Punk rock band Camera Silens – Gilles Bertin, upper right
Gilles Bertin (25 March 1961 – 7 November 2019) was a French musician and singer, and a member of the punk band Camera Silens from 1981 to 1986.
Born in Paris on 25 March 1961, Bertin moved to Bordeaux with his parents as a teenager. In Bordeaux, he founded the punk band Camera Silens as a bassist and a singer. The band enjoyed significant success in the French punk rock scene. After he became a drug addict and tested HIV positive, he fell into delinquency.
On 27 April 1988, Bertin participated in a robbery on the Toulouse department of Brink’s along with a dozen other robbers, after two years of preparation. The group stole 11,571,316 francs, despite never firing a shot. To this day, most of the loot has never been found. After police launched “Operation Sangria”, all participants of the robbery were arrested within two years, except for Bertin. He fled to Spain, and then later to Portugal while running a record shop dedicated to alternative rock. In 1995, Bertin fell ill with AIDS, but survived thanks to tritherapy. In 2000, he returned to Barcelona and worked in a bar owned by his family while living under several identities.
On 26 November 2016, Bertin returned to France to face justice. His trial began on 6 June 2018, and he faced 20 years imprisonment. However, Bertin was only sentenced to five years with suspension, after the prosecution cited “good conduct.”
In February 2019, Bertin published an autiobiography, titled Trente ans de cavale, ma vie de punk with the publisher Éditions Robert Laffont.
On 7 November 2019, Gilles Bertin succumbed to AIDS after spending several weeks in a coma. He was 58.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilles_Bertin
For some more interesting background on Gilles, search his name on the internet. Tons of photos of him, his band, and wanted posters regarding the gang of robbers!
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Other Notable Musicians’ Deaths…
November 2019
13: Djaduk Ferianto, 55, Indonesian musician, heart attack.
12: Zoran Hristic, 81, Serbian composer.
11: Bad Azz, 43, American rapper.
10: Werner Andreas Albert, 84, German composer and conductor; Jan Byrczek, 83, Polish- American jazz bassist, founder of Jazz Forum; Wim Magré, 57, Dutch organist.
9: Kehinde Lijadu, 71, Nigerian singer (Lijadu Sisters), stroke.
8: Fred Bongusto, 84, Italian singer, songwriter and film composer (Day After Tomorrow, The Divorce, Come Have Coffee with Us); Ramakant Gundecha, 57, Indian classical singer, heart attack.
7: Gilles Bertin, 58, French singer (Camera Silens) and criminal; Ivan Maksimovic, 57, Serbian rock guitarist (Metro, The No Smoking Orchestra); Nik Powell, 69, British film producer and record executive, co-founder of Virgin Records, Director of the National Film and Television School (2003–2017).
6: John Curro, 86, Australian violinist and conductor.
5: Jan Erik Kongshaug, 75, Norwegian recording engineer and jazz guitarist; Wake Self, 30, American rapper, traffic collision; Michael Sherwood, 60, American musician.
http://www.wikipedia.com