Patricia Kaas

Patricia Kaas born 5 December 1966 is a French singer Her music is a mix of pop cabaret jazz and chanson Since the appearance of her 1988 debut album Mademoiselle chante Kaas has sold over 17 million records worldwide She had her greatest success in Germany Switzerland Belgium Canada Russia Finland Ukraine and South Korea with her third album Je te dis vous In 2002 Kaas made her film debut in And Now Ladies and Gentlemen with Jeremy Irons She represented France in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 in Moscow and finished in eighth place Patricia Kaas the youngest of her family was born on 5 December 1966 in Forbach Lorraine France near the German border Her father Joseph Kaas a miner was a French Germanophone AlsaceLorraine was annexed by France in 1918 and her mother Irmgard was a German from Saar Kaas grew up in StiringWendel between Forbach and Saarbrücken on the French side of the border Until the age of six she spoke only Lorraine Franconian Her mother encouraged Kaas then a young girl to become a singer At the age of only eight Kaas was already singing songs by Sylvie Vartan Dalida Claude François and Mireille Mathieu as well as Englishlanguage songs such as New York New York at various small events such as the marriage of her brother Her first real success came when she received first place at a pop song contest Kaas took her first step into the professional music business at the age of 13 when with the help of her brother Egon she signed a contract with the Saarbrücken club Rumpelkammer Kaas took the name Pady Pax after Pax Majorettes a brass band from StiringWendel of which she and her sister Carine were members and for seven years appeared with the band Dobs Lady Killers At 16 she took a placement with a model agency in Metz Her first attempts to break into the music business failed a producer rejected her on the ground that the world did not need a second Mireille Mathieu Kaass producer at this time was the architect Bernard Schwartz In 1985 at 19 years old Kaas was sponsored by French actor Gérard Depardieu Schwartz had seen her singing at the Rumpelkammer in Saarbrücken and introduced her to the songwriter François Bernheim Bernheim worked with her and convinced Depardieu to produce her music Depardieu produced Kaass first single Jalouse Eng Jealous written by Bernheim and Depardieus wife Elisabeth The single was published by EMI but was a flop Nonetheless her encounter with Depardieu was one of the most important events at the beginning of Kaass artistic career Through Jalouse and Bernheim the French songwriter Didier Barbelivien became aware of Kaas His song Mademoiselle chante le blues Eng Lady sings the blues was the singers first big hit The single was published in 1987 by Polydor and reached 7th place in the French singles chart The next year Kaass second single DAllemagne Eng From Germany was recorded written by Barbelivien and Bernheim Source Article Patricia Kaas from Wikipedia in English licensed under CCBYSA 30