2009: Patricia Kaas - Et S'il Fallait Le Faire

Patricia Kaas is a bona fide megastar, and one probably has to go as far back as Céline Dion in 1988 to find an entrant with equally as big a superstar status. Born to a german mother and a french father in Forbach on the 5th December, 1966, Patricia has always been conscious of her multicultural heritage. Her mother Irmgard played a decisive role in nurturing Patricia’s passion for singing as a child, and so she took the first tentative steps towards a career in singing by performances at family gatherings and small events.

Already as young as 13, Kaas displayed her characteristic throaty, slighly nasal vocals which over the years have resulted in constant comparisons to Edith Piaf and Marlene Dietrich. She started out singing with the band Dob’s Lady Killers aged 13 and stayed with them for 7 years.

A chance introduction to film star Gérard Dépardieu seriously set the ball rolling for Kaas’ future career. Dépardieu produced her first single, Jalousie (Jealousy) in 1985. Although the single was released by EMI it was a commercial flop. It did however bring Kaas in contact with French songwriter Didier Barbelivien (France 95) and resulted in her breakthrough with the album Mademoiselle Chante Le Blues (Lady Sings The Blues) in 1987. Her debut album climbed to #2 on the charts and ended up selling to double diamond status (1,000,000+ units). It spawned a number of hit singles, including D’Allemagne (From Germany), Mademoiselle Chante Le Blues, and Mon Mec à Moi (Me and My Guy). The album also catapulted her to stardom in other french speaking countries, attaining platinum status in Belgium and Switzerland as well as gold status in Canada. In 1988 Kaas won the prize Discovery of the Year at the Victoires de la Musique – one of the most prestigious French music awards. She has since gone on to tour the world numerous times, and has released a total of 8 studio albums and 6 live albums, the first three each shifting over a million copies each. In addition, Ms Kaas has more than 20 singles under her belt, with 5 of these selling to silver status 100,000+ copies.

Her most well known albums besides her debut are Scène De Vie (Stage of Life), Je Te Dis Vous (I Call Thee You) and Dans Ma Chair (In My Flesh). Her latest album, Kabaret is a concept album, a tribute to the 1930’s and includes her French entry Et S’il Fallait Le Faire. Although not as commercially succesful as previous efforts in her native France, it has helped cement her popularity in other countries, such as Russia, Finland, Germany, Greece and Poland. The album is a milestone for Kaas, as it includes her first ever self penned number, Le Jour Se Lève (The Day Begins). During the course of her career, Kaas has won no fewer than 6 awards at Victoire de la Musique, 2 World Music Awards as well as a string of others. The German award Bundesverdienstkreuz has also been bestowed upon the artist in 2003 for her efforts in improving Franco-German relations.

Besides her recording career, Patricia Kaas has also tried her hand at modelling and has had a realitively low key acting career, featuring in a film, And Now…Ladies and Gentlemen in 2002. She had been offered the role of Marlene Dietrich in the film Germinal, but the film project floundered regrettably due to financial problems.

Participant Profile

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