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Vanessa Paradis
Vanessa Paradis
Background information
Birth name	Vanessa Chantal Paradis
Born	December 22, 1972 (1972-12-22) (age 35)
Origin	Saint-Maur-des-Fossés, Val-de-Marne, France
Genre(s)	Rock, pop
Occupation(s)	Vocalist, Actor, Model
Instrument(s)	Vocals
Label(s)	Barclay
Website	www.vanessaparadis.fr

Vanessa Chantal Paradis (born December 22, 1972 in Saint-Maur-des-Fossés, France) is a French singer and actress.

Career

Vanessa Paradis was discovered on the TV show L'École des fans in 1980. She recorded her first single La Magie des surprises-parties in 1985. Although it was not a hit, it paved the way for the song with which she would become internationally famous - "Joe le taxi" in 1987, while she was still only 14 years old.¹ It was #1 in France for 11 weeks² and, unusually for a song sung in French, was released in the United Kingdom the following year, where it reached #3. It was taken from her first album M&J (it stands for Marilyn & John) which, although it gained a number 13 placing in France, drew little attention in the UK and did not chart.

In 1992, now 19 and working in the United States with rock musician Lenny Kravitz, who was her boyfriend for a while, Paradis began work on a new album sung in English, in which she had become fluent. Written and produced by Kravitz, the album, titled Vanessa Paradis, topped the French chart and briefly made the UK listings (number 45). One of the singles from it was Be My Baby, which made number 5 in France and gave her another Top 10 UK hit (number 6). She has since appeared in several films, most famously "Noce Blanche", for which she won the 1990 César Award for Most Promising Actress; 1999's La fille sur le pont (aka Girl on the Bridge), which became an arthouse box office hit in the United States³; and 2004's Mon Ange.⁴

In 1991, Paradis promoted a fragrance for Chanel, entitled Coco. In the advertisement, she is dressed in all black and feathers, portraying a bird swinging in a cage. In 2004 she promoted Chanel's new handbags called Ligne Cambon. In 2006 she modeled for Chanel again for The New Mademoiselle handbag. 2008 Vanessa modeled for a new company Miu Miu. On the musical side, she is included in the French children's album and concert "Le Soldat Rose". Paradis currently released a new album (Divinidylle). There are three versions (regular, limited edition, and the Christmas edition). She started the Divinidylle tour in October. Some concerts were filmed and the DVD/CD of the tour was just recently released. Her latest film DVD release is La Clef. Also, Vanessa recently won two Les Victoires de la Musique awards for her new album Divinidylle. Some of her next projects include a greatest hits cd which includes the commercial jingle "I love Paris in the Springtime" as well as the movies "The Midwife Crisis" and "Un monstre à Paris April" which will be released in 2010.

Family

Vanessa Paradis has been in a relationship with American actor Johnny Depp since 1998. In 1998 Johnny was working on "The Ninth Gate", filmed in France. In an interview, Johnny shares: "'It was love at first sight," Johnny Depp says of that night in 1998 when he saw his girlfriend-to-be, Vanessa Paradis, out on the town in Paris. "I was in the lobby of this restaurant and I just saw this back across the room, suddenly, the back turned and looked at me. And then the eyes that were attached to the back walked toward me and said, 'Hi. Do you remember me? you said you could have chose someone prettier than me?' "I said yes, but I didn't remember because we had actually met a number of years before. But this time, I was caught."

They have a daughter, Lily-Rose Melody Depp (born May 27, 1999), and a son, John Christopher "Jack" Depp III (born April 9, 2002⁵).

They divide their time between houses in the Hollywood Hills, their farm in the South of France, a house in the Somerset village Timsbury, and also own apartments in Paris, Manhattan and an island in the Bahamas. Paradis' 2000 album Bliss, another French chart topper, was dedicated to Depp and their daughter.

Vanessa Paradis also has a younger sister actress Alysson Paradis. They are ten years apart. While Vanessa likes singing Alysson has starred in many horror films, usually in French.

Discography

Main article: Vanessa Paradis discography

• M&J (1988)
• Variations sur le même t'aime (1990)
• Vanessa Paradis (1992)
• Live (1994)
• Bliss (2000)
• Au Zénith (2001)
• Divinidylle (2007)
• Divinidylle Tour (2008)

Filmography

• Noce Blanche (1989)
• Élisa (1995)
• Un amour de sorcière (1997)
• Le plaisir (et ses petits tracas) (1998) (voice)
• Une chance sur deux (1998)
• La fille sur le pont (aka Girl on the Bridge) (1999)
• Atomik Circus - Le retour de James Bataille (2004)
• Mon ange (2004)
• The Magic Roundabout (2005) (voice)
• Le soldat rose (2007)
• La clef (2007)

Awards and nominations

• 1990 : César Award of "Most Promising Actress" for Noce Blanche.
• 1990 : Victoire De La Musique: "Female Performer of the Year".
• 1990 : Prix Romy Schneider
• 1991 : Victoire De La Musique: "Video of the Year" for Tandem, directed by Jean-Baptiste Mondino.
• 1999 : Nomination to César Awards for "Best Actress" for La fille sur le pont.
• 2001 : Nomination to NRJ Music Awards of "Francophone Female Artist of the Year".
• 2001 : Nomination to NRJ Music Awards of "Francophone Album of the Year" for Bliss.
• 2007 : Named "Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres".
• 2008 : Nomination to NRJ Music Awards of "French Album of the Year" for Divinidylle.
• 2008 : Nomination to Trophy Women's Gold in the category "Shows".
• 2008 : Victoire De La Musique: "Female Performer of the Year".
• 2008 : Victoire De La Musique: "Pop Album of the Year" for Divinidylle.

Audio sample

Vanessa Paradis - Joe Le Taxi excerpt

An excerpt from Joe Le Taxi

Problems listening to the file? See media help.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Vanessa Paradis

• Official website
• Paradivine Forum De Fans

• Vanessa Paradis at Allmusic
• Vanessa Paradis at the Internet Movie Database
• Vanessa Paradis in Translation: #1 English Fansite