Sheila is a French pop singer, who became successful as a solo artist

Musician

A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....

 in the 1960s and 1970s and later fronted a disco

Disco

Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...

 act called Sheila and B. Devotion

Sheila (and) B. Devotion

Sheila & B. Devotion was a disco group fronted by French singer Sheila between 1977 and 1980. This formation briefly reached popularity in Europe and to a lesser extent in the US club circuit during the disco era...

. Sheila has sold over 24,000,000 copies of records in France and was the top selling artist in France in the 1960s and 1970s. Female artist number 1, and 4 th in the globalSee the book 40 ans de tubes ( 1960–2000 ) written for the SNEP ( French IFPI )

Her stage name "Sheila" came from the title of her first release, a French cover version

Cover version

In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...

 of the American hit by Tommy Roe

Tommy Roe

Tommy Roe is an American pop music singer-songwriter.Best-remembered for his hits "Sheila" and "Dizzy" , critic Bill Dahl wrote that Roe was "widely perceived as one of the archetypal bubblegum artists of the late 1960s, but Roe cut some pretty decent rockers along the way, especially early in his...

.

Career

Sheila started her musical career in 1962, after being noticed by Claude Carrère, a French music producer and songwriter. Since she was 16, her parents signed for her a contract with Carrère. This artistic collaboration lasted for more than 20 years. In 1995 a lawsuit

Lawsuit

A lawsuit or "suit in law" is a civil action brought in a court of law in which a plaintiff, a party who claims to have incurred loss as a result of a defendant's actions, demands a legal or equitable remedy. The defendant is required to respond to the plaintiff's complaint...

 put an end to this life-time deal. She finally won a royalties battle against her former producer.

Sheila had numerous hit

Song

In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...

s in the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, playing the well-behaved young girl. Her first hit was "L'école est finie" (School is over), in 1962 (1 million copies).

In the Eight Women movie, Ludivine Sagnier

Ludivine Sagnier

Ludivine Sagnier is a French actress and model, who has appeared in 33 films since 1989. She was nominated for two César Awards for Best Supporting Actress in Swimming Pool and Un secret .-Early life:...

 sang her 1963 hit "Papa t'es plus dans l'coup" (Daddy, you are not in on it anymore). Sheila's music also features in the 1996 French film Une robe d'été (A Summer Dress). The character Sébastien is a fan of Sheila, and Sheila's version of Cher

Cher

Cher is an American recording artist, television personality, actress, director, record producer and philanthropist. Referred to as the Goddess of Pop, she has won an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, three Golden Globes and a Cannes Film Festival Award among others for her work in...

's "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)

Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)

"Bang Bang " is the second single by singer-actress Cher from her second studio album The Sonny Side of Chér. The song was written by Sonny Bono and released in 1966. The song reached number three in the UK Singles Chart and number two on the Billboard Hot 100...

" is on the soundtrack.

After 15 years of pop music mainly sung in French but also in Spanish, German and Italian, she started singing in English as Sheila and B. Devotion

Sheila (and) B. Devotion

Sheila & B. Devotion was a disco group fronted by French singer Sheila between 1977 and 1980. This formation briefly reached popularity in Europe and to a lesser extent in the US club circuit during the disco era...

 (in some countries records were under the name "Sheila B. Devotion") and changed her style to disco

Disco

Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...

 music. Sheila was accompanied by three male dancers who made up the "Black Devotion" in her routine. She enjoyed international success with hits like "Singin' in the rain", "Love me baby", "You light my fire" or "Spacer" (from the album King of the World

King of the World (album)

King of the World is a 1980 album by French disco act Sheila and B. Devotion. The album which was both written and produced by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers of American R&B band Chic includes the hit single "Spacer" which reached #18 on the UK charts in early 1980 and was a Top 10 hit in most of...

, produced by Chic

Chic (band)

Chic was an African American disco and R&B band that was organized during 1976 by guitarist Nile Rodgers and bassist Bernard Edwards. It is known best for its commercially successful disco songs, including "Dance, Dance, Dance " , "Everybody Dance" , "Le Freak" , "I Want Your Love" , "Good Times"...

), which was later sampled

Sampling (music)

In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...

 for the song "Crying at the Discothèque" by Swedish

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

 pop group Alcazar

Alcazar (band)

Alcazar is a Swedish eurodance group which has established themselves as one of Sweden's most successful music groups with a string of hits since their debut single in 1999. Worldwide, Alcazar sold over 12 million records between 2001 and 2004...

. "Spacer" is one of her biggest hit with more than 5 million copies sold worldwide.
According to different interviews, she often said her experience with Chic

Chic (band)

Chic was an African American disco and R&B band that was organized during 1976 by guitarist Nile Rodgers and bassist Bernard Edwards. It is known best for its commercially successful disco songs, including "Dance, Dance, Dance " , "Everybody Dance" , "Le Freak" , "I Want Your Love" , "Good Times"...

 completely changed her way of working and singing. It was the beginning of a deep artistic disagreement with her French manager Carrère. She then decided to leave France, moved to New York "to start all over again" and studied at the Actors Studio

Actors Studio

The Actors Studio is a membership organization for professional actors, theatre directors and playwrights at 432 West 44th Street in the Clinton neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded October 5, 1947, by Elia Kazan, Cheryl Crawford, Robert Lewis and Anna Sokolow who provided...

.

After her Disco period, Sheila (without the "B.Devotion") recorded in 1981 a rock album called "Little Darlin'" produced by Keith Olsen

Keith Olsen

Keith Olsen is one of the most prolific and successful music producers in the industry.-Career:With over 120 albums produced netting a 1 in 4 Gold or better ratio, of which more than 24 are Platinum or better, and more than 14 are multi-Platinum, sales from Keith Olsen’s work exceeds 110 million...

 (Pat Benatar, Blondie, Fleetwood Mac) and was back in the U.S. Billboard. This album is often considered by many fans as one of her finest work.

She put an end to her artistic collaboration with her manager Carrère at the beginning of the 1980s.
She took a brand new musical direction in 1983 when she met Yves Martin, a composer and producer who later became her husband. She recorded 3 albums under his direction between 1983 and 1988 and her new songs were critically acclaimed. Becoming disillusioned with the music business and record industry, she abandoned her music career between 1989 and 1998. During this break, she wrote 3 successful books, had her own regular TV show, played in a TV series and started making sculptures.

However Sheila had a successful comeback in music in 1998 with a new CD of re-recordings of some of her hits and also new songs, it went gold within one month of release. Thanks to this unexpected success, another CD called "Dense" was released a year later with brand new songs.

Sheila is still very popular, performing successful concerts in 1998 and 2002 at the Olympia, in 2006 at the Cabaret Sauvage with an unplugged concert or on tour with "La Tournée des Idoles" in 2009 and 2010. CD's, VHS or DVD's from her live performances all went gold or platinum.

In 2005 she signed a deal with Warner Music France after many years of negotiation.
All of her recordings, including her self-produced albums can now be released on CD under the same label.
Following this agreement, her complete recordings were issued in an 18 CD box set in 2006. It includes more than 400 songs, unknown recordings, demos, alternative takes, duets, TV performances and German, Italian

Italian language

Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...

, Spanish and English versions of her hits.
In 2007 Warner Music France decided to release separately each of her album on CD with its original artwork and bonus tracks. Most of them are also re-issued on vinyl LP format.

Her album "Little Darlin" was remastered and released in Japan in January 2011 on SHM-CD. This reissue is the replica of the original LP with its Japanese cover. The pictures and artwork are completely different from other international pressings. It also contains the title "Prisoner" as on the first Japanese release in 1981 (it remained unknown on other markets until 1996).
The sound has been definitively improved thanks to the SHM-CD quality and the remastering work of a Japanese team.

Sheila will be celebrating her 50 years in music business on stage in 2012.

Albums

• "Le Sifflet Des Copains" (1963)
• "Ecoute Ce Disque" (1964)
• "Tous Les Deux" (1965)
• "Toujours Des Beaux Jours" (1965)
• "L'Heure De La Sortie" (1966)
• "Dans Une Heure" (1967)
• "Long Sera L'Hiver" (1968)
• "Oncle Jo" (1969)
• "Reviens Je T'Aime" (1970)
• "Love" (1971)
• "Poupée De Porcelaine" (1972)
• "Les Gondoles A Venise" (1973)
• "Sheila & Ringo
  Ringo (singer)
  Ringo , in Toulouse, France, also known as Ringo Willy Cat is a French pop–singer, who became famous in the seventies. According to Billboard magazine he "enjoyed a huge amount of sales" with various hits...
  
  " (1974)
• "Quel Tempérament De Feu" (1975)
• "L'Amour Qui Brûle En Moi" (1976)
• "Singin' in the Rain" or "Love Me Baby" (in certain countries) (1977)
• "King of the World
  King of the World (album)
  King of the World is a 1980 album by French disco act Sheila and B. Devotion. The album which was both written and produced by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers of American R&B band Chic includes the hit single "Spacer" which reached #18 on the UK charts in early 1980 and was a Top 10 hit in most of...
  
  " (1980)
• "Pilote Sur Les Ondes" (1980)
• "Little Darlin'" (1981)
• "On dit" (1983)
• "Je suis comme toi" (1984)
• "Zenith 85" (1985)
• "Tendances" (1988)
• "Olympia – Je Suis Venue Te Dire Que Je M'En Vais" (1989)
• "Le Meilleur" (1998) Re-recordings of her greatest hits and new songs
• "Live At The Olympia" (1999)
• "Dense" (1999)
• "Seulement pour toi" (2002)
• "Jamais Deux Sans Toi" (Live at the Olympia) (2002)
• "Enfin Disponible" (Live at the Cabaret Sauvage") (2007)

Singles

• "Sheila" (1962)
• "L'Ecole Est Finie" (1963)
• "Pendant Les Vacances" (1963)
• "Le Sifflet Des Copains" (1963)
• "La Chorale" (1964)
• "Chaque Instant De Chaque Jour" (1964)
• "Vous Les Copains, Je Ne Vous Oublierai Jamais" / "Ecoute Ce Disque" (1964)
• "Toujours Des Beaux Jours" (1965)
• "C'est Toi Que J'Aime" (1965)
• "Devant Le Juke-Box" (with AKIM) (1965)
• "Le Folklore Américain" (1965)
• "Le Cinéma" (1966)
• "Bang Bang" (1966) cover of Cher's hit
• "L'Heure De La Sortie" (1966)
• "La Famille" (1967)
• "Adios Amor" (1967)
• "Le Kilt" (1967)
• "Quand Une Fille Aime Un Garçon" / "Dalila" (1968)
• "Petite Fille De Français Moyen" (1968)
• "La Vamp" (1968)
• "Arlequin" (1969)
• "Love Maestro Please" / "La Colline De Santa Maria" (1969)
• "Oncle Jo" (1969)
• "Julietta" (1970)
• "Ma Vie A T'Aimer" (1970)
• "Reviens Je T'Aime" (1970)
• "Les Rois mages" (1971)
• "Blancs, Jaunes, Rouges, Noirs" (1971)
• "J'Adore" (with Aldo Maccione)(1971)
• "Sanson Et Dalila" (1972)
• "Le Mari De Mama" (1972)
• "Poupée De Porcelaine" (1972)
• "Les Gondoles A Venise" (1973)
• "Adam Et Eve" (1973)
• "Mélancolie" (1974)
• "Le Couple" (1974)
• "Tu es le soleil" (1974)
• "Ne Fais Pas Tanguer Le Bateau" (1974)
• "C'est Le Cœur" (1975)
• "Aimer Avant De Mourir" (1975)
• "Quel Tempérament de Feu" (1975)
• "Un Prince En Exil" (1976)
• "Patrick Mon Chéri" (1976)
• "Les Femmes" (1976)
• "L'Amour Qui Brûle En Moi (1976)
• "L'Arche De Noé" (1977)
• "Love Me Baby" (first pressing as 'S.B.Devotion')(1977)
• "Love Me Baby" (second pressing as 'Sheila B.Devotion')(1977)
• "Singin' in the Rain
  Singin' in the Rain (song)
  "Singin' In the Rain" is a song with lyrics by Arthur Freed and music by Nacio Herb Brown, published in 1929. However, it is unclear exactly when the song was written with some claiming that the song was written and performed as early as 1927. The song was listed as Number 3 on AFI's 100 Years.....
  
  " (1978) UK
  UK Singles Chart
  The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
  
  # 11 – as 'Sheila B. Devotion'
• "I Don't Need A Doctor" (1978) as 'Sheila B. Devotion'
• "Hotel De La Plage" (OST) (1978) as 'Sheila B. Devotion'
• "Kennedy Airport" (1978)
• "You Light My Fire" (1978) UK #44 – as 'Sheila B. Devotion'
• "Seven Lonely Days" (1979) as 'Sheila B. Devotion'
• "Seven Lonely Days" (New American Recording) (1979) as 'Sheila B. Devotion'
• "No No No No" (1979) as 'S.B. Devotion'
• "Spacer" (1979) UK #18 – as 'Sheila and B. Devotion'
• "King of the World" (1980) as 'Sheila B. Devotion'
• "Pilote Sur Les Ondes" (1980)
• "Les Sommets Blancs De Wolfgang" (1980)
• "Et Ne La Ramène Pas" (1981)
• "Little Darlin'" (1981) as 'Sheila'
• "Runner" (1981) as 'Sheila'
• "Une Affaire d'Amour" (1981)
• "La Tendresse d'Un Homme" (1982)
• "Glori, Gloria" (1982)
• "Tangue Au" (1983)
• "Vis Vas" (12" single only) (1983)
• "Emmenez-Moi" (1983)
• "Jeannie" (1984)
• "Le Film A L'Envers" (1984)
• "Je Suis Comme Toi" (1985)
• "Chanteur De Funky" (1985)
• "Comme Aujourd'Hui" (1987)
• "C'est Ma vie" (1987)
• "Pour Te Retrouver" (1988)
• "Fragile" (1988)
• "Partir" (1989)
• "Le Tam-Tam Du Vent" (new version) (1989)
• "Spacer" (remix by Dimitri From Paris) (1992)
• "On S'Dit Plus Rien" (1992)
• "Spacer" (new recording) (1998)
• "Les Rois Mages 98" (Melchior single mix) (1998)
• "Les Rois Mages 98" (Version Salsa) (1998)
• "Medley Disco" (1999)
• "Dense" (1999)
• "Love Will Keep Us Together" (2000)
• "Toutes Ces Vies" (2002)
• "L'Amour Pour Seule Prière" (2006)

External links

• Biography
• Sheila dans le monde des artistes French