Julie Pietri (born on May 1, 1957, Algiers, Algeria) is a French pop singer. She is part of the Pied-Noir community (French repatriated from Algeria) and now lives in Paris. The general public knows her for her successful single, "Ève lève-toi", which was number-one on the French SNEP Singles Chart (Top 50) in November 1986 (also released in English-language, under the title "Listen to Your Heart"). But Pietri is not just a "one-hit wonder" : she has enjoyed moderate successes before and after this song, including "Magdalena", "Et c'est comme si", "Amoureux fous" as duet with Herbert Léonard, "Nouvelle vie", "Si on parlait de ma vie", etc.
Regarded as a "muse of the 1980s" by a survey made by NRJ and Chérie FM,[1] Julie Pietri passed unnoticed during the 1990s, notably because she became mother, before having again popularity in the 2000s.
Pietri spent the first five years of her life in Algeria. In 1962, because of the independence gained by the country, her family was forced to exile in France. Thereafter, she decided to return to North Africa, in Casablanca. A few years later, she decided to live in Le Pecq, in Saint Germain en Laye suburb.[2]
At the age of fourteen years, Pietri formed a musical group named Transit, with whom she performed songs from artists including Véronique Sanson, Janis Joplin and Joe Cocker. In 1975, th band released its first single : "On s'est laissé faire"
Then, after two years of studying speech therapy,[2] she began working with artists such as Le Bande à Basile. In this festive music band, whose costumes were inspired by the Commedia dell'arte, she played the role of a gypsy.
In late 1979, Julie was chosen to record the song "Magdalena". It was successful, allowing the singer to record her first studio album in 1980 with the contribution of French composer Jean Schultheis and lyricist Jean-Marie Moreau. In 1981, she went for the first time on stage of the Olympia with Sacha Distel. Seduced by her voice, he invited her to participate in his show and to sing with him two songs as duets.[2]
In 1982, Pietri met success with "Je veux croire", a post-disco song with gospel sounds. She then decided to start writing her first song and chose to adapt in French-language The Kinks's hit "I go to sleep", which was covered at the time by The Pretenders. The song was entitled "Et c'est comme si" and became one of the singer's best-selling singles.
The following year, Pietri associated her voice to French singer Herbert Leonard and they formed a couple on stage and sang "Amoureux fous" ; their romantic duet received was generally well-received by the public. Other singles followed including "Tora Tora Tora" and "À force de toi" (a cover of "I Should Have Known Better" performed by Jim Diamond) which supported the release of her new album in 1985, À force de toi. Meanwhile, she founded her own line of makeup. She was again invited to perform at the Olympia during a show by Belgian singer Frédéric François. She decided to take a break.
At the time, Julie was her stage name.
In 1986, the singer comes back on stage using her complete name, Julie Pietri, and had a significant success with "Ève lève-toi". The song reached number-one of French Singles Chart and is widely aired on radio for several months.[4] At that time, Pietri was very promoted through the media. The success of the song exceeded the borders of France and encouraged the singer to record an English version, entitled "Listen to your heart".
Le Premier Jour, her new album, was co-written by the singer and revealed her Eastern roots. In December 1987, the song "Nuit sans issue" was released at the same time of the album release, composed by Vincent-Marie Bouvot. A few months later, she participated in a charity song with other artists for the boat people in Southeast Asia : "Dernier Matin d'Asie". In December, the singer gave a series of concerts at the Olympia, followed by a tour through France. She sang "Nouvelle Vie", the second success of the album, and did a cover version of "Non, je ne regrette rien" by Édith Piaf and "La vie ne m'apprend rien by Daniel Balavoine. In 1988, she shot the music video for her new single, "Immortelle".
In spring 1989, Pietri came back with a new look (blazing red hair) and told "La légende des madones" ("The Legend of Madonnas") in a new album. This one had more rock sounds than the previous ones. Julie asked the singer-composer Daran which to compose two of the eleven tracks of the album ("Feeling en noir" et "Joh-Daï"). The first single was "Salammbô", a song inspired by the female character created by Gustave Flaubert. In July, accompanied by classical musicians, she celebrated the bicentenary of the French Revolution in Paris as the sponsor of the festivities. In 1990, she released the third single from the album, "Étrangère", and started a concert tour in France during the summer. She also accepted to published sensual photo on French magazine Lui'.[5]
In March 1992, Julie Pietri gave birth of Manon and decided to stop her professional career to devote fully to her daughter. The same year, a compilation and a double compilation were released.
In 1995, the album Féminin singulière was released and contained new versions of Pietri's previous hits, arranged by Jean-Pierre Pilot, plus some new songs written by Julie Pietri and mainly composed by François Bernheim. She regularly performed in Paris at the Petit Journal Montparnasse, then at the Café Opus in an intimate relation with her audience. In 1996, she recovered The Pretenders' hit but in French-language : "I'll Stand by You" was re-entitled "Je pense à nous". During the summer, she was requested by France 2 to record the ballad "Canto di Sorenza" with the Corsican polyphonic choir Voce di Corsica. She recorded this song for the credits of the TV movie Dans un grand vent de fleurs, aired in September and October.
In the late 1990s, the singer didn't appear in the madia. She then became ambassador of Dermolifteur, a brand of beauty products.[6]
In June 2000, she recorded a dance version of "Ève lève-toi" especially for the European compilation Euro Pride 2000. A best of entitled Ève lève-toi was released the same year. The singer renewed with the stage giving a concert at the Théâtre of Boulogne Billancourt in February 2001. She toured again during summers and participated in many television shows, including "Tube d'un jour, tubes de toujours", "La chanson n°1", "Les vainqueurs de l'année", "Absolument 80"...).[7] She recorded a new duet with Herbert Léonard, entitled "Orient Express".
The TV broadcast "Retour gagnant", aired in May 2003, gave a new dimension to her career thanks to her successful cover of "Vivre pour le meilleur" (originally performed by the French singer Johnny Hallyday). In September, Pietri released her album-concept "Lumières", composing of cover versions including "Lettre à France" by Michel Polnareff, and new songs as well. The album was followed by the single "Si on parlait de ma vie" in 2004, which peaked at #43 in France.
In 2006, a DVD collector of the Olympia of 1987 is released with bonus material such as four clips and an interview-report on the artist. In March, Julie gives three concerts in the Duc des Lombards, a famous jazz club in Paris. The music style of her repertory is at that time turned into a jazzy mood.
The year after, the DVD collection is completed by a CD + DVD bonus edit. In May and June, Julie Pietri records the songs of her new album called "Autour de minuit". To realize this album, she chose a new artistic team and worked on a concept blending jazzy tones to great French songs. The first single is a cover of a song of Etienne Daho intitled "Des Heures hindoues".
At the beginning of November, Pietri presented her jazzy song recital in Paris at the Scène Bastille and again then at the Bataclan. At the end of these concerts, a collector edit of her new album (limited to 1,000 copies) with a photo booklet was released.
Albums 1980 : Julie 1985 : À force de toi 1987 : Le premier jour 1989 : La légende des madones - #39 in France 1995 : Féminin singulière - #23 in France 2003 : Lumières - #72 in France 2007 : Julie Pietri à l'Olympia 2007 : Autour de minuit
Compilations 1992 : Collection or 1992 : Double collection or 1995 : Collection Gold (reedition Collection or) 2000 : Ève lève-toi - #124 in France 2001 : Les indispensables de Julie Pietri (reedition Collection or)
Singles 1979 : "Magdalena" 1980 : "Merci" 1980 : "J'me maquille blues" 1981 : "Let's Fall in Love" 1982 : "Je veux croire" 1982 : "Et c'est comme si" 1983 : "Amoureux fous" (duet with Herbert Léonard) 1984 : "Ma délivrance" 1984 : "Dernier appel" 1984 : "Tora tora tora" 1985 : "À force de toi" 1985 : "La chanson de la vie" 1986 : "Ève lève-toi" - #1 in France, Gold 1986 : "Listen to your heart" 1987 : "Nuit sans issue" 1987 : "Nouvelle vie" - #31 in France 1987 : "Dernier matin d'Asie" 1988 : "Immortelle" 1989 : "Salammbô" 1989 : "Priez pour elle" 1990 : "Étrangère" 1994 : "Devinez-moi" 1996 : "Je pense à nous" 1996 : "Dans un grand vent de fleurs" - #36 in France 2002 : "Orient Express" (duet with Herbert Léonard) - #88 in France 2004 : "Si on parlait de ma vie" - #43 in France 2007 : "Des heures hindoues"
Videos 1988 : Julie Pietri en concert (VHS Olympia 1987) 2006 : Julie Pietri à l'Olympia (DVD) 2007 : Julie Pietri à l'Olympia (CD + DVD bonus) 2008 : Julie Pietri & le Music Art Orchestra - Live au Bataclan 2009 : Autour de minuit - L'intégrale (CD/DVD - limited edition)
