Serge Gainsbourg: Paris Metro station to be named after singer

Serge Gainsbourg, is to get the unusual honour of having a Paris Metro station named after him.

The RATP and the town of Lillas agreed to name a station after the singer as part of a scheme to extend the Metro network's line 11.

Stations in the past have been named after writers and politicians, such as Hugo, Dumas and Mitterrand.

The station is expected to be called Les Lilas – Serge Gainsbourg, in homage to the town that the line crosses and to the Gainsbourg song
Le poinçonneur des Lilas.

The song, one of Gainsbourg's best known songs, was his first bit hit, and was originally released in 1958 and appeared on his Du chant à la une! album.

A bronze statue of Gainsbourg is also expected to be installed close to the new station. A park commemorating Gainsbourg was opened in the 19th arrondisement of Paris in 2010.

Work on the new line starts next year and is expected to continue until 2019.