel Drucker was born in Vire, Calvados, in Normandy. Jacques Drucker, a doctor, is Michel's younger brother, and Jean Drucker, a TV top executive, is Michel's older brother. He started a journalistic career in 1965 at the ORTF as...
  
  
• Yves Duteil
  Yves Duteil
  Yves Duteil is a French singer-songwriter. He was born in Neuilly-sur-Seine , in 24 July 1949 and is the third child to be born in the family....
  
  
• Elsa Lunghini
  Elsa Lunghini
  Elsa Lunghini, stage name Elsa , is a French singer and actress. She was a famous teenage pop-star in the late-1980s. In 1986, she was the youngest singer ever to reach number one in the French charts with the single T'en va pas, and she went on to sell millions of records during the decade...
  
   (credited as Elsa)

• Jean-Pierre Foucault
  Jean-Pierre Foucault
  Jean-Pierre Foucault is a French television and radio host.He is the host of Qui Veut Gagner des Millions ?, the French version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? He has been hosting the Miss France pageant since 1996.Foucault played himself in the 2006 film Mon Meilleur Ami directed by Patrice...
  
  
• Roland Giraud
  Roland Giraud
  Roland Giraud , is a French actor. He is married to the actress Maaike Jansen.Giraud began his theatrical training in the 1960s and joined Coluche's theatrical company in 1971. Around this time he worked also with the troupe, Le Splendid. His first cinematic role came in 1974 in Michel Audiard's...
  
  
• Richard Gotainer
• Félix Gray
  Félix Gray
  Félix Boutboul, most know under the pseudonym of Félix Gray , is a French singer and songwriter.He has a daughter named Marie-Charlotte, born on 7 January 1991.-Compositions:He has composed texts for various artists :...
  
  
• Serge Guirao
• Johnny Hallyday
  Johnny Hallyday
  Johnny Hallyday is a French singer and actor. An icon in the French-speaking world since the beginning of his career, he was considered by some to have been the French Elvis Presley. He was married for 15 years to one of the most popular French female singers: Sylvie Vartan...
  
  
• Robert Hossein
  Robert Hossein
  Robert Hossein is a French film actor of Azeri origin, director and writer. He directed the 1982 adaption of Les Misérables, and appeared in Vice and Virtue, Le Casse, Les Uns et les Autres and Venus Beauty Institute...
  
  
• Images
• Jaïro
• Véronique Jannot
  Véronique Jannot
  Véronique Jannot is a French actress and singer. She was born in Annecy, Haute-Savoie.-Selected filmography:* The Medic * Thieves After Dark * La dernière image -External links:* *...
  
  
• Patricia Kaas
  Patricia Kaas
  Patricia Kaas is a French singer and actress.Kaas is a very successful French-speaking singer, with an International following...
  
  
• Kimera
  Kimera
  Kimera may refer to:*Kimera of Buganda, a king of the Kingdom of Buganda*Kimera a species in the science fiction television series, Earth: Final Conflict*Kimera , a Korean opera singer...
  
  
• David Koven
• Gilles Lacoste
• Jean-Luc Lahaye
  Jean-Luc Lahaye
  Jean-Luc Lahaye is a French pop singer, former television host and occasional writer. He had his greatest success as a singer in the 1980s, with his songs "Femme que j'aime" and "Papa chanteur" . After more than ten years of absence, he resumed singing in 2004.-External links:*...
  
  
• Francis Lalanne
  Francis Lalanne
  Francis Lalanne is a French singer, songwriter and poet. He is the brother of composer Jean-Félix Lalanne and film director René Manzor.- Studio albums :* 1979: Rentre chez toi...
  
  
• Serge Lama
  Serge Lama
  Serge Lama is a French singer. He was born in Bordeaux.His most famous song is Je suis malade. In 1971 he represented France in the Eurovision Song Contest with the song Un jardin sur la terre, which was placed tenth.-Discography:...
  
  
• Philippe Lavil
  Philippe Lavil
  Philippe Lavil, pseudonym of Philippe Durand de La Villejégu du Fresnay is a French singer. He remained particularly famous for his hits singles "Il tape sur des bambous", "Elle préfère l'amour en mer" and "Kolé séré", a duet with Jocelyne Béroard...
  
  
• Lio
  Lio
  Lio is a singer and actress who was a pop icon in France and Belgium during the 1980s.- Biography :...
  
  
• Marie Myriam
  Marie Myriam
  Marie Myriam is a French singer of Portuguese origins...
  
  
• Didier Marouani
  Didier Marouani
  Didier Marouani is a French composer and musician. He is one of the pioneers in the Electronic music genre.Didier started his career as a pop singer and made his first album with Etienne Roda-Gil as lyricist, he's done concerts tour with Johnny Hallyday, Claude François and Joe Dassin...
  
  
• Mireille Mathieu
  Mireille Mathieu
  Mireille Mathieu is a French chanteuse, and pop singer. Hailed in the French press as the successor to Édith Piaf, she has achieved great commercial success, recording over 1200 songs in nine different languages, with more than 120 million records sold worldwide.-Childhood to early...
  
  
• Fred Mella
• Macha Méryl
• Eddy Mitchell
  Eddy Mitchell
  Eddy Mitchell is a French singer and actor. He began his career in the late 1950s, with the group Les Chaussettes Noires , taking his name from the American expatriate tough-guy actor Eddie Constantine...
  
  
• Pierre Mondy
  Pierre Mondy
  Pierre Mondy, whose real name was Pierre Cuq, born 10 February 1925 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, is a French actor and director.He began his film career in 1949 and has appeared in over 140 films. In 1960, he received international revcognition for the role of Napoléon Bonaparte in the film Austerlitz...
  
  
• Gilbert Montagné
  Gilbert Montagné
  Gilbert Montagné is a French musician, both a pianist and organist, as well as a singer. Blind from birth, he is best remembered for his international hit "The Fool", which was a number 1 single across Europe in 1971...
  
  
• Éric Moréna
  Éric Morena
  Éric Morena is a French singer, made famous by his 1987 hit "Oh ! Mon bateau", which peaked at #22 in France...
  
  
• Nana Mouskouri
  Nana Mouskouri
  Nana Mouskouri , born Ioánna Moúschouri on October 13, 1934, in Chania, Crete, Greece, is a Greek singer who has sold about 300 million records worldwide in a career spanning over five decades, making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time. She was known as Nána to her friends and...
  
  

• Georges Moustaki
  Georges Moustaki
  Giuseppe Mustacchi, known as Georges Moustaki , is a French singer and songwriter of Italo-Greek Jewish origin, best known for his poetic rhythm, eloquent simplicity and his hundreds of romantic songs...
  
  
• Thierry Mutin
  Thierry Mutin
  Thierry Mutin is a French singer of classical music and songwriter , famous for his 1988 hit single "Sketch of Love".-Biography:In 1984, Thierry Mutin released the single "Milliardaire comme personne"...
  
  
• Nacash
• Nicoletta
  Nicoletta
  Nicoletta or Nicoleta may refer to:* Nicoleta Alexandru, singer who represented Romania at the Eurovision Song Contest 2003* Nicoletta Braschi, Italian actress* Nicoleta Grasu, Romanian discus thrower* Nicoleta Onel, Romanian gymnast...
  
  
• Florent Pagny
  Florent Pagny
  Florent Pagny is a French musician. He has also acted in many French films. He records work in French, Italian, Spanish and English, and his greatest hits include "N'importe quoi", "Savoir aimer", "Ma Liberté de penser" and "Caruso" .As of 2008, he has sold 4,268,980 copies of singles,...
  
  
• Vanessa Paradis
  Vanessa Paradis
  Vanessa Chantal Paradis is a French singer, model and actress. She became a child star at 14 with the worldwide success of her single "Joe le taxi"...
  
  
• Popeck
• Jakie Quartz
  Jakie Quartz
  Jakie Quartz is a French singer. Her biggest hit singles in France were "Mise au point" , "Vivre ailleurs" and "À la vie à l'amour" -Albums:* Revue et corrigée -...
  
  
• Rachid
• Serge Reggiani
  Serge Reggiani
  Serge Reggiani was an Italian-born French singer and actor. He was born in Reggio Emilia, Italy and moved to France with his parents at the age of eight...
  
  
• Renaud
  Renaud
  Renaud, born Renaud Séchan, is a French singer, songwriter and actor.Renaud may also refer to:* Renaud , a male French given name* Renaud , a 1783 opera by Antonio Sacchini* Renaud, Quebec, part of Laval, Quebec...
  
  
• Line Renaud
  Line Renaud
  - Early life :Line Renaud was born in Pont-de-Nieppe on 2 July 1928. Her mother Simone was a shorthand typist; her father was a truck driver during the week, but he played trumpet at the weekends, in a local brass band...
  
  
• Pierre Richard
  Pierre Richard
  Pierre Richard is a popular French actor best known for the roles of a clumsy daydreamer in comedy films...
  
  
• Dick Rivers
  Dick Rivers
  Dick Rivers is a French singer and actor who has been performing since the early 1960s. He was an important figure in introducing rock and roll music in France. He is known for being an admirer of Elvis Presley, who highly influenced both his singing and looks...
  
  
• Patrick Sabatier
• Henri Salvador
  Henri Salvador
  Henri Salvador was a French Caribbean singer.-Biography:Salvador was born in Cayenne, French Guiana. His father, Clovis, and his mother, Antonine Paterne, daughter of a native Indian from the Caribbean, were both from Guadeloupe, French West Indies...
  
  
• Michel Sardou
  Michel Sardou
  Michel Sardou is a French singer.He was born in Paris, the son of Fernand Sardou and Jackie Rollin . Contrary to claims common towards the beginning of his career, he is not the grandson of the dramatist Victorien Sardou...
  
  
• Shushana
• Alain Souchon
  Alain Souchon
  Alain Souchon is a French singer, songwriter and actor. He has released 15 albums and has played roles in seven films.-Profile:...
  
  
• Linda de Souza
• Jean-Marc Thibault
• François Valéry
  François Valéry
  François Valéry is a French singer-songwriter and composer.-Biography:...
  
  
• Rosy Varte
  Rosy Varte
  Rosy Varte is a Turkish-born French actress of Armenian descent. She has appeared in 95 film and television shows since 1949...
  
  
• Hervé Villard
• Marina Vlady
  Marina Vlady
  Marina Vlady is a French actress.She won the Best Actress Award at the 1963 Cannes Film Festival for The Conjugal Bed. From 1955 to 1959 she was married to actor/director Robert Hossein...
  
  
• Laurent Voulzy
  Laurent Voulzy
  Laurent Voulzy is a French singer and composer.-Biography:Voulzy originally led the English-pop-influenced Le Temple de Vénus before joining Pascal Danel as guitarist from 1969 to 1974...
  
  
• Jacques Weber
  Jacques Weber
  Jacques Weber is a French actor, director and writer, born in Paris .- Biography :Passionate about drama from his youth, Jacques Weber joined the Conservatoire national supérieur d'art dramatique at the age of 20, and won the prix d'Excellence when he left. He joined Robert Hossein in Reims...
  
  

All the names feature on the single's cover.

Chart performances

Since it was launched, the single was a great success. It went straight to #1 on February 11, 1989 on the French SNEP Singles Chart (Top 50) and remained there for ten weeks. Then it kept on dropping and left the chart after 18 weeks of attendance. The same year, the single was certified Platinum disc

Music recording sales certification

Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...

 by the French certificator, the SNEP.

The song featured for a long time on the Guinness Book of Records because it was the first single to enter the French Singles Chart at #1.

It was also the first appearance of Charles Aznavour

Charles Aznavour

Charles Aznavour, OC is an Armenian-French singer, songwriter, actor, public activist and diplomat. Besides being one of France's most popular and enduring singers, he is also one of the best-known singers in the world...

on the Top 50.

Chart (1989)	Peak position
Eurochart Hot 100	23
French SNEP Singles Chart	1