Living on the Côte d’Azur with her younger brother, Jonathan, her Jewish Algerian father (Michel Dadouche) and her half-Corsican, half-Belgian mother (Christine Bartoli), Jenifer came to inherit her family’s love of music. Her father got her listening to James Brown, Stevie Wonder and Janis Joplin while her mother introduced her to the ‘chanson’ classics of Jacques Brel, Edith Piaf, Charles Aznavour and Serge Gainsbourg. Meanwhile, Jenifer’s maternal grandmother initiated her into the art of Corsican polyphonic music. When Jenifer turned seven, her parents treated her to her first course of singing lessons. And the budding young singer took whatever opportunity she could to exercise her vocal talent, singing in the shower, with street buskers and at all the talent contests organised in the region. In 1993, Jenifer got to support C.Jérôme in concert when the latter performed at a Bastille Day firemen’s ball in Corsica (where the family holidayed every summer). By the age of thirteen, Jenifer had vowed to become a professional singer one day. She participated in the Graines de star television broadcast in 1997, but this was a failure. Jenifer decided to go to Paris and attend the casting for the first series of Star Academy in France . She was selected, and eventually won. The hit single “J’attends L’amour” (I’m waiting for love) soon followed. After the tour with her band that followed her victory, she went on the road as a solo artist from October 2002 until January 2003, and eventually performed at the Paris Olympia, which she had dreamed of as a child. Her debut self-titled album went on to sell over three quarters of a million copies. The album featured a song written by Marc Lavoine and a duet with fellow Star Academy student Mario. The second single “Au Soleil” became one of the “tubes de l’été” (Summer hits) of 2002 in France. The album was re-released later to include two new tracks: “Entre Humains” and “Des Mots Qui Résonnent”. The latter became her third top ten single in France and Jenifer stated that it was more her style of music, being more pop/rock. Finally a fourth song, the ballad “Donne Moi Le Temps” was released. The re-released album sold over a million copies. In 2004 Jenifer returned onto the scene with her second, more personal, melancholy album “Le Passage”. Among others, this album contained songs written by Calogero, Kyo, Tina Arena and one song Jenifer co-wrote. This album contains the singles “Ma Révolution” (My Revolution), “Le Souvenir De Ce Jour” (The Memory of This Day), “C’est De L’Or” (It’s Golden) and “Serre Moi” (Hug me). The album was supported by an extensive tour across France and was followed by the release of a live album “Jenifer Fait Son Live” and an accompanying DVD. Jenifer previously lived with Maxim Nucci, the author-composer with whom she has had one child, named Aaron, who was born on 5 December 2003. The couple separated around the end of 2005 but have since reunited. She has stated that she also wants to produce music in English outside of France. 2006 was a quiet year for Jenifer, the singer making only a few public appearances at award ceremonies, “Enfoirés” concerts and other charity fund-raising shows. That summer, she dubbed the female lead in the French version of the animated film “Over the Hedge”, posing for a series of promotional photos with the American actor Bruce Willis who was involved in dubbing the American version. Jenifer’s third album, “Lunatique”, a vibrant mix of pop, reggae, ska and ‘60s rock, hit record stores on 12 November 2007. The 24-year-old singer was joined in the studio by two VIP collaborators: the French actor Guillaume Canet (who guested on “Nos futurs”) and her friend, the singer and musician M who added his famous pink guitar to “Touche-moi” and the album’s title track. |
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