Myriam Abdelhamid, known professionally as Myriam Abel, was born in 1981 in La Grand-Combe, Gard, France, and later pursued a career as a French chanson singer. She began singing at age ten and entered competitions by thirteen, performing songs by Whitney Houston, Céline Dion, Mariah Carey, Donna Summer, Tina Turner and Madonna; she received vocal coaching at Les Voix d’Or under Indira Henni. Abel first appeared on French television in a 1997 France 3 radio-television show, receiving 93% of the vote, and was later noticed by composer Tristan Fedoras, who became her manager and wrote early material for her. Her breakthrough came in 2005 when she won the third edition of M6’s Nouvelle Star, earning a chance to make an album for Sony BMG. She released her debut single “Donne” in late 2005, followed by the album La Vie Devant Toi in December of that year, which peaked at ninth place in French album sales. The Tracy Chapman cover “Baby Can I Hold You” followed in summer 2006 and reached 33rd place in France. In 2011 she released her second album Qui Je Suis, containing “Le Cœur Ailleurs” and “Trop Vite”, which reached 188th place on the French charts. Abel has also collaborated with artists such as Lord Kossity on “R.I.P. Madiba” (2013) and appeared in multiple reality-TV shows, including Les Anges and its spin-offs.
