Choir marks 10th anniversary of Paris terrorist attacks

Le Choeur du 13 singing at the Bataclan 10-year commemoration ceremony — Le Choeur du 13 (Image credit: France 24 English)

Ten years on from the terror attacks in Paris that left 130 dead – including 90 at an Eagles Of Death Metal show at the city's Bataclan Theatre – the victims have been commemorated at a ceremony attended by French President Emmanuel Macron, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, and EODM frontman Jesse Hughes, who performed a version of You'll Never Walk Alone.

A second moving performance was given by Le Choeur du 13 (The Choir of the 13th), a group of 45 singers named after the day of the attacks and comprising choristers directly affected by the events. The choir gave a recital that included the Rival Sons song Shooting Stars, in front of an audience of 1,500 people at the Garden of Remembrance.

“November 13th was pure ugliness," Bataclan survivor Alix tells BFMTV [translated from the original French]. "Everything was ugly. So, with this choir, we wanted to create beauty. We are 45 voices and 45 ways of experiencing this differently."

“Since the Bataclan, I’ve attended two concerts, right next to the emergency exit" says Christian, another survivor. "I’m listening to music again, but alone. This is different: it’s a rebirth to do something collective with music. I haven’t done that for ten years, so it’s truly magical!”

"We are deeply moved that Le Choeur du 13, made up of 45 survivors, relatives of victims and witnesses, chose to sing Shooting Stars today at the ceremony marking 10 years since the attacks at Bataclan and across Paris," says Rival Sons frontman Jay Buchanan. "Witnessing the resilience and reclamation, the resurrection of something so beautiful that hatred, no matter how foul or violent, however blind or deaf it may be, cannot silence.

"Witnessing this is almost more than my heart can bear. We are with you, survivors. We are with you, Paris. We are with you, noble France. We love you. Merci."

Survivors' choir sings Rival Sons at 2015 Paris attacks commemoration ceremony • FRANCE 24 English - YouTube

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Jesse Hughes (Eagles of Death Metal) chante "You’ll never walk alone" pour les 10 ans du 13-Novembre - YouTube

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Online Editor at Louder/Classic Rock magazine since 2014. 40 years in music industry, online for 27. Also bylines for: Metal Hammer, Prog Magazine, The Word Magazine, The Guardian, The New Statesman, Saga, Music365. Former Head of Music at Xfm Radio, A&R at Fiction Records, early blogger, ex-roadie, published author. Once appeared in a Cure video dressed as a cowboy, and thinks any situation can be improved by the introduction of cats. Favourite Serbian trumpeter: Dejan Petrović.

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