Natasha St-Pier - Emergence (1996)

A breathy-voiced chanteuse whose polished and unabashedly romantic pop songs have earned her a sizable international audience, Natasha St-Pier first rose to fame in her native Canada before developing a strong following in Europe after relocating to France. Born February 10, 1981 in Bathurst, New Brunswick, she studied piano and dance throughout childhood and made her professional stage debut at age eight. Already a seasoned veteran of the regional festival circuit, St-Pier vaulted to national fame in 1993 via Quebec's famed television amateur showcase Le Pouvoir de la Chanson, making the series' history as the youngest contestant ever to survive to the final round. Her debut single, "Le Parcours du Coeur," soon followed, and at age 14, she issued her first full-length LP, Emergence. In 1999, St-Pier starred in both the French and English versions of the stage musical Notre-Dame de Paris, followed in the spring of 2000 by her second album, A Chacun Son Histoire. At year's end, she also supported Canadian pop star Garou on his European tour. The trek galvanized St-Pier's bid to represent France in the 2001 Eurovision Song Contest, and her rendition of composer Robert Goldman's "Je N'ai Que Mon Âme" placed fourth in the final standings. Her success made her a staple of French music programs and talk shows, and upon its French release, A Chacun Son Histoire went gold. Around the same time, St-Pier befriended singer/songwriter Pascal Obispo, who contributed a wealth of material to her follow-up LP, De l'Amour le Mieux. The lead single, "Tu Trouveras," proved a substantial hit, and after going platinum in France the album vaulted St-Pier to superstar status in Quebec, where she performed her first solo show, Premier Rendez-vous, in mid-2002. After winning Best Newcomer of the Year honors at the 2003 Victoires de la Musique awards, St-Pier joined a number of luminaries in an all-star concert celebrating the 60th birthday of French pop legend Johnny Hallyday. Her Obispo-produced fourth album, L'Instant d'Après, followed that autumn, launching the chart smash "Tant Que C'est Toi." She also issued a Spanish-language edition of De l'Amour le Mieux prior to returning in early 2006 with a new LP, Longueur d'Ondes. In 2008, she released her self-titled sixth studio album and four years later the album Bonne Nouvelle. In September 2013, St-Pier became the host of the French television show Les Chansons D'abord, and was one of the hosts of the French coverage of the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest. She was also a coach on the Belgian edition of the televised music competition The Voice, in 2012 and 2013. In 2015, St-Pier released Mon Acadie, in which she offered her interpretations of a set of classic folk songs. The singer stepped into new musical territory for 2017's L'alphabet des Animaux, an album for children that uses songs about animals to help teach youngsters their ABCs.