Marianne Faithfull has said she is “not afraid” to be among the first performers to return to the Bataclan concert hall in Paris, where terrorist gunmen killed 90 people last year.
The British singer, who rose to fame in the 1960s, will perform at the venue in November, just over a week after the first anniversary of the massacre by Islamic militants that took place during an Eagles of Death Metal gig. It was part of a coordinated attack across the city that killed a total of 130 people.
“I understand that it’s frightening,” said Faithfull. “And I don’t blame them. But there is no point in being afraid.”
Faithfull said it was important that the venue did not cower in the face of the attacks. “I think music makes people happy … and it can be very healing, which is why [reopening] the Bataclan is a very good thing. And if I can help do that, I am glad,” she said.
The 69-year-old musician, who lives in Paris and Ireland, will perform They Come At Night, a song she wrote after the Paris massacre but which has not yet been released. She said the concert would be a homage to those who died in the attack but also those who survived.
“The fact that I am doing the concert and that I wrote the song speaks for itself,” said Faithfull. “Everybody was completely traumatised by the whole thing. It was just so terrible.”
Faithfull said she had no fear that the Paris venue remained a target for extremists, adding: “I don’t think it will happen again. And if it does, it does. What can you do?”
The music hall, which opened in 1865 and has hosted performers including Velvet Underground, the Clash and Prince, was given a grant of €280,000 (£255,000) to restore it to its former glory.
However, many French musicians invited to perform at the reopened Bataclan have declined. They said their reluctance was not out of fear but that they were not comfortable with celebrating and performing in the same venue where so many innocent people were killed.
The first artist to take to the Bataclan stage in November will be the Libertines frontman Pete Doherty, who has sold out two nights. He will be followed by the Senegalese singer Youssou N’Dour and his Super Étoile de Dakar band. The Muslim musician, who sees himself as an ambassador of peace and tolerance, will play the Bataclan for two nights.
