Distel became a professional jazz guitarist. During his career he worked with Dizzy Gillespie and Tony Bennett. He appeared on "The Ed Sullivan Show" in the late 1950s after establishing himself as a French crooner. He rose to fame in 1958 with the song "Brigitte", a homage to Brigitte Bardot, with a photo of the couple on the cover. In the 1960s, he composed "La Belle Vie", a tune that made its way across the Atlantic as "The Good Life" and performed by Tony Bennett. French lyrics were added in the 1970s and it became Distel's signature tune. During the 1960s, he had a variety show on French television. His only British hit single came in 1970 with a cover of "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head", the Oscar-winning Burt Bacharach/Hal David song from the movie "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid". Distel's version reached No. 10 in the UK. In the 1970s, he became popular outside France and hosted the Miss World contest in London in 1977.