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Patricia KaasSinger
Date of Birth: 05.12.1966
Country:  France |
Content:
Biography of Patricia Kaas
At the age of twenty, the petite blonde Patricia Kaas made a big splash with her song 'Mademoiselle chante le blues'. Since then, she has become a prominent figure in the world of French music, performing in many countries and having her albums go triple platinum, an achievement that no one has surpassed yet. Kaas is well-known in Russia, where she frequently performs concerts.
Early Life
Patricia Kaas was born on December 5, 1966, in Forbach, a town located on the border with Germany. She was the youngest of seven children of Joseph Kaas, a miner from Lorraine, and his wife Irmgard. The family spoke a local German dialect, and Patricia only started to learn French when she started school. However, she had a natural talent for singing and music. The family struggled financially, and her parents encouraged her to participate in various performances. From the age of nine, she sang solo in a local band called Black Flowers, performing songs by Sylvie Vartan, Mireille Mathieu, and Claude Francois.
Early Career
At the age of ten, Kaas won a singing competition with her rendition of the non-childish song 'Lili Marlene', popularized by Marlene Dietrich. It became clear that Patricia was destined to become a singer. At the age of thirteen, she, or rather her older brother Egon as her representative, signed a contract to perform at the Rumpelkammer club in Saarbrucken, just across the border from her hometown. She adopted the stage name Pady Pax and performed every Saturday.
In her teens, Kaas left school at sixteen to work at a modeling agency in Metz, dedicating most of her earnings to supporting her family. Despite her efforts to launch her singing career, her vocal style, reminiscent of Mireille Mathieu, did not attract potential producers. Nonetheless, for nearly seven years, Kaas continued to perform her usual repertoire on Saturdays at the Rumpelkammer club.
Eventually, luck was on her side. During a performance at a beer festival, composer and producer Francois Bernheim discovered her. After returning to Paris, Bernheim spoke with his partner Elisabeth Depardieu, the wife of the famous actor Gerard Depardieu. Together, they wrote the music and lyrics for Kaas' song 'Revniyaya', and Gerard Depardieu sponsored the recording of her first album. Although the song did not achieve much success, it marked the beginning of Kaas' professional career.
Rise to Fame
In 1987, composer Didier Barbelivien offered Kaas the opportunity to perform his song 'Diva Chante le Blues', which had been turned down by the forty-year-old singer Nicoletta at the time. The recording was released in April 1987 and immediately reached fourteenth place on the national charts, with over four thousand copies sold. Kaas celebrated her twenty-first birthday by performing at the famous concert hall 'Olympia', and in January 1988, her first album, titled after the hit song 'Mademoiselle chante le blues', reached second place on the charts. Within three months, the album sold 350,000 copies in francophone countries, earning platinum status. Kaas was awarded the "Newcomer Grammy" and the national music award "Victoires de la musique" in the category of "Best New Artist". Sadly, this long-awaited triumph was overshadowed by tragedy when her mother, Irmgard Kaas, passed away from cancer.
Following her success, Kaas embarked on her first tour, taking her mother's plush teddy bear as a gift, which she still keeps to this day. In 1989, she toured Europe and the Soviet Union, followed by a year and a half world tour that included performances in New York, Washington, and a triumphant visit to Leningrad and Moscow. In 1990, her debut album went diamond, and Kaas was awarded the German "Golden Europa" prize.
Continued Success
After her tours, Kaas signed a contract with CBS Records and released her second album, 'Scenes de vie', which also went diamond, and the singles from it topped the charts for a month and a half. During the promotional tour for this album, Kaas gave two hundred and ten performances, including shows in Canada, Japan, and triumphant concerts in Leningrad and Moscow. She solidified her place as one of the most famous performers in the world, evidenced by winning the Bambi and World Music Awards in 1991.
Her third album, 'Je te dis vous' (known as 'Tour de charme' in the US and UK), produced by Robin Millar and recorded with Sony, was an even bigger success, selling two million copies and going diamond. Kaas continued to release successful albums, including 'Dans ma chair' (1997), dedicated to her parents, 'Piano Bar' (1999), and 'Kabaret' (2002).
Later Career
In 2002, Kaas ventured into acting and played a singer in Claude Lelouch's film 'And Now... Ladies and Gentlemen'. The soundtrack of the film was included in her album 'Kabaret'. To date, Kaas has released a total of eleven studio albums.
In 2012, on the 50th anniversary of Edith Piaf's death, Kaas recorded an album and created a concert program called 'Kaas sings Piaf'. She performed this program at famous venues such as Albert Hall, Olympia, and Crocus City. Her most recent album, self-titled "Patricia Kaas", was released in 2016.
In 2009, Kaas represented France at the Eurovision Song Contest in Moscow, where she placed eighth. In 2012, she appeared on screen again, playing the lead role in the TV movie 'Killed', which attracted over five million viewers in France and Switzerland. Her autobiography, published in 2011, titled 'The Shadow of My Voice' in English, received significant attention for its candidness and answered the question many of her fans had about why she remained single. Kaas had been in relationships with several well-known men, including actor Alain Delon, restaurateur Yannick Alleno, and manager Cyril Prieur. However, she admitted that she had not yet found a love that would make her give up singing. She does not have any children of her own but has considered adopting an orphan.
