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Régine, France's 'queen of the night', dies at 92

Régine, credited with having created the disco format of nightclubs in the 1950s in France, who later opened a chain of nightclubs attracting the wealthy and famous across the globe, and who was also a successful singer and occasional actress, has died at the age of 92.

La rédaction de Mediapart

This article is freely available.

French singer, actress and self-proclaimed inventor of the discotheque Régine has died aged 92, reports BBC News.

The star died peacefully at 110am local time on Sunday, her granddaughter Daphné Rotcajg told AFP.

"The queen of the night has left," Régine's friend, the comic Pierre Palmade, said in a statement on behalf of Régine's family.

Regine's claim she invented the disco originates from the first nightclub she opened in Paris in the 1950s.

The venue in the city's Latin Quarter, which featured turntables and DJs, differed from dance venues with a jukebox, which were commonplace at the time.

This style of nightclub caught on, and later became a multimillion dollar empire for the singer. It comprised 22 venues at its height, with clubs in New York, Rio de Janeiro and Kuala Lumpur.

Régine, whose full name was Régine Zylberberg, "had the stars of the whole world dancing in her nightclubs", Mr Palmade said.

He also recalled how Régine's name "became synonymous with the crazy nights that lasted until the small hours" and how the singer herself "hit the dance floor until closing time".

Read more of this report from BBC News.