Wednesday 20 June 2012

Vanessa Paradis & Johnny depp


With the news that Vanessa Paradis and Johnny Depp have split, I though a look at her musical career was in order.

Most of the focus in news coverage on their split is in on Johnny Depp, without her career getting much of a mention. Depp and Paradis were together for 14 years, and have two children together.

Despite being a huge star in France, with a music and film career, she remains best known in the UK for a single released in 1987 when she was 14.

It reached number one in France, and number three in the UK, and remains one of the best known French language songs in recent years.

While none of her other work made such a mark outside France, her music career has continued there with some considerable success.

Following her 1988 debut album M & J that featured Joe le Taxi, her 1990 Variations sur le même t'aime album saw her collaborating with Serge Gainsbourg. The song Dis-lui toi que je t'aime probably being the best known from the collection.

Her third, self-titled album, was released in 1992. It saw her working with her then-partner Lenny Kravitz, leading to songs like Be My Baby, a top ten hit in the UK and another of her best-known works.

She didn't release a studio album again until 2000's Bliss, which included input from Matthieu Chedid (best known as -M- ) Chedid would go on to win two Victoires de la Musique awards that same year for his own work.

Johnny Depp also made a musical contribution to the album. Depp's musical ventures included playing with Oasis and in the band P, which he formed with Gibby Haynes of the Butthole Surfers.

Bliss went on to be  a number one album in France, despite not having a hit single on a par with her previous albums.

Her next studio album came in 2007, with Divinidylle, her most recent studio work. The cover, a stylised portrait of her was pained by Johnny Depp. It again featured collaborations with Matthieu Chedid. It too was a number one in France.

Over and above her studio albums, there have been live albums, mostly coming out following a tour in support of her studio work, including Live in 1994, Au Zénith in 2001 and Divinidylle Tour in 2008. The most recent of these Une Nuit à Versailles came out in 2010 and featured acoustic interpretations of her work.

Most recently she recorded much of the soundtrack for the animation film A Monster in Paris, in which she also starred. The track La Seine - a collaboration with -M- a hit single for her in France.

Meanwhile, her acting career has seen her win a César Award for her part in Noce Blanche in '89 and a Genie Award and a Juntra Award for her part in 2011's Canadian film Café de Flore, with memorable parts along the way including The Girl on the Bridge (La Fille sur le pont) and the animation A Monster in Paris.

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