Marilou

Marilou Bourdon (born September 20, 1990) is a French-Canadian pop singer from Longueuil.

Background/Early Life

Marilou was born on September 20, 1990 in Longueuil, Quebec, Canada. Very early on, at 8 years old, Marilou began singing for friends and relatives and by age 10 she was already a local success. Her first show was made in several of several hundreds of spectators at an annual concert show. She was first discovered in 2001, when she sang a duet with Natasha St-Pier in a Quebec show called Stars à domicile. She started her recording career by signing children’s songs for TV shows and movies. This led to a feature appearance at age 12 on one of French Canada’s biggest TV shows where she paid homage to her idol, Celine Dion, as part of a two hour special that reached 3 million viewers. She sang Celine’s very first hit song, “Ce n’était qu’un reve” and received rave reviews. .

Music career

Her career started in 2002 when she had her first single Je serai la pour toi in a duo with Canadian Gino Quilico who is the French version of the cover "There For Me" singing in the original version by Sarah Brightman in duet with José Cura and signed with the Sony BMG Canada in 2004 before going on a tour opening for Garou.

In 2005, she released at the age of 15 her debut La fille qui chante in which one of the singles includes a duet with Garou. Also, René Angélil, who also manages Celine Dion became her manager. After several concerts and promotions Marilou played in Luc Plamondon's musical comedy Notre-Dame-de-Paris. She started her first own music tour in 2006 while continuing with her high school studies.

In 2007, her self-titled second album was released with the most notable song being Danser sur la lune which includes also a non-Canadian version duet with Merwan Rim. A European version of the album was also released a few months after the Canadian date release. Later in the year, she made her Tout simplement Marilou province wide tour. Word spread quickly about her performance with producers, managers, labels and even Celine and René taking notice. Her first official project was a duet of a French version of a Sarah Brightman song with world renowned opera star Gino Quilico. The song went to number one, the album went gold and Marilou became a star at the young age of 12 years old. She then signed with Sony Music Canada and Sony Music France – the first joint venture between the two countries – and recorded her debut album “La fille qui chante”. The album was released in numerous countries and included no less than four Top 10 singles, two of which, “Chante” and “Tu es comme ca”, went to #1. In 2004 Marilou scored an opening slot on Garou’s European tour and at age 14 she was performing on some of Europe’s biggest stages. It was at this time that Marilou was signed by Feeling Mgmt, the company owned by Céline Dion and René Angelil and together with Mario Lefebvre, they began to chart her path to success. Marilou’s sophomore album was released in 2006 and this time, the songs “Danser sur la lune”, “Emmene-moi” and “Un monde en amour” went to the top of the chart. The latter was written especially for her by legendary lyricist Luc Plamondon who was smitten by the young prodigy. A final song from those sessions, “Tactile” was released in late 2007 and once again topped the radio charts. As she neared her 18th birthday, Marilou’s artistic ambitions changed and she decided to try her hand at songwriting. Inspired by artists she admired like Alanis Morissette, John Mayer and Muse, she collaborated with numerous writers and quickly produced no less than 30 songs. At the same time, she was introduced to Sam and JB, two young Montreal hotshot producers who were gifted musicians as well. The three of them locked themselves in Montreal’s Piccolo Studio and recorded her latest album 60 Thoughts A Minute. Featuring 13 songs co-written by Marilou, the album was mixed by Tom Lord-Alge and mastered by Ted Jensen. It marks the beginning of Marilou’s adult career.

Premier on television

Marilou premiered in the first season of the 2008 French television series Chante ! (Sing!).

Discography

Albums

• 2005: La fille qui chante
• 2007: Marilou
• 2012: 60 Thoughts a Minute (#60 CAN^[1])

Singles

• 2002: Je serai là pour toi (duet with Gino Quilico)
• 2005: "Tu es comme ça" (duet with Garou)
• 2005: "Chante"
• 2007: "Danser sur la lune" (solo in Canada, duet with Merwan Rim in France)
• 2007: "Emmène-moi"
• 2008: "Tactile"
• 2012: "Bruises" (duet with Train)

Others

• 2005: "Entre les 2 yeux" (limited release in Canada)

Filmography

• 2008: Chante! (French TV entertainment series)
• 2011: Funkytown
• 2012: Rebelle (English title War Witch

References

External links

• Marilou Official site in French