Vanessa Paradis was born on 22 December 1972. She had those innate qualities for a singer. Her first solo was released when she was just 14. It was "Joe Le Taxi". It stayed at number 1 in the French charts for 11 weeks, and also found success in the UK and the rest of Europe. She had first entered the studio at the age of 12 under the wing of her uncle, actor Didier Pain. There she met Pain's friend Franck Langolff, who provided the music for her first two albums, which were only released domestically. Noted French writer Serge Gainsbourg wrote all the words for the second of these collections. Further notoriety arrived with an appearance in black feathers on a trapeze for the 1992 Coco Chanel perfume advert, directed by Jean-Paul Goude, former husband of Grace Jones. She spent the first part of 1992 in New York, USA, recording her debut English-language album with the help of rumoured romantic paramour Lenny Kravitz. He wrote and produced the whole of the rather insubstantial Vanessa Paradis, which included a bizarre cover version of the Velvet Underground's "I'm Waiting For The Man". Her popularity in France remained huge despite the eventual lack of success which greeted the album internationally. "Be My Baby" became another major seller, while on her promotional tour Paradis was able to sell out six nights at the Paris Olympia without any difficulty. Critics at home and abroad remained reviled not only by her songs, but also her "little girl lost" sexuality and the largely middle-aged male company she kept.
She concentrated on her acclaimed acting career during the latter part of the decade, appearing in lisa, Un Amour De Sorcire and La Fille Sur Le Pont, although she did return to the studio to record Bliss. Presently her partner is the actor Johnny Depp. |
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