Zazie

Bridging the gap between the classic, smouldering chanson singers and the high gloss modern pop divas, Zazie first took the French charts by storm in the early 1990s but endured to remain one of the nation's most popular female singer-songwriters.

Born Isabelle Marie Anne de Truchis de Varennes in the Western Parisian suburbs of Boulogne-Billencourt, she picked up the nickname Zazie from a Raymond Queneau novel at a young age and was raised in an artistic household where she was taught violin, piano and guitar by her music teacher mother. After leaving school she studied psychotherapy and started a modelling career with photoshoots for Yves Saint Laurent and Kenzo, but returned to music with encouragement from songwriter Etienne Roda-Gil and landed a deal with record label Phonogram. She released her debut album 'Je, Tu, Ils' in 1992 but it was followed-up by 'Zen' in 1995 which captured her brand of smart, sexy Euro-pop and reached number eight in the French Charts while the single 'Larsen' won her first award for Best Music Video at the Victoires de la Musique Awards.

Her 1998 record 'Made in Love' was another success and she also wrote Johnny Hallyday's hit 'Light the Fire' and duetted with Pascal Obispo before fourth album 'La Zizanie' took her to the top of the French charts for the first time in 2001. Known for her quirky, eccentric lyrical fantasies, Zazie scored another big hit when she teamed up with rocker Axel Bauer on the track 'A Ma Place', and she reached number one in the French charts again with albums 'Totem' in 2007 and 'Za7ie' in 2010. Along the way she also appeared in the film 'Don't Let Me Die On a Sunday', wrote tracks for Jane Birkin, Christophe Willem and Calogero and became a judge on the TV talent show 'The Voice' before releasing her tenth studio album 'Essenciel' in 2018.