Born in Ethiopia of a French father and an Italian mother, Vignon made many records in France under the Barclay Records label (songs "Quand le Soleil se lèvera" & "Excusez-moi si j'ai 20 ans" were his hits in the 60s), and recorded many records on Columbia Records in the US ("Don't Cry Little Girl" went to #32 on the the top 40s chart in 1964). He appeared 8 times on The Ed Sullivan Show, 33 times on The Merv Griffin Show and 7 times on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.