Véronique Sanson
Encyclopedia
Véronique Sanson is a two-time Victoires de la Musique
Award-winning French singer-songwriter, musician, and producer with an avid following in her native country.
She brings a very personal vocal style to the singing of French pop songs: Her voice has a very strong vibrato
.
Unlike most previous French artists of the Sixties and early Seventies, who mostly released EP
s usually consisting of a collection of singles, B-sides and covers, Sanson was one of the first female artists to release actual albums with a full-length artistic statement and comprising songs flowing together thematically.
In 1972, her breakthrough album (Amoureuse) was reviewed by many critics as a revolution, and ten years after Barbara, Véronique Sanson became one of the very first French female singer-songwriters to break into stardom.
Over the course of a four-decade career, and despite her tumultuous love life and difficulties in overcoming alcoholism, she has never failed in her artistic career, establishing herself as one of the most prominent artists in France, with an impressive series of hits, sold-out concerts and platinum albums.
Sanson was romantically involved with French singer-songwriter Michel Berger
from 1967 to 1972. Their love story has become a part of French pop culture, especially through songs they wrote to each other long after they broke up. From 1973 to 1979 she was married to American rock musician Stephen Stills
. Their son, Chris Stills
, is also a musician.
"
One of her songs, Amoureuse
, was covered in English in 1973 by singer Kiki Dee
, and became a major hit in the United Kingdom, and has been covered since by various other singers, from Polly Brown
(1973) to Olivia Newton John (1974) and a dance-music version by Illusive, featuring Amanda Abbs (1997). In 1974, Patti Dahlstrom
recorded a second version with her own lyrics, entitled "Emotion", and this new version was covered by Helen Reddy
(1974) and Shirley Bassey
(1975). Many other covers of "Amoureuse" have been recorded in French, German, Japanese...
Véronique Sanson plays piano and guitar. According to the SACEM
, Sanson has sold over 5,8 million albums in her native country alone.
during the German occupation of France. Before the war, René Sanson was a French diplomat in The Hague. When the Nazis invaded the Netherlands, he sent a coded message to warn the French government that Germany was planning to attack France from across the Belgian border. This very message was decoded by Colette, a communication worker at the French Ministry of War. It was not until a few months later that they met in person, in a resistance cell. Both became prominent within the French Resistance
. In 1944, after the bombing of a German train , Colette was arrested and sentenced to death by the occupation force, but she heroically managed to escape. After the liberation of Paris, René Sanson was appointed Minister of Labour in Charles de Gaulle
's provisional government. The couple married in 1945. As a lawyer and an economist, René Sanson remained involved in politics as Member of Parliament and Mayor of the 13th district of Paris until 1967.
Véronique grew up in a very posh and privileged Parisian home. Her parents considered music the finest art there was, and emphasized the musical apprenticeship of their daughters. Her mother introduced her to the guitar, while her father, who was a great fan of jazz, taught her the piano at the age of four. Early on, she displayed great ability and could play complex classical pieces by Mozart, Bach or Gershwin.
At the age of 13, she already composed her own songs, influenced by The Beatles
, Ray Charles
and by Dionne Warwick
's peculiar vibrato. In 1965, she was struck by amnesia
after a severe bout of meningitis
. This experience became a leitmotiv in Sanson's work, as she often expressed a deep nostalgia towards her "forgotten childhood"
, while Violaine Sanson has pursued a career in advertising). What started as a fun adventure ended up as a commercial disaster. Despite their enthusiasm, the three teenagers only managed to sell a few hundreds records, "mostly to their friends, family and pets". However, this experience allowed her to meet with Michel Berger
(who was actually a childhood acquaintance), with whom she began a romantic relationship as well as a prolific artistic career. He introduced her to his record company (Pathé Marconi), and encouraged her to pursue a solo career. Sanson later mentioned that period as her most productive. In an interview, she recalls that she forced herself to write a song per day to keep up with Michel Berger
. Similarities in their musical styles definitely played a tremendous part in their love story. In 1969, she released her first solo single, comprising "Le Feu Du Ciel" and "Le Printemps est là", which met with very little success despite some radio-play on a few Parisian radio stations.
, who asked her to write songs for Isabelle de Funès, niece of French legendary actor, Louis de Funès
. She wrote "Mon voisin", "Une odeur de neige" and "Jusqu'à la tombée du jour" that would later be featured in her 1992 album "Sans Regrets". In 1971, she wrote "La brume de Philadelphie" for Petula Clark
. The song was issued as the B-side of her French single "La Chanson de Marie Madeleine".
At that stage of her life, Sanson's voice had reached maturity, and she suddenly discovered her ability to produce the vibrato that would rapidly become her trademark. She and Michel Berger
had become an inseparable team, and were offered a joint recording contract by Bernard de Bosson, the emblematic CEO of WEA
, the label to which they would remain faithful for the rest of their careers.
In 1972, Sanson finally released the album "Amoureuse", produced by Michel Berger
. The album received a warm welcome from critics, and with the singles "Besoin de personne", "Amoureuse", and "Bahia", it reached the summit of the charts thanks to intensive radio play (2x Gold in only 5 months). Nowadays, songs from this album remain very popular in radio stations' playlists . However, the success of the album had an ironic downside for Véronique, who was terrified of performing in front of an audience and therefore refused to schedule concerts. However, Michel Berger
and Bernard de Bosson believed she could overcome her debilitating fear, and forced her to perform a daily showcase at the Eiffel Tower
's restaurant. Every night she had to perform four songs in front of "a horde of Japanese tourists who couldn't care less about her songs". Nevertheless, she later mentioned it as a necessary experience that helped her conquer her stage-fright, and the same year she appeared as the opening act for some of the biggest stars of the time such as Claude Francois
, Julien Clerc
, and Michel Polnareff
.
"Amoureuse" was closely followed by De l'autre côté de mon rêve, which also became a huge success thanks to the singles "Comme je l'imagine", and "Chanson sur ma drôle de vie". In the meantime, she had attended a concert by Stephen Stills
(Crosby, Stills & Nash) with his new band Manassas in Paris, and met the lead singer, Stephen Stills
. The pair fell in love, and Véronique Sanson left Michel Berger
, just as De l'autre côté de mon rêve was released. (She supposedly went out to buy cigarettes, but never came back...). In Canada the next year (1973), Sanson went on tour as the main act for the first time.
got married in 1973, in Guildford
, England, with notable guests such as The Beatles
and The Who
. She permanently moved to the United States, but returned to France regularly to give concerts and perform on French television. In 1974, she gave birth to her only child, Chris Stills
, in Boulder, Colorado
. Sanson seemed very happy in the United States, where she really blossomed as a complete artist. Being close to Stephen Stills
taught her a lot about producing and recording music. In interviews, she has often mentioned her preference for the American way of making music, in comparison to what she had experienced in France. In that sense, her marriage also marked a new direction to her career, which has led the French media to constantly associate her music with Anglo-Saxon influences (in her career she has recorded most of her albums in the US, and mostly with American musicians). In the TV documentary "La douceur du danger", Véronique Sanson remembers her first year of marriage as artistically frustrating. While she had been constantly pushed by Michel Berger
to work, she did not receive that kind of support from Stephen Stills
, who did not take a lot of interest in what she was doing. However, she finally took the leap, and decided to work on a new album.
Far from home, and without musicians, she enrolled Stephen Stills
's band (Manassas), and decided to produce the album herself, using what she had learned with Michel Berger
and Stephen Stills
. In total contrast with her Beatles-inspired previous albums, the record emerged as a remarkable mixture of pop and rock'n'roll. Still considered by the critics as her best album to date, "Le Maudit" was released in 1974, and reflects a large spectrum of musical influences such as bossa nova in "Alia Souza", or pure Rock'n'roll in "On m'attend là bas". After a tour in Quebec
the same year, she went touring in France, with two concerts at the Olympia
(the ultimate goal for a French artist) with Stephen Stills
on the bass guitar.
In 1976, she began a long-lasting professional collaboration with producer Bernard Saint-Paul (making 12 albums) who would become a close friend of hers. The album Vancouver, recorded in London with British musicians, equals her previous achievements. The album went platinum and got a tremendous amount of radio play, especially the single "Vancouver", one of her biggest hits.
By 1976, Véronique Sanson had become an established star. Her music, very much inspired by "la crème de la crème" of American producers, constituted a rarity in the French musical landscape. Her carefully crafted melodies, her poetic lyrics, and the highly skilled musicians surrounding her, were the main reason of the Sanson phenomenon. The Vancouver tour was concluded by two weeks of concerts at the Olympia
, where her first live album was recorded.
In 1977, "Bernard's Song" the opening song of her 6th album, "Hollywood", is presented as a tribute to Bernard Saint Paul (though she has since denied it). Recorded in Stevie Wonder
's studios in Los Angeles, Hollywood found Sanson combining a disco-inspired sound to pop-driven melodies. Also, this album is often referred to as the most emblematic piece of Sanson's American period. The same year she went on tour across France with Michel Jonasz
as her opening act. Although she lived in the United States most of the time, she managed to remain present in the French musical landscape, travelling back and forth between her home in Colorado and her audience in France.
In 1978, she became the first female artist to perform at "Le Palais des Sports" in Paris (the biggest arena in Paris at that time).
In 1979, she released "7ème", best known for the single "Ma révérence", a tragic ballad with memorable lyrics, that has become her most popular song. Although the main single was a hit, fans usually designate "7ème" as her weakest album. Indeed, it might be fair to say that, in contrast to the rest of her discography, this record is the only one that has not aged gracefully, despite containing some of her best songs ("Toute une vie sans te voir", "Celui qui n'essaie pas", "Mi-maître, mi-esclave"). Overall, the album is quite melancholic, which contrasts with the lightness of "Hollywood" two years earlier. In fact, Véronique Sanson was going through a hard time in her life. She had decided to leave Stephen Stills
and was engaged in a tough juridical battle in American courts for the custody of her son. This album marked the beginning of a darker period for the singer, after a decade that easily qualified as the zenith of Sanson's career. Indeed, she had managed to craft six critically and commercially acclaimed albums in the course of eight years.
In 1983, she permanently settled in France with her son, Christopher, and her boyfriend, actor Etienne Chicot. After a long break, she released an eponymous album in 1985, recorded entirely in France. This untitled album was nicknamed "The white album" by the press, while Sanson often refers to it as "The lil' trees" or "Les p'tits arbres" (the cover features trees painted by Véro over a white background). Reviews were excellent, and die-hard fans were thrilled at the long-awaited reunion with the singer. This synth-driven album included "C'est long c'est court" which became a hit on French radio during the summer of 1985, as well as the ballad "Le temps est assassin". The tremendous success of the 1985–86 tour demonstrated that Véronique Sanson had managed to rally her faithful and patient following, and in November 1985 she began a month-long residence at the Olympia
, performing daily shows.
In 1988, she released the album Moi le venin, which included the highly controversial single Allah
(produced by Michel Berger
). A couple of months after the release of the video directed by Dominic Sena
(Gone in 60 Seconds, Kalifornia
, Swordfish
...), the song was censored in the media, and Véronique Sanson was forced to drop it from her tour's set-list after receiving threats of violence from radical Muslims. As a result of several death threats, she was put under police protection. The controversy arose because of the Muslim tradition forbidding reference to Allah in a song, and occurred just a few weeks after a fatwā
was issued against Salman Rushdie. In response to the uproar, Sanson apologized and pled that the song was really meant to be a message of peace and tolerance. French show-business massively stood up for her, and more than a hundred artists signed a pamphlet against "the diktat
of all forms of radicalism"
In November 1989, Véronique Sanson took part in the first charity tour entitled Les Enfoirés
for Les Restos du coeur
, alongside French rock stars Johnny Hallyday
, Eddy Mitchell
and Jean-Jacques Goldman
. Since then, every year an Enfoirés concert has been held on national television with major stars performing covers to encourage people to donate to the Restos du Cœur, a humanitarian institution providing food to the poor across France.
In 1989, a dream came true for her: to play with a symphonic orchestra. After rehearsals in Czechoslovakia
with the Czech Symphonic orchestra "Fisyo", a series of six concerts started in December 1989. A resulting live album was released the subsequent year. She toured with the Symphonic orchestra for a dozen concerts through France in 1990.
" (the French Singer Songwriter guild) to celebrate her entire recording career. The same year, she released a duet with her friend Catherine Lara
, entitled "Entre elle et moi".
For the first time since 1980, Véronique chose the United States to record her ninth studio album. As usual, she surrounded herself with the best in the business. Sans regrets, issued in 1992, was a tremendous success propelled by the famous single Rien que de l'eau. This song was the result of an unprecedented collaboration with another songwriter, Bernard Swell, a long-time friend. The album went platinum and its first single still remains one of her biggest hits, with over 500,000 copies sold in six months.
In 1993, she won a Victoires de la musique
(French Grammy Awards) for best female singer of the year. In March, she performed at the Zenith de Paris. During these shows, she gave a legendary performance of "Seras-tu là", a song by Michel Berger
, who had died in 1992. The album recorded at the Zenith went platinum and is considered by many to be her best live recording.
Between 1992 and 1995, thanks to the enormous success of her most recent album, Sanson went on tour in France, Belgium, Switzerland and Canada, among other places. During the summer of 1994, at the Francofolies
Festival of La Rochelle
, many artists gathered to pay an emotional tribute to her. For more than two hours, Michel Fugain
, Alain Chamfort
, Yves Duteil
, William Sheller
, Marc Lavoine
, les Innocents
and I Muvrini
, performed some of her biggest hits in duet with a very emotional Véronique. This magical moment gave birth to a live album released the following year. "Comme ils l'imaginent" went 2x Platinum.
In 1995, she married stand-up comedian Pierre Palmade
in Triel-sur-Seine, where she had lived since 1981. In the same year, she recorded a duet with her son Chris Stills
, titled "Run". The song was released on a benefit album for children living with AIDS (Sol En Si). In 1996, she won her second Victoires de la musique
for Best Female Artist of The Year.
Véronique Sanson started the production of a new album in 1997. A video for the first single, "Un etre idéal", was released at the end of the year, before the album itself was even finished. As usual, she recorded the album in the United States. Bernard Swell wrote and produced four of the album's songs. A sold out tour followed the release of the album. "Indestructible" is a controversial albums among fans. Some found it overproduced, while others loved its modernity. It is fair to say that it is the most pop-oriented of her albums since Hollywood in 1977. Although an undoubted commercial hit, "Indestructible" (2x gold) failed to score higher than "Sans regrets" (2x platinum).
During the summer of 1999, Véronique appeared at the Festival "Les Vieilles Charrues". In fact, the singer had in mind to record an album covering some of Michel Berger
's songs, and her performance at "Les Vieilles Charrues" allowed her to test the audience regarding her ambitious project.
--a few well-known, but mostly from his early years—appeared in 2000 (D'un papillon à une étoile). The press loved it, but the reaction of the audience was more ambivalent, especially among Michel Berger
fans, who regarded the album as sacrilegious. However, it became a huge success and went platinum in just a few weeks. It was followed by a majestic tour, produced by Paul Buckmaster
(Elton John's arranger), and eventually by a live album (Avec vous). Véronique surrounded herself with her usual musicians, mostly Americans, as well as a classical ensemble from Prague. Her stage outfits for this tour were entirely created by Yves Saint Laurent himself.
In 2002, after a prolonged absence due to health problems, Véronique Sanson had to cancel a solo tour on which she would have accompanied herself only on piano.
However, in September 2004, a few months after the press had announced her divorce from Pierre Palmade, she released a come-back album titled Longue Distance, produced by long-time friends Bernard Swell and Bernard Saint-Paul. Her 2005 tour was a triumph, spiced up by nine concerts in the mythical Olympia
, during which she recorded her eighth live album.
In her autobiography, La Douceur du Danger (written with Didier Varrod), she depicts the most striking events of her life, particularly her alcoholism, and her love life.
The "best-of", titled Petits moments choisis, was released in November 2007, just as she started an unusually long tour. This lasted until summer 2009, and is considered by many as her best since 1993–1996. In December 2008, the 22CD/4DVD collection "Et voilà", including all her albums and videos plus a great many previously unreleased tracks, sold out in less than a month.
In October 2008, she joined her ex-husband Stephen Stills
, and her son Chris Stills
, on the stage of the Olympia
, to perform a family version of Stills's "Love the one you're with".
In November 2008, famous rapper Jay-Z
released a song called "History", to honor the election of US President Barack Obama
. The song is based on samples and melodies from Véronique Sanson's 1972 recording of "Une nuit sur son épaule" (the original solo version, not the 1995 duet with Marc Lavoine). Jay-Z
's song features Véronique on background vocals. In December 2008, she declared on Canal Plus's "Le Grand Journal" that she appreciated it, but would have preferred to be asked beforehand.
French-Canadian pop star Ima released a salsa-inspired reworking of "Chanson sur ma drôle de vie", followed in February 2009 by an associated video. Additionally, singer Lara Fabian
released a cover version of "Amoureuse" in June on her studio album Toutes les femmes en moi
.
.
Before a concert in Jerusalem in June 2009, Sanson announced she was about to start working on a new album.
The album, titled "Plusieurs lunes" ("Many Moons") was released on 25 October 2010, and debuted at number 3 on the French charts. Plusieurs Lunes caught the attention of the press who widely celebrated and highlighted the return of the real Sanson after a couple of fairly disappointing albums ("Indestructible" and "Longue Distance"). A song from this new piece, "La nuit se fait attendre", was made available on her official website in June 2010, while the second single, "Qu'on me pardonne" (written by her sister Violaine Sanson) was released in early October. After a week long residence at the Olympia
in March 2011, Sanson is currently on tour across France.
Victoires de la Musique
Victoires de la musique , is an annual French award ceremony that recognizes the best musical artists of the year.- Male artist of the year :*1985 : Michel Jonasz*1986 : Jean-Jacques Goldman*1987 : Johnny Hallyday...
Award-winning French singer-songwriter, musician, and producer with an avid following in her native country.
She brings a very personal vocal style to the singing of French pop songs: Her voice has a very strong vibrato
Vibrato
Vibrato is a musical effect consisting of a regular, pulsating change of pitch. It is used to add expression to vocal and instrumental music. Vibrato is typically characterised in terms of two factors: the amount of pitch variation and the speed with which the pitch is varied .-Vibrato and...
.
Unlike most previous French artists of the Sixties and early Seventies, who mostly released EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
s usually consisting of a collection of singles, B-sides and covers, Sanson was one of the first female artists to release actual albums with a full-length artistic statement and comprising songs flowing together thematically.
In 1972, her breakthrough album (Amoureuse) was reviewed by many critics as a revolution, and ten years after Barbara, Véronique Sanson became one of the very first French female singer-songwriters to break into stardom.
Over the course of a four-decade career, and despite her tumultuous love life and difficulties in overcoming alcoholism, she has never failed in her artistic career, establishing herself as one of the most prominent artists in France, with an impressive series of hits, sold-out concerts and platinum albums.
Sanson was romantically involved with French singer-songwriter Michel Berger
Michel Berger
Michel Berger , born Michel Jean Hamburger, was a very successful French singer and songwriter. He was a central figure of France's pop music scene for two decades both as a singer and as a songwriter for well-known French artists like his wife France Gall, Françoise Hardy and Johnny Hallyday...
from 1967 to 1972. Their love story has become a part of French pop culture, especially through songs they wrote to each other long after they broke up. From 1973 to 1979 she was married to American rock musician Stephen Stills
Stephen Stills
Stephen Arthur Stills is an American guitarist and singer/songwriter best known for his work with Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills & Nash . He has performed on a professional level in several other bands as well as maintaining a solo career at the same time...
. Their son, Chris Stills
Chris Stills
Chris Stills is the son of American rock musician Stephen Stills and French singer-songwriter Véronique Sanson...
, is also a musician.
"
One of her songs, Amoureuse
Amoureuse
"Amoureuse" is the title of a French language composition by Véronique Sanson introduced on her 1972 album of the same name.; rendered in English the song became a hit single for Kiki Dee and - as "Emotion" - for Helen Reddy....
, was covered in English in 1973 by singer Kiki Dee
Kiki Dee
Kiki Dee is an English singer with a career spanning more than 40 years....
, and became a major hit in the United Kingdom, and has been covered since by various other singers, from Polly Brown
Polly Brown
Polly Brown is an English singer. A member of Pickettywitch and Sweet Dreams - and with each group lead singer on a Top Ten hit, respectively "That Same Old Feeling" and "Honey Honey" - Brown had an international solo hit in 1975 with "Up in a Puff of Smoke".-Biography:Brown recorded with...
(1973) to Olivia Newton John (1974) and a dance-music version by Illusive, featuring Amanda Abbs (1997). In 1974, Patti Dahlstrom
Patti Dahlstrom
Patti Dahlstrom is a widely respected singer/songwriter, recording artist and teacher. Born in Texas, she cut four albums in the seventies, and co-wrote the Helen Reddy hit "Emotion", before enjoying a renaissance and renewed visibility in 2010.-Early life:...
recorded a second version with her own lyrics, entitled "Emotion", and this new version was covered by Helen Reddy
Helen Reddy
Helen Reddy , often referred to as "The Queen of 70s Pop", is an Australian-American singer and actress. In the 1970s, she enjoyed international success, especially in the United States, where she placed fifteen singles in the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100. Six of those 15 songs made the Top 10...
(1974) and Shirley Bassey
Shirley Bassey
Dame Shirley Bassey, DBE , is a Welsh singer. She found fame in the late 1950s and was "one of the most popular female vocalists in Britain during the last half of the 20th century"...
(1975). Many other covers of "Amoureuse" have been recorded in French, German, Japanese...
Véronique Sanson plays piano and guitar. According to the SACEM
Société des auteurs, compositeurs et éditeurs de musique
Société des auteurs, compositeurs et éditeurs de musique is a French professional association collecting payments of artists’ rights and distributing the rights to the original songwriters, composers and music publishers.-History:...
, Sanson has sold over 5,8 million albums in her native country alone.
Childhood and family
Véronique Sanson grew up in the memory of World War II. Both her parents, René and Colette Sanson were members of the French ResistanceFrench Resistance
The French Resistance is the name used to denote the collection of French resistance movements that fought against the Nazi German occupation of France and against the collaborationist Vichy régime during World War II...
during the German occupation of France. Before the war, René Sanson was a French diplomat in The Hague. When the Nazis invaded the Netherlands, he sent a coded message to warn the French government that Germany was planning to attack France from across the Belgian border. This very message was decoded by Colette, a communication worker at the French Ministry of War. It was not until a few months later that they met in person, in a resistance cell. Both became prominent within the French Resistance
French Resistance
The French Resistance is the name used to denote the collection of French resistance movements that fought against the Nazi German occupation of France and against the collaborationist Vichy régime during World War II...
. In 1944, after the bombing of a German train , Colette was arrested and sentenced to death by the occupation force, but she heroically managed to escape. After the liberation of Paris, René Sanson was appointed Minister of Labour in Charles de Gaulle
Charles de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969....
's provisional government. The couple married in 1945. As a lawyer and an economist, René Sanson remained involved in politics as Member of Parliament and Mayor of the 13th district of Paris until 1967.
Véronique grew up in a very posh and privileged Parisian home. Her parents considered music the finest art there was, and emphasized the musical apprenticeship of their daughters. Her mother introduced her to the guitar, while her father, who was a great fan of jazz, taught her the piano at the age of four. Early on, she displayed great ability and could play complex classical pieces by Mozart, Bach or Gershwin.
At the age of 13, she already composed her own songs, influenced by The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
, Ray Charles
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson , known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records...
and by Dionne Warwick
Dionne Warwick
Dionne Warwick is an American singer, actress and TV show host, who became a United Nations Global Ambassador for the Food and Agriculture Organization, and a United States Ambassador of Health....
's peculiar vibrato. In 1965, she was struck by amnesia
Amnesia
Amnesia is a condition in which one's memory is lost. The causes of amnesia have traditionally been divided into categories. Memory appears to be stored in several parts of the limbic system of the brain, and any condition that interferes with the function of this system can cause amnesia...
after a severe bout of meningitis
Meningitis
Meningitis is inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, known collectively as the meninges. The inflammation may be caused by infection with viruses, bacteria, or other microorganisms, and less commonly by certain drugs...
. This experience became a leitmotiv in Sanson's work, as she often expressed a deep nostalgia towards her "forgotten childhood"
Discovery and early recordings: the late 1960s
In 1967, her career began in a trio, the Roche-Martin, with François Bernheim and her sister Violaine Sanson. (Bernheim is currently a songwriter for many notable recording artists including Patricia KaasPatricia Kaas
Patricia Kaas is a French singer and actress.Kaas is a very successful French-speaking singer, with an International following...
, while Violaine Sanson has pursued a career in advertising). What started as a fun adventure ended up as a commercial disaster. Despite their enthusiasm, the three teenagers only managed to sell a few hundreds records, "mostly to their friends, family and pets". However, this experience allowed her to meet with Michel Berger
Michel Berger
Michel Berger , born Michel Jean Hamburger, was a very successful French singer and songwriter. He was a central figure of France's pop music scene for two decades both as a singer and as a songwriter for well-known French artists like his wife France Gall, Françoise Hardy and Johnny Hallyday...
(who was actually a childhood acquaintance), with whom she began a romantic relationship as well as a prolific artistic career. He introduced her to his record company (Pathé Marconi), and encouraged her to pursue a solo career. Sanson later mentioned that period as her most productive. In an interview, she recalls that she forced herself to write a song per day to keep up with Michel Berger
Michel Berger
Michel Berger , born Michel Jean Hamburger, was a very successful French singer and songwriter. He was a central figure of France's pop music scene for two decades both as a singer and as a songwriter for well-known French artists like his wife France Gall, Françoise Hardy and Johnny Hallyday...
. Similarities in their musical styles definitely played a tremendous part in their love story. In 1969, she released her first solo single, comprising "Le Feu Du Ciel" and "Le Printemps est là", which met with very little success despite some radio-play on a few Parisian radio stations.
The Breakthrough: the early 1970s
After the commercial failure of her first single, her contract with Pathé Marconi was severed. However, she remained convinced that music was her calling. She kept on working with Michel BergerMichel Berger
Michel Berger , born Michel Jean Hamburger, was a very successful French singer and songwriter. He was a central figure of France's pop music scene for two decades both as a singer and as a songwriter for well-known French artists like his wife France Gall, Françoise Hardy and Johnny Hallyday...
, who asked her to write songs for Isabelle de Funès, niece of French legendary actor, Louis de Funès
Louis de Funès
Louis Germain David de Funès de Galarza was a very popular French actor who is one of the giants of French comedy alongside André Bourvil and Fernandel...
. She wrote "Mon voisin", "Une odeur de neige" and "Jusqu'à la tombée du jour" that would later be featured in her 1992 album "Sans Regrets". In 1971, she wrote "La brume de Philadelphie" for Petula Clark
Petula Clark
Petula Clark, CBE is an English singer, actress, and composer whose career has spanned seven decades.Clark's professional career began as an entertainer on BBC Radio during World War II...
. The song was issued as the B-side of her French single "La Chanson de Marie Madeleine".
At that stage of her life, Sanson's voice had reached maturity, and she suddenly discovered her ability to produce the vibrato that would rapidly become her trademark. She and Michel Berger
Michel Berger
Michel Berger , born Michel Jean Hamburger, was a very successful French singer and songwriter. He was a central figure of France's pop music scene for two decades both as a singer and as a songwriter for well-known French artists like his wife France Gall, Françoise Hardy and Johnny Hallyday...
had become an inseparable team, and were offered a joint recording contract by Bernard de Bosson, the emblematic CEO of WEA
Warner Music Group
Warner Music Group is the third largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry, making it one of the big four record companies...
, the label to which they would remain faithful for the rest of their careers.
In 1972, Sanson finally released the album "Amoureuse", produced by Michel Berger
Michel Berger
Michel Berger , born Michel Jean Hamburger, was a very successful French singer and songwriter. He was a central figure of France's pop music scene for two decades both as a singer and as a songwriter for well-known French artists like his wife France Gall, Françoise Hardy and Johnny Hallyday...
. The album received a warm welcome from critics, and with the singles "Besoin de personne", "Amoureuse", and "Bahia", it reached the summit of the charts thanks to intensive radio play (2x Gold in only 5 months). Nowadays, songs from this album remain very popular in radio stations' playlists . However, the success of the album had an ironic downside for Véronique, who was terrified of performing in front of an audience and therefore refused to schedule concerts. However, Michel Berger
Michel Berger
Michel Berger , born Michel Jean Hamburger, was a very successful French singer and songwriter. He was a central figure of France's pop music scene for two decades both as a singer and as a songwriter for well-known French artists like his wife France Gall, Françoise Hardy and Johnny Hallyday...
and Bernard de Bosson believed she could overcome her debilitating fear, and forced her to perform a daily showcase at the Eiffel Tower
Eiffel Tower
The Eiffel Tower is a puddle iron lattice tower located on the Champ de Mars in Paris. Built in 1889, it has become both a global icon of France and one of the most recognizable structures in the world...
's restaurant. Every night she had to perform four songs in front of "a horde of Japanese tourists who couldn't care less about her songs". Nevertheless, she later mentioned it as a necessary experience that helped her conquer her stage-fright, and the same year she appeared as the opening act for some of the biggest stars of the time such as Claude Francois
Claude François
Claude François was a French pop singer, songwriter and dancer. He wrote "Comme d'habitude," the original version of "My Way."-Early life:...
, Julien Clerc
Julien Clerc
Julien Clerc, , born as Paul Alain Leclerc on 4 October 1947 in Paris, Clerc's parents divorced when he was still young. He grew up listening to classical music in his father's home, while his mother introduced him to the music of such singers as Georges Brassens and Edith Piaf...
, and Michel Polnareff
Michel Polnareff
Michel Polnareff, born in Nérac on 3 July 1944, is a French singer-songwriter who was very popular from the mid-1960s until the early 1980s...
.
"Amoureuse" was closely followed by De l'autre côté de mon rêve, which also became a huge success thanks to the singles "Comme je l'imagine", and "Chanson sur ma drôle de vie". In the meantime, she had attended a concert by Stephen Stills
Stephen Stills
Stephen Arthur Stills is an American guitarist and singer/songwriter best known for his work with Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills & Nash . He has performed on a professional level in several other bands as well as maintaining a solo career at the same time...
(Crosby, Stills & Nash) with his new band Manassas in Paris, and met the lead singer, Stephen Stills
Stephen Stills
Stephen Arthur Stills is an American guitarist and singer/songwriter best known for his work with Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills & Nash . He has performed on a professional level in several other bands as well as maintaining a solo career at the same time...
. The pair fell in love, and Véronique Sanson left Michel Berger
Michel Berger
Michel Berger , born Michel Jean Hamburger, was a very successful French singer and songwriter. He was a central figure of France's pop music scene for two decades both as a singer and as a songwriter for well-known French artists like his wife France Gall, Françoise Hardy and Johnny Hallyday...
, just as De l'autre côté de mon rêve was released. (She supposedly went out to buy cigarettes, but never came back...). In Canada the next year (1973), Sanson went on tour as the main act for the first time.
The American Period: 1973–1981
Despite her doubts, Véronique Sanson and Stephen StillsStephen Stills
Stephen Arthur Stills is an American guitarist and singer/songwriter best known for his work with Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills & Nash . He has performed on a professional level in several other bands as well as maintaining a solo career at the same time...
got married in 1973, in Guildford
Guildford
Guildford is the county town of Surrey. England, as well as the seat for the borough of Guildford and the administrative headquarters of the South East England region...
, England, with notable guests such as The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
and The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
. She permanently moved to the United States, but returned to France regularly to give concerts and perform on French television. In 1974, she gave birth to her only child, Chris Stills
Chris Stills
Chris Stills is the son of American rock musician Stephen Stills and French singer-songwriter Véronique Sanson...
, in Boulder, Colorado
Boulder, Colorado
Boulder is the county seat and most populous city of Boulder County and the 11th most populous city in the U.S. state of Colorado. Boulder is located at the base of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains at an elevation of...
. Sanson seemed very happy in the United States, where she really blossomed as a complete artist. Being close to Stephen Stills
Stephen Stills
Stephen Arthur Stills is an American guitarist and singer/songwriter best known for his work with Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills & Nash . He has performed on a professional level in several other bands as well as maintaining a solo career at the same time...
taught her a lot about producing and recording music. In interviews, she has often mentioned her preference for the American way of making music, in comparison to what she had experienced in France. In that sense, her marriage also marked a new direction to her career, which has led the French media to constantly associate her music with Anglo-Saxon influences (in her career she has recorded most of her albums in the US, and mostly with American musicians). In the TV documentary "La douceur du danger", Véronique Sanson remembers her first year of marriage as artistically frustrating. While she had been constantly pushed by Michel Berger
Michel Berger
Michel Berger , born Michel Jean Hamburger, was a very successful French singer and songwriter. He was a central figure of France's pop music scene for two decades both as a singer and as a songwriter for well-known French artists like his wife France Gall, Françoise Hardy and Johnny Hallyday...
to work, she did not receive that kind of support from Stephen Stills
Stephen Stills
Stephen Arthur Stills is an American guitarist and singer/songwriter best known for his work with Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills & Nash . He has performed on a professional level in several other bands as well as maintaining a solo career at the same time...
, who did not take a lot of interest in what she was doing. However, she finally took the leap, and decided to work on a new album.
Far from home, and without musicians, she enrolled Stephen Stills
Stephen Stills
Stephen Arthur Stills is an American guitarist and singer/songwriter best known for his work with Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills & Nash . He has performed on a professional level in several other bands as well as maintaining a solo career at the same time...
's band (Manassas), and decided to produce the album herself, using what she had learned with Michel Berger
Michel Berger
Michel Berger , born Michel Jean Hamburger, was a very successful French singer and songwriter. He was a central figure of France's pop music scene for two decades both as a singer and as a songwriter for well-known French artists like his wife France Gall, Françoise Hardy and Johnny Hallyday...
and Stephen Stills
Stephen Stills
Stephen Arthur Stills is an American guitarist and singer/songwriter best known for his work with Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills & Nash . He has performed on a professional level in several other bands as well as maintaining a solo career at the same time...
. In total contrast with her Beatles-inspired previous albums, the record emerged as a remarkable mixture of pop and rock'n'roll. Still considered by the critics as her best album to date, "Le Maudit" was released in 1974, and reflects a large spectrum of musical influences such as bossa nova in "Alia Souza", or pure Rock'n'roll in "On m'attend là bas". After a tour in Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
the same year, she went touring in France, with two concerts at the Olympia
Paris Olympia
The Olympia is a music hall in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. Located at No. 28, Boulevard des Capucines, its closest métro/RER stations are Madeleine, Opéra, Havre – Caumartin and Auber....
(the ultimate goal for a French artist) with Stephen Stills
Stephen Stills
Stephen Arthur Stills is an American guitarist and singer/songwriter best known for his work with Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills & Nash . He has performed on a professional level in several other bands as well as maintaining a solo career at the same time...
on the bass guitar.
In 1976, she began a long-lasting professional collaboration with producer Bernard Saint-Paul (making 12 albums) who would become a close friend of hers. The album Vancouver, recorded in London with British musicians, equals her previous achievements. The album went platinum and got a tremendous amount of radio play, especially the single "Vancouver", one of her biggest hits.
By 1976, Véronique Sanson had become an established star. Her music, very much inspired by "la crème de la crème" of American producers, constituted a rarity in the French musical landscape. Her carefully crafted melodies, her poetic lyrics, and the highly skilled musicians surrounding her, were the main reason of the Sanson phenomenon. The Vancouver tour was concluded by two weeks of concerts at the Olympia
Paris Olympia
The Olympia is a music hall in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. Located at No. 28, Boulevard des Capucines, its closest métro/RER stations are Madeleine, Opéra, Havre – Caumartin and Auber....
, where her first live album was recorded.
In 1977, "Bernard's Song" the opening song of her 6th album, "Hollywood", is presented as a tribute to Bernard Saint Paul (though she has since denied it). Recorded in Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
's studios in Los Angeles, Hollywood found Sanson combining a disco-inspired sound to pop-driven melodies. Also, this album is often referred to as the most emblematic piece of Sanson's American period. The same year she went on tour across France with Michel Jonasz
Michel Jonasz
Michel Jonasz is a French composer-songwriter, singer and actor. His compositions include: La boîte de jazz, Joueurs de blues and Les vacances au bord de la mer....
as her opening act. Although she lived in the United States most of the time, she managed to remain present in the French musical landscape, travelling back and forth between her home in Colorado and her audience in France.
In 1978, she became the first female artist to perform at "Le Palais des Sports" in Paris (the biggest arena in Paris at that time).
In 1979, she released "7ème", best known for the single "Ma révérence", a tragic ballad with memorable lyrics, that has become her most popular song. Although the main single was a hit, fans usually designate "7ème" as her weakest album. Indeed, it might be fair to say that, in contrast to the rest of her discography, this record is the only one that has not aged gracefully, despite containing some of her best songs ("Toute une vie sans te voir", "Celui qui n'essaie pas", "Mi-maître, mi-esclave"). Overall, the album is quite melancholic, which contrasts with the lightness of "Hollywood" two years earlier. In fact, Véronique Sanson was going through a hard time in her life. She had decided to leave Stephen Stills
Stephen Stills
Stephen Arthur Stills is an American guitarist and singer/songwriter best known for his work with Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills & Nash . He has performed on a professional level in several other bands as well as maintaining a solo career at the same time...
and was engaged in a tough juridical battle in American courts for the custody of her son. This album marked the beginning of a darker period for the singer, after a decade that easily qualified as the zenith of Sanson's career. Indeed, she had managed to craft six critically and commercially acclaimed albums in the course of eight years.
Period of Transition: The 1980's
The transition toward the 1980s was difficult and challenging. Still tied to America by her son (of whom she did not gain full custody until 1983), she continued to split her time between the USA and France. After the general disappointment of "7ème", fans and critics were enthusiastic when her new album came out in 1981 (" Laisse-la vivre"). Though the record contained no memorable hit singles, it emerged as a remarkable ensemble of well-crafted songs. The album went 2x gold, and she spent the following year on the road, managing to draw large audiences during a tour that ended with three weeks in a row at the Palais des Sports of Paris.In 1983, she permanently settled in France with her son, Christopher, and her boyfriend, actor Etienne Chicot. After a long break, she released an eponymous album in 1985, recorded entirely in France. This untitled album was nicknamed "The white album" by the press, while Sanson often refers to it as "The lil' trees" or "Les p'tits arbres" (the cover features trees painted by Véro over a white background). Reviews were excellent, and die-hard fans were thrilled at the long-awaited reunion with the singer. This synth-driven album included "C'est long c'est court" which became a hit on French radio during the summer of 1985, as well as the ballad "Le temps est assassin". The tremendous success of the 1985–86 tour demonstrated that Véronique Sanson had managed to rally her faithful and patient following, and in November 1985 she began a month-long residence at the Olympia
Paris Olympia
The Olympia is a music hall in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. Located at No. 28, Boulevard des Capucines, its closest métro/RER stations are Madeleine, Opéra, Havre – Caumartin and Auber....
, performing daily shows.
In 1988, she released the album Moi le venin, which included the highly controversial single Allah
Allah
Allah is a word for God used in the context of Islam. In Arabic, the word means simply "God". It is used primarily by Muslims and Bahá'ís, and often, albeit not exclusively, used by Arabic-speaking Eastern Catholic Christians, Maltese Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox Christians, Mizrahi Jews and...
(produced by Michel Berger
Michel Berger
Michel Berger , born Michel Jean Hamburger, was a very successful French singer and songwriter. He was a central figure of France's pop music scene for two decades both as a singer and as a songwriter for well-known French artists like his wife France Gall, Françoise Hardy and Johnny Hallyday...
). A couple of months after the release of the video directed by Dominic Sena
Dominic Sena
-Life and career:Sena was born in Niles, Ohio. He is of Italian-American heritage. His family hails from the town of Bagnoli Irpino, Avellino, Italy. As one of the founders of Propaganda Films, Sena worked primarily in music videos early in his career. Sena directed several of Janet Jackson's...
(Gone in 60 Seconds, Kalifornia
Kalifornia
Kalifornia is an American thriller/road film, directed by Dominic Sena and starring Brad Pitt, Juliette Lewis, David Duchovny, and Michelle Forbes. The film focuses on an aspiring writer and his photographer girlfriend who are traveling cross-country to research serial killers...
, Swordfish
Swordfish (film)
Swordfish is a 2001 crime-thriller film, directed by Dominic Sena and starring John Travolta, Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Don Cheadle and Vinnie Jones. The film is an action thriller that was also notable for Halle Berry's first topless scene...
...), the song was censored in the media, and Véronique Sanson was forced to drop it from her tour's set-list after receiving threats of violence from radical Muslims. As a result of several death threats, she was put under police protection. The controversy arose because of the Muslim tradition forbidding reference to Allah in a song, and occurred just a few weeks after a fatwā
Fatwa
A fatwā in the Islamic faith is a juristic ruling concerning Islamic law issued by an Islamic scholar. In Sunni Islam any fatwā is non-binding, whereas in Shia Islam it could be considered by an individual as binding, depending on his or her relation to the scholar. The person who issues a fatwā...
was issued against Salman Rushdie. In response to the uproar, Sanson apologized and pled that the song was really meant to be a message of peace and tolerance. French show-business massively stood up for her, and more than a hundred artists signed a pamphlet against "the diktat
Diktat
A diktat is a harsh penalty or settlement imposed upon a defeated party by the victor, or a dogmatic decree. Historically, it was particularly used in Germany to refer to the Treaty of Versailles....
of all forms of radicalism"
In November 1989, Véronique Sanson took part in the first charity tour entitled Les Enfoirés
Les Enfoirés
Les Enfoirés , is the name given to the singers and performers in the yearly charity concert for the Restaurants du Cœur .-History:...
for Les Restos du coeur
Restaurants du Cœur
The Restaurants du Cœur is a French charitable organisation, the main activity of which is to distribute food packages and hot meals to the needy....
, alongside French rock stars Johnny Hallyday
Johnny Hallyday
Johnny Hallyday is a French singer and actor. An icon in the French-speaking world since the beginning of his career, he was considered by some to have been the French Elvis Presley. He was married for 15 years to one of the most popular French female singers: Sylvie Vartan...
, Eddy Mitchell
Eddy Mitchell
Eddy Mitchell is a French singer and actor. He began his career in the late 1950s, with the group Les Chaussettes Noires , taking his name from the American expatriate tough-guy actor Eddie Constantine...
and Jean-Jacques Goldman
Jean-Jacques Goldman
Jean-Jacques Goldman is a Grammy Awards-winning French singer-songwriter. He is hugely popular in the French-speaking world, and since 2003 was the second-highest-grossing French living pop singer, after Johnny Hallyday.- Biography :...
. Since then, every year an Enfoirés concert has been held on national television with major stars performing covers to encourage people to donate to the Restos du Cœur, a humanitarian institution providing food to the poor across France.
In 1989, a dream came true for her: to play with a symphonic orchestra. After rehearsals in Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
with the Czech Symphonic orchestra "Fisyo", a series of six concerts started in December 1989. A resulting live album was released the subsequent year. She toured with the Symphonic orchestra for a dozen concerts through France in 1990.
The Glorious 1990s
In 1991, Véronique Sanson received the Grand Prix of "la SACEMSociété des auteurs, compositeurs et éditeurs de musique
Société des auteurs, compositeurs et éditeurs de musique is a French professional association collecting payments of artists’ rights and distributing the rights to the original songwriters, composers and music publishers.-History:...
" (the French Singer Songwriter guild) to celebrate her entire recording career. The same year, she released a duet with her friend Catherine Lara
Catherine Lara
Catherine Lara is a French violinist, composer and singer.-Music career:As a child, Lara studied violin and received the first prize of chamber music at the Conservatoire de Paris in 1966....
, entitled "Entre elle et moi".
For the first time since 1980, Véronique chose the United States to record her ninth studio album. As usual, she surrounded herself with the best in the business. Sans regrets, issued in 1992, was a tremendous success propelled by the famous single Rien que de l'eau. This song was the result of an unprecedented collaboration with another songwriter, Bernard Swell, a long-time friend. The album went platinum and its first single still remains one of her biggest hits, with over 500,000 copies sold in six months.
In 1993, she won a Victoires de la musique
Victoires de la Musique
Victoires de la musique , is an annual French award ceremony that recognizes the best musical artists of the year.- Male artist of the year :*1985 : Michel Jonasz*1986 : Jean-Jacques Goldman*1987 : Johnny Hallyday...
(French Grammy Awards) for best female singer of the year. In March, she performed at the Zenith de Paris. During these shows, she gave a legendary performance of "Seras-tu là", a song by Michel Berger
Michel Berger
Michel Berger , born Michel Jean Hamburger, was a very successful French singer and songwriter. He was a central figure of France's pop music scene for two decades both as a singer and as a songwriter for well-known French artists like his wife France Gall, Françoise Hardy and Johnny Hallyday...
, who had died in 1992. The album recorded at the Zenith went platinum and is considered by many to be her best live recording.
Between 1992 and 1995, thanks to the enormous success of her most recent album, Sanson went on tour in France, Belgium, Switzerland and Canada, among other places. During the summer of 1994, at the Francofolies
Francofolies
Francofolies, common name of various music festivals including:* Les FrancoFolies de Montréal, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada* Les Francofolies de La Rochelle, in La Rochelle, France* Les Francofolies de Spa in Spa, Belgium...
Festival of La Rochelle
La Rochelle
La Rochelle is a city in western France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department.The city is connected to the Île de Ré by a bridge completed on 19 May 1988...
, many artists gathered to pay an emotional tribute to her. For more than two hours, Michel Fugain
Michel Fugain
Michel Fugain is a French singer and composer. Originally he released music along with his singers and dancers entitled "Le Big Bazar" but went for a more solo approach 1977. In 1969 he published his first album: Je n'aurai pas le temps...
, Alain Chamfort
Alain Chamfort
Alain Chamfort, born Alain Le Govic, is a French singer of Breton origin, born on 2 March 1949 in Paris.He was a promising pianist in his youth, and the piano became his instrument of choice...
, Yves Duteil
Yves Duteil
Yves Duteil is a French singer-songwriter. He was born in Neuilly-sur-Seine , in 24 July 1949 and is the third child to be born in the family....
, William Sheller
William Sheller
William Sheller is a French classical composer and singer.-Biography:William Sheller was born William Hand in Paris.He left school at 16 to study composition with teacher Yves Margat and later harmony, fugue and counterpoint at the Paris conservatoire. He turned to pop music after hearing the...
, Marc Lavoine
Marc Lavoine
Marc Lucien Lavoine is a French singer and actor. In 1985, his hit single "Elle a les yeux revolver" allowed him to reach the top of the French chart and marked the beginning of his successful singing career....
, les Innocents
Les Innocents
Les Innocents was a French rock band, quartet led by Jean-Philippe Nataf and Jean-Christophe Urbain from 1982 to 1999. Former members are Rico and Pierre Morin .-Biography:...
and I Muvrini
I Muvrini
I Muvrini is a Corsican folk music group who sing traditional Corsican music in their native Corsican language.-History:The group was formed in the early 1980s by the brothers Jean-François Bernardini and Alain Bernardini who were born in the village of Tagliu-Isulacciu in the north of Corsica...
, performed some of her biggest hits in duet with a very emotional Véronique. This magical moment gave birth to a live album released the following year. "Comme ils l'imaginent" went 2x Platinum.
In 1995, she married stand-up comedian Pierre Palmade
Pierre Palmade
Pierre Palmade is a French actor and comedian.-Biography:He has done dubbing for the films, Pédale douce and Pédale dure...
in Triel-sur-Seine, where she had lived since 1981. In the same year, she recorded a duet with her son Chris Stills
Chris Stills
Chris Stills is the son of American rock musician Stephen Stills and French singer-songwriter Véronique Sanson...
, titled "Run". The song was released on a benefit album for children living with AIDS (Sol En Si). In 1996, she won her second Victoires de la musique
Victoires de la Musique
Victoires de la musique , is an annual French award ceremony that recognizes the best musical artists of the year.- Male artist of the year :*1985 : Michel Jonasz*1986 : Jean-Jacques Goldman*1987 : Johnny Hallyday...
for Best Female Artist of The Year.
Véronique Sanson started the production of a new album in 1997. A video for the first single, "Un etre idéal", was released at the end of the year, before the album itself was even finished. As usual, she recorded the album in the United States. Bernard Swell wrote and produced four of the album's songs. A sold out tour followed the release of the album. "Indestructible" is a controversial albums among fans. Some found it overproduced, while others loved its modernity. It is fair to say that it is the most pop-oriented of her albums since Hollywood in 1977. Although an undoubted commercial hit, "Indestructible" (2x gold) failed to score higher than "Sans regrets" (2x platinum).
During the summer of 1999, Véronique appeared at the Festival "Les Vieilles Charrues". In fact, the singer had in mind to record an album covering some of Michel Berger
Michel Berger
Michel Berger , born Michel Jean Hamburger, was a very successful French singer and songwriter. He was a central figure of France's pop music scene for two decades both as a singer and as a songwriter for well-known French artists like his wife France Gall, Françoise Hardy and Johnny Hallyday...
's songs, and her performance at "Les Vieilles Charrues" allowed her to test the audience regarding her ambitious project.
Long Distance: the 2000s
Sanson's cover album of songs written by Michel BergerMichel Berger
Michel Berger , born Michel Jean Hamburger, was a very successful French singer and songwriter. He was a central figure of France's pop music scene for two decades both as a singer and as a songwriter for well-known French artists like his wife France Gall, Françoise Hardy and Johnny Hallyday...
--a few well-known, but mostly from his early years—appeared in 2000 (D'un papillon à une étoile). The press loved it, but the reaction of the audience was more ambivalent, especially among Michel Berger
Michel Berger
Michel Berger , born Michel Jean Hamburger, was a very successful French singer and songwriter. He was a central figure of France's pop music scene for two decades both as a singer and as a songwriter for well-known French artists like his wife France Gall, Françoise Hardy and Johnny Hallyday...
fans, who regarded the album as sacrilegious. However, it became a huge success and went platinum in just a few weeks. It was followed by a majestic tour, produced by Paul Buckmaster
Paul Buckmaster
Paul John Buckmaster is a Grammy Award-winning English artist, arranger and composer.He began learning the cello at the age of 4 and graduated from the Royal College of Music at age 16....
(Elton John's arranger), and eventually by a live album (Avec vous). Véronique surrounded herself with her usual musicians, mostly Americans, as well as a classical ensemble from Prague. Her stage outfits for this tour were entirely created by Yves Saint Laurent himself.
In 2002, after a prolonged absence due to health problems, Véronique Sanson had to cancel a solo tour on which she would have accompanied herself only on piano.
However, in September 2004, a few months after the press had announced her divorce from Pierre Palmade, she released a come-back album titled Longue Distance, produced by long-time friends Bernard Swell and Bernard Saint-Paul. Her 2005 tour was a triumph, spiced up by nine concerts in the mythical Olympia
Paris Olympia
The Olympia is a music hall in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. Located at No. 28, Boulevard des Capucines, its closest métro/RER stations are Madeleine, Opéra, Havre – Caumartin and Auber....
, during which she recorded her eighth live album.
In her autobiography, La Douceur du Danger (written with Didier Varrod), she depicts the most striking events of her life, particularly her alcoholism, and her love life.
The "best-of", titled Petits moments choisis, was released in November 2007, just as she started an unusually long tour. This lasted until summer 2009, and is considered by many as her best since 1993–1996. In December 2008, the 22CD/4DVD collection "Et voilà", including all her albums and videos plus a great many previously unreleased tracks, sold out in less than a month.
In October 2008, she joined her ex-husband Stephen Stills
Stephen Stills
Stephen Arthur Stills is an American guitarist and singer/songwriter best known for his work with Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills & Nash . He has performed on a professional level in several other bands as well as maintaining a solo career at the same time...
, and her son Chris Stills
Chris Stills
Chris Stills is the son of American rock musician Stephen Stills and French singer-songwriter Véronique Sanson...
, on the stage of the Olympia
Paris Olympia
The Olympia is a music hall in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. Located at No. 28, Boulevard des Capucines, its closest métro/RER stations are Madeleine, Opéra, Havre – Caumartin and Auber....
, to perform a family version of Stills's "Love the one you're with".
In November 2008, famous rapper Jay-Z
Jay-Z
Shawn Corey Carter , better known by his stage name Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and occasional actor. He is one of the most financially successful hip hop artists and entrepreneurs in America, having a net worth of over $450 million as of 2010...
released a song called "History", to honor the election of US President Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
. The song is based on samples and melodies from Véronique Sanson's 1972 recording of "Une nuit sur son épaule" (the original solo version, not the 1995 duet with Marc Lavoine). Jay-Z
Jay-Z
Shawn Corey Carter , better known by his stage name Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and occasional actor. He is one of the most financially successful hip hop artists and entrepreneurs in America, having a net worth of over $450 million as of 2010...
's song features Véronique on background vocals. In December 2008, she declared on Canal Plus's "Le Grand Journal" that she appreciated it, but would have preferred to be asked beforehand.
French-Canadian pop star Ima released a salsa-inspired reworking of "Chanson sur ma drôle de vie", followed in February 2009 by an associated video. Additionally, singer Lara Fabian
Lara Fabian
Lara Fabian is a Belgian-Italian international singer who also holds Canadian citizenship. Multilingual, she sings in French, Italian and English....
released a cover version of "Amoureuse" in June on her studio album Toutes les femmes en moi
Toutes les femmes en moi
Toutes les femmes en moi is the 6th French album and 8th studio album in total released by Lara Fabian.During 2008, Fabian was in Belgium preparing to record a brand new French album with famous pianist Mark Herskowitz, who had also composed and arranged the hidden instrumental track featured on...
.
The 2010s
In March 2010, the two lead actresses of the film "Tout ce qui brille" released a cover of "Chanson sur ma drôle de vie" on the movie soundtrack. The song became a number one hit in France, while the original recording by Sanson peaked at number 2 on the French iTunesITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
.
Before a concert in Jerusalem in June 2009, Sanson announced she was about to start working on a new album.
The album, titled "Plusieurs lunes" ("Many Moons") was released on 25 October 2010, and debuted at number 3 on the French charts. Plusieurs Lunes caught the attention of the press who widely celebrated and highlighted the return of the real Sanson after a couple of fairly disappointing albums ("Indestructible" and "Longue Distance"). A song from this new piece, "La nuit se fait attendre", was made available on her official website in June 2010, while the second single, "Qu'on me pardonne" (written by her sister Violaine Sanson) was released in early October. After a week long residence at the Olympia
Paris Olympia
The Olympia is a music hall in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. Located at No. 28, Boulevard des Capucines, its closest métro/RER stations are Madeleine, Opéra, Havre – Caumartin and Auber....
in March 2011, Sanson is currently on tour across France.
Studio albums
- Amoureuse (1972)
- De l'autre côté de mon rêve (1972)
- Le maudit (1974)
- Vancouver (1976)
- Hollywood (1977)
- 7ème (1979)
- Laisse-la vivre (1981)
- Véronique Sanson (1985)
- Moi le venin (1988)
- Sans regrets (1992)
- Indestructible (1998)
- D'un papillon à une étoile (1999)
- Longue distance (2004)
- Plusieurs Lunes (2010)
Live albums
- Live at the Olympia 1976
- Live au Palais des Sports 1981
- L'Olympia 1985
- A l'Olympia 89
- Symphonique Sanson (1989)
- Zenith 93
- Comme ils l'imaginent (1995)
- Véronique Sanson chante Michel Berger, Avec vous (2000)
- Olympia 2005
Awards
- 1991 : Grand Prix de la SACEMSociété des auteurs, compositeurs et éditeurs de musiqueSociété des auteurs, compositeurs et éditeurs de musique is a French professional association collecting payments of artists’ rights and distributing the rights to the original songwriters, composers and music publishers.-History:...
- 1993 : Victoires de la musiqueVictoires de la MusiqueVictoires de la musique , is an annual French award ceremony that recognizes the best musical artists of the year.- Male artist of the year :*1985 : Michel Jonasz*1986 : Jean-Jacques Goldman*1987 : Johnny Hallyday...
Best Female Artist of the Year - 1996 : Victoires de la musiqueVictoires de la MusiqueVictoires de la musique , is an annual French award ceremony that recognizes the best musical artists of the year.- Male artist of the year :*1985 : Michel Jonasz*1986 : Jean-Jacques Goldman*1987 : Johnny Hallyday...
Best Female Artist of the Year - 2005 : Named Officer of the Ordre des Arts et des LettresOrdre des Arts et des LettresThe Ordre des Arts et des Lettres is an Order of France, established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture, and confirmed as part of the Ordre national du Mérite by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963...
by the French Ministry of Culture.
External links
Official Site Harmonies : V. Sanson : The 70's- Biography of Véronique Sanson, from Radio France InternationaleRadio France InternationaleRadio France Internationale was created in 1975 as part of Radio France by the Government of France, and replaced the Poste Colonial , Paris Mondial , Radio Paris , RTF Radio Paris and ORTF Radio Paris...