Quebec has proved a veritable hotbed of music talent in recent years, launching an impressive array of divas on the international charts. Now, following in the footsteps of Céline Dion, Isabelle Boulay and Lara Fabian, Natasha St-Pier looks set to make her name as the new French Canadian star. With four albums to her name, not to mention a "Victoire de la Musique" award, the girl from New Brunswick is currently taking the French music scene by storm.
Natasha St-Pier was born on 10 February 1981 in Bathurst, in the Canadian province of New Brunswick. Her parents, Mario, a prison director, and Marie, manager of an old people's home, nourished their daughter's talent from an early age, sending her to piano lessons and singing and dance classes. This early training certainly paid off, for Natasha made her stage debut at the tender age of eight. Encouraged by her music teacher, the young prodigy soon went on to make a name for herself at regional fetes and local festivals and galas. Natasha's reputation rapidly spread beyond her native province, too, and it was not long before music fans in neighbouring Quebec were taking the young singer to their hearts.
In 1993 Natasha triumphed on Quebec's famous TV talent contest "Le pouvoir de la chanson", going down in history as the youngest contestant to make it though to the final. Following her success on "Le pouvoir de la chanson," the young teenager went on to record a debut single entitled "Le parcours du coeur", impressing fans and music critics with her mature, emotive vocals.
Meanwhile, Natasha continued her studies, proving herself to be a brilliant pupil at school. But the young fourteen-year-old was already busy in the studio recording a debut album (rather appropriately) entitled "Emergence." The album spawned several singles which received extensive airplay on Canadian radio.
1999 proved to be the next significant turning-point in Natasha's burgeoning career, for this was the year that producer and manager Guy Cloutier, one of the leading figures on Quebec's music scene, began working with her. Natasha's talent was also spotted by Quebecois songwriting star Luc Plamondon who offered her the role of Fleur-de-Lys in his hit musical "Notre-Dame de Paris." Natasha's English was deemed good enough for her to star in the English version of the stage show , too, and she went on to tour the musical with Australian singing star Tina Arena.
European Fame
Natasha brought out her second album, "A chacun son histoire" in April 2000. Recorded in Milan under the watchful eye of Eros Ramazotti's songwriter and composer Piero Cassano, the album proved to be a huge hit in Quebec. And Natasha's star rose even further later that year when fellow Canadian singer Garou invited her to support him on his European tour (which included six dates at Le Zénith in Paris). By the end of 2000 Natasha St-Pier was enjoying a busy career on both sides of the Atlantic.
Natasha was chosen to represent France at the Eurovision Song Contest in the spring of 2001 performing "Je n’ai que mon âme" (a song by Robert Goldman, the brother of celebrated French singer/songwriter Jean-Jacques Goldman). Natasha finished fourth in the contest, but her appearance served to cement her new-found popularity with the French public. Shortly afterwards the young Canadian's album "A chacun son histoire" was released in France and sales proved excellent, earning Natasha a gold disc. She was soon in much demand on French music programmes and TV chat shows and one night, after finishing a performance on a prime time show, French singer/songwriter Pascal Obispo came backstage to her dressing-room and invited her round to listen to his new material.
Love goes platinum
The encounter led to a successful creative partnership and in 2002 Natasha returned to the music news with "De l’amour le mieux", an album of finely-honed arrangements and made-to-measure compositions which allowed Natasha's extraordinary vocals to shine. It came as no surprise when the single release "Tu trouveras" (featuring Pascal Obispo) rocketed up the charts. And this hit was soon followed by other extracts from the album such as "Alors on se raccroche", "Nos rendez-vous" and a cover of the Jean-Jacques Goldman classic "Là-bas" (recorded as a duet with Florent Pagny).
"De l’amour le mieux" contained all the ingredients for international success and, after going platinum in France, Natasha's new album scored a huge hit in Quebec and other French-speaking countries. It also racked up impressive sales in Russia, Poland and Latin America.
Natasha was soon in much demand on the live circuit. She went on to perform her first solo show "Premier rendez-vous" to fans in Montreal and Quebec in May 2002. In September of that year she had her name up in lights in Paris, bringing the house down at the Olympia before embarking on her first French tour.
2003 got off to an excellent start with Natasha triumphing at the annual "Victoires de la musique" awards in France. The girl from New Brunswick (who already had a long career behind her) was hailed as "Best Newcomer of the Year." The award confirmed Natasha's popularity on the French music scene – and all the more so as the award for "Best Newcomer" is the only category in the competition decided by telephone votes from the public rather than a panel of industry professionals.
In June 2003 Natasha went on to join a prestigious line-up of guest stars at a mega-concert organised to celebrate Johnny Hallyday's 60th birthday.
Viva Espagna!
Continuing her successful creative partnership with Pascal Obispo, Natasha was soon back in the music news with her fourth album, "L’instant d’après." Produced by Obispo, this new album spawned a first single release, "Tant que c’est toi", at the beginning of November 2003. The 13-track album, which also includes a "hidden" bonus song (a cover of the Obispo classic "Lucie"), looks set to launch a series of new hits on the charts, too.
Meanwhile, in the autumn of 2003, Natasha launched a concerted attack on the Hispanic charts with a Spanish adaptation of her last album, "De l’amour le mieux". The album featured a guest performance by leading Iberian star Miguel Bose who assumed Pascal Obispo's role on "Encontraras" (a Spanish version of "Tu trouveras").
Natasha hit the road again in Quebec at the end of 2003, performing a series of concerts for her Canadian fans. Meanwhile, the young star was busy preparing a new European tour which is due to kick off in February 2004 with four dates at the Olympia in Paris (16 - 19 February).
With international stardom beckoning, Natasha's hectic schedule allows the singer little time to recharge her batteries at home. But the Canadian star flies back to New Brunswick whenever she can to escape the media spotlight and hang out at the family home by the sea with her parents, her younger brother, Jonathan.
Having turned 25, the young singer became more independent and assertive, imposing her musical direction with more determination. Surrounded by the same band of musician friends, she soon got down to work on her fifth album, "Longueur d'ondes." The album, produced by Pascal Obispo and Frédéric Château (the French team who had helped out on Natasha’s last two albums) was released in Canada and France in January 2006. "Longueur d'ondes" featured lyrics penned by Elodie Hesme, Lionel Florence and Frédéric Château, who also composed a couple of tracks together with Pascal Obispo and David Gategno. The first single release, "Un ange frappe à ma porte", rocketed up the charts, following hot in the footsteps of the album.
Natasha St-Pier hit the road again in April 2006, playing a series of concerts for her French fans.
Natasha performed at the Olympia, a legendary music venue in Paris, for a five-night run in May 2006. The singer then embarked upon an extensive tour of France and returned to the Olympia for a final three shows in January 2007. Worn out after this bout of non-stop touring, Natasha took a well-deserved break from her career for a year.
2008: "Natasha St Pier"
Natasha made a comeback on the recording front in November 2008 with a sixth album simply entitled "Natasha St Pier." The singer wanted this to be a more personal album than her previous offerings and she opened herself up to fans to some extent, giving glimpses into her family history and paying tribute to her Acadian ancestors on the song "L’Instinct de survie." Natasha's new album contained the usual quota of love songs, although this time round the love ballads were on a decidedly less mournful theme. "Embrasse-moi" was chosen as the first single release from the album.
In writing the songs for her new album, Natasha turned to her best friend, Elodie Hesme, for help once again. The singer's sixth album, produced by Pascal Obispo, was injected with a modern vibe thanks to an interesting mix of electro and acoustic music (Olivier Reine took care of the instrumental parts; X-Cell took charge of the musical programming).
Natasha St-Pier hit the live circuit again in the summer of 2009, appearing at all the major French music festivals.
August 2009
Source: http://www.rfimusic.com/artist/chanson/natasha-st-pier/biography
