{{Short description|Swiss songwriter and radio show host (1947–2025)}} {{Infobox person | name = Bernie Constantin | image = <!-- filename only, no "File:" or "Image:" prefix, and no enclosing brackets --> | alt = <!-- descriptive text for use by speech synthesis (text-to-speech) software --> | caption = | birth_name = <!-- only use if different from name --> | birth_date = {{Birth date|1947|06|18|df=y}} | birth_place = Ayent, Valais, Switzerland | death_date = {{Death date and age|2025|01|02|1947|06|18|df=y}} | death_place = Anzère, Valais, Switzerland | other_names = | occupation = Songwriter <br/> Radio show host | years_active = | known_for = | notable_works = }}
'''Bernie Constantin''' (18 June 1947 – 2 January 2025) was a Swiss songwriter and radio show host.<ref>{{cite news |last= |first= |date=2 January 2025|title=Le rockeur valaisan Bernie Constantin est décédé à l'âge de 77 ans|url=https://www.rts.ch/info/culture/2025/article/bernie-constantin-rockeur-valaisan-est-decede-a-77-ans-28743128.html|trans-title= |work=Radio Télévision Suisse|language=French|location= |publisher= |access-date=2 January 2025}}</ref>
==Life and career== Born in Ayent on 18 June 1947, Constantin joined his first band, Les Anges Blancs, in the 1960s.<ref>{{cite news |last=Barras|first=François|date=3 July 2008|title=Bernie Constantin, l'iguane rock de Switzerland|url=http://www.24heures.ch/actu/people/2008/07/03/bernie-constantin-iguane-rock-switzerland|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101218141000/http://www.24heures.ch/actu/people/2008/07/03/bernie-constantin-iguane-rock-switzerland|archivedate=18 December 2010|trans-title= |work=24 heures|language=French|location= |publisher= |access-date=2 January 2025}}</ref> The band was named after the wrestler L'Ange Blanc. After a performance at the Swiss National Exhibition in Lausanne, he abandoned his studies in the graphic arts in 1964. He then met musician Brian Jones and took part in a BBC show in Montreux. He then traveled to the United States, where he met Frank Zappa. In the late 1970s, he returned to Switzerland, where he opened a bistro called ''Funky Pétard''. In the 1980s, he became more well-known, releasing the songs "Switzerland Reggae" and "Lola Berlingot", which sold 275,000 and 250,000 discs, respectively.<ref>{{cite news |last=Cerutti|first=Joël|date=18 June 2011|title=L'Iguane des Alpes|url=https://www.scriptorium.ch/zoom/662267/view?page=5&p=separate&search=Bernie%20Constantin&tool=search&view=250,2252,4189,1530|trans-title= |work=Le Matin|language=French|location= |publisher= |access-date=2 January 2025}}</ref>
Every Thursday from 2005 to 2012, Constantin hosted the radio show ''Les Jeudis de Bernie'', broadcast on RTS Couleur 3.<ref>{{cite news |last= |first= |date=16 June 2011|title=Bernie Constantin en son jardin|url=https://www.lenouvelliste.ch/valais/valais-central/herens-district/ayent-commune/anzere/bernie-constantin-en-son-jardin-175128|trans-title= |work=Le Nouvelliste|language=French|location=Ayent|publisher= |access-date=2 January 2025}}</ref> He was often nicknamed the "Alpine Iguana" due to his resemblance to Iggy Pop and a young Mick Jagger.<ref>{{cite news |last=Flückiger|first=Laurent|date=1 August 2015|title="Après mon AVC, ça a été difficile de chanter"|url=https://www.lematin.ch/story/apres-mon-avc-ca-a-ete-difficile-de-chanter-152706557896|trans-title= |work=Le Matin|language=French|location= |publisher= |access-date=2 January 2025}}</ref> His son, Jessie Kobel, was a comedian and hosted ''Get Up, Stand Up'', which prompted an invitation to the Festival Morges Sous-rire in 2016.<ref>{{cite news |last=Seppey|first=Agathe|date=19 September 2016|title=Bernie Constantin et Jessie Kobel: la scène dans le sang|url=https://www.lenouvelliste.ch/valais/bas-valais/entremont-district/val-de-bagnes/volleges-/bernie-constantin-et-jessie-kobel-la-scene-dans-le-sang-580599|trans-title= |work=Le Nouvelliste|language=French|location= |publisher= |access-date=2 January 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Genier|first=Myriam|date=15 December 2020|title="Je suis le roi des sauces"|url=https://epaper-r19.cooperazione.ch/_deploy/CE/20201215/CE15/pdf_noenc/26_4f70e22201.pdf|trans-title= |work=Coopération|language=French|location= |publisher= |access-date=2 January 2025}}</ref> In the summer of 2024, Constantin joined his son on the radio show ''Mon bel été en Suisse'', broadcast on RTS Première.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rts.ch/audio-podcast/2024/audio/jessie-kobel-bernie-constantin-28562295.html|title=Jessie Kobel & Bernie Constantin|work=Radio Télévision Suisse|date=7 July 2024 |language=French}}</ref>
Constantin died in Anzère on 2 January 2025, at the age of 77.<ref>{{cite news |last=Siebenmann|first=Laurent|date=2 January 2025|title=Le chanteur suisse Bernie Constantin est décédé|url=https://www.lematin.ch/story/musique-le-chanteur-suisse-bernie-constantin-est-decede-103250715|trans-title= |work=Le Matin|language=French|location= |publisher= |access-date=2 January 2025}}</ref>
==Publications== * ''Ma vie en rock au pays du rhododendron'' (2022)<ref>{{cite book|url=https://www.leslibraires.fr/livre/21431094-ma-vie-en-rock-au-pays-du-rhododendron-autobi--bernie-constantin-editions-slatkine|title=MA VIE EN ROCK AU PAYS DU RHODODENDRON - Autobiographie|work=Les Libraires|language=French}}</ref> * Preface of ''Nouvelleaks : les chroniques du nouvelliste : 2010-2013'' by {{ill|Slobodan Despot|fr}} (2014)
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{IMDb name|8782658}} * {{discogs artist|Bernie Constantin}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Constantin, Bernie}} Category:1947 births Category:2025 deaths Category:Swiss songwriters Category:People from Hérens District