Real name Chantal Bassignani, the singer of "Notre prof' d'anglais" was born in Marseille on April 8, 1950. She took singing lessons from a teacher, the mother of singer Cris Carol, who recommended her to the Philips label. Her career, which began in 1965 under the name Chantal Kelly, developed rapidly, with a series of successes, the first of which, "Caribou", like the other three songs on the EP, was already signed by Cris Carol, followed by "Les Poupées d' aujourd'hui" (1966) and her biggest hit, "Notre prof' d'anglais ", which, rediscovered thirty years later, would be featured on numerous compilations. Songs orchestrated by Claude Bolling, most of them written by Charles Level, but also by Joe Dassin ("Je n'ai jamais pleuré") and Gérard Manset ("Toi mon magicien"), made up the material for the album Interdit aux Moins de 18 Ans, released in 1967. Despite two further EPs, C'Est Toujours la Même Chanson and La Fille aux Pieds Nus, in the same year, Chantal Kelly failed to recapture the audience of her earlier songs, and retired after two singles released on Marcel Mouloudji's label, "La Chanson du coucou " and "Fragola", with the folk group Los Incas in 1968. The Corsican-born singer returned in 1980 with a new wave album by Chantal Bassi, composed by Philippe Cataldo, for which she wrote a number of songs, including "J'aurai l'air de quoi" (1983) and "Laisse la " (1984).
