GOURDON, France – French vocalist Barbara Weldens, 35, was performing at the Festival Léo Ferré in a church in southwest France on the evening of July 19 when she suddenly collapsed and died on stage. The cause of death, still officially unknown, has been reported as cardiac arrest from apparent electrocution. Weldens, who had said on her website that she grew up traveling in a circus, was on the rise, releasing her first album this year after winning the young talent award at the Jacques Brel festival and the Pic D’Or prize last year.
“It was with great emotion that we learned this morning of the death of Barbara Weldens, our Pic d’Or 2016, at a concert last night in Gourdon in the Lot, obviously electrocuted,” noted the organizers of the Pic D’Or, in a statement on July 20.
Local reports noted that Weldens was performing barefoot with a recording device on stage, and that the weather outside the hilltop church was stormy, but authorities are still investigating the incident and have not determined whether electrocution was the cause of death.
