Patricia Kaas

Her father, Joseph Kaas (1927-1996), a miner, was a French Germanophone, and her mother, Irmgard (née Thiel; 1930-1989), was a German from Saar.

Kaas grew up in Stiring-Wendel, 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 English-language 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 Stiring-Wendel, of which she and her sister Carine were members — and for seven years appeared with the band, Dob's 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.

Kaas's producer at this time was the architect Bernard Schwartz.

Patricia Noëlle Kaas (born 5 December 1966) is a French singer and actress.

Her music is a mix of pop, cabaret, jazz, and chanson.

Patricia Noëlle Kaas, the youngest of her family, was born on 5 December 1966 in Forbach, Lorraine, France, near the German border.

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 Kaas's first single Jalouse (Eng: Jealous), written by Bernheim and Depardieu's 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 Kaas's 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 singer's first big hit.

The single was published in 1987 by Polydor, and reached 7th place in the French singles chart.

The next year, Kaas's second single D'Allemagne (Eng: From Germany) was recorded, written by Barbelivien and Bernheim.

Shortly afterwards, Kaas's first album Mademoiselle chante... was produced.

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 1989, Kaas suffered a traumatic personal experience, when her mother fell ill from cancer and died.

The teddy bear Kaas sent to support her mother's convalescence today accompanies her everywhere as a mascot.

In 1990, Kaas began her first world tour, which lasted 16 months in total.

She sang in front of about 750,000 fans in over 196 concerts in 12 countries.

Among others, Kaas sang daily for a week at the Olympia and Zenith, one of the most famous concert halls in Paris.

The concerts were sold out four months before they began.

Kaas also gave other successful concerts in New York and Washington D.C. in the U.S.A. At the end of the tour, Mademoiselle chante... had sold 1 million copies in France alone, achieving diamond status.

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.

It reached 2nd place in the French album charts and stayed there for two months, remaining in the Top 10 for 64 weeks and 118 weeks in the top 100.

Shortly after its appearance the album went gold in France (over 100,000 sold) and after three months it went platinum (over 350,000 sold).

The album also went platinum in Belgium and Switzerland, and gold in Canada.

In the same year, Kaas won Victoires de la Musique in the category of "Discovery of the Year", one of the most significant French music awards.