Nolwenn Leroy

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Nolwenn Leroy

Background information
Born	September 28, 1982
Genre(s)	Pop, world
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter
Years active	2003–present
Label(s)	Universal International Mercury France

Nolwenn Leroy (born September 28, 1982 in Saint-Renan, Brittany, France) is a French singer, revealed by Star Academy, a popular French TV show, in 2002.

1 Biography
2 Discography
- 2.1 Albums
- 2.2 Singles
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early Years

Between 1982, when she left Saint-Renan and 1993, when she arrived with her family in her grandparents' house in St-Yorre, Nolwenn moved out several times, living in Paris, Lille, Guingamp and other places.

At the age of 11, her music teacher detected her skills for music. Following her advice, Nolwenn started to learn how to play the violin. At around the same time, she went up to Timbuktu, in Mali, a third world country and witnessed the local life, she later said to have changed during this trip.

Beginning in July 1998, she stayed a full year as an exchange student in the United States, in Cincinnati, Ohio. During that stay, she attended a two-day workshop in the Hamilton High School, a performing arts school. When she came back to France, she spoke fluent English, and decided to attend classical singing lessons in the Vichy music conservatory.

Cover of Nolwenn Leroy's first album

[edit] Star Academy

Watching the first edition of Star Academy in 2001, Nolwenn became fascinated by Armande Altaï, a singing teacher and one of the show's judges. She decided to enroll in her class. She later was cast for the second edition of the show and her family has denied that Armande Altaï pulled strings for her to be selected as a candidate ^[1]. The public chose her as the winner on December 21, 2002.

[edit] First Album & Tour

Her first album, Nolwenn, was released in March 2003 and certified platinum (more than 300,000 sold) in November^[2]. As of 2006, Universal Music claims that more than 600,000 albums have been sold, but no other official certification has been made by the SNEP (Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique). Four singles: "Cassé", "Une Femme Cachée", "Suivre Une Etoile" and "Inévitablement" have also been released. On December 6, 2003, Nolwenn Leroy started a tour throughout France, Belgium and Switzerland.

Nolwenn Leroy on the cover of "Histoires Naturelles

[edit] Histoires Naturelles (Second Album)

Her latest album, Histoires Naturelles, was released in December 2005. Two singles were released from the album. The title track song, "Histoire Naturelle" and the other was "Nolwenn Ohwo!". Both released with music videos, "Histoire Naturelle"'s music video carried the theme of the album. Portraying her being treated as a Natural History gallery asset. She also appears as a spider and a cocoon which gradually turns into a butterfly in the music video. The third single to be released was "Mon Ange".

[edit] Histoires Naturelles TOUR

On September 30, 2006, Nolwenn Leroy began her second tour entitled "Histoires Naturelles TOUR". The artist not only performs the songs from her 2nd album on stage but also some of her 1st album, Nolwenn, and other titles by Cyndi Lauper, Kate Bush and so on. Nolwenn even plays violin, flute and piano.