Music legend Legrand dies

OSCAR-winning composer Michel Legrand has died at the age of 86.

The Frenchman wrote more than 200 film and TV scores.

In 1968, he won his first Oscar for the song The Windmills of Your Mind from the film The Thomas Crown Affair. Two more Oscars followed in 1971 and 1983 for the best original scores in the movies Summer of ’42 and Yentl.

He also won five Grammys and two top awards at the Cannes film festival. Known for his often jazztinged music, Legrand collaborated with stars such as Miles Davis, Edith Piaf, Ray Charles and Frank Sinatra.

He performed on stage just two months ago and was recently practising piano for an hour a day. He died in his home city Paris.

French President Emmanuel Macron hailed him as a ‘genius’, adding: ‘His unique tunes that run through our heads have become like the soundtracks of our lives.’