Nâdiya

Nâdiya
Nâdiya performing on stage
Background information
Birth name	Nadia Zighem
Born	(1973-06-19) June 19, 1973 Tours, France
Origin	France
Genres	R&B, pop
Occupations	Singer / Musician
Instruments	Singing
Years active	1999–present
Labels	Sony BMG
Website	Official site (French)

Nâdiya (born Nadia Zighem on June 19, 1973) is a French R&B singer.

Early life

Nâdiya was born in the city of Tours, France. Her family comes from the region of Mostaganem, in the north of Algeria. She is the youngest in a family of 8 children. Her brothers are named Kader Touati, Baklavah Waheb, and her sisters Malika, Sidartha and Karla. Her father Mohammed worked as a laborer, and her mother Yamina worked as a nurse. She was gifted for athletics at school, Nâdiya moved towards sport-studies section. Thus in 1989, she won the title of Junior Champion of France's 800 meters. Her brother, Kader Zighem is world champion of French boxing.

2001-2005: Early commercial success

She performed a duo with Stomy Bugsy in 2001 under the title "Aucun Dieu ne pourra me pardonner" (No God Will Ever Forgive Me). The single "J'ai confiance en toi" (I Trust You), released in February 2001, became the first single that charted in the French Singles Chart, peaked at #38 in France and stayed in the chart for 13 weeks. The second single slated from the album did perform better than the first one. "Chaque fois" (Every Time) was released in August 2001 and peaked at #27 in the French Top 100 Singles, remaining in the chart for 18 weeks, five more than the first single. After the success of both singles, Nâdiya recorded a full studio album that became "Changer les choses" (Changing the Things). Though the singles became reasonable hits, the album wasn't very popular in France, not charting at all in the French Top 200 Albums. She was nominated for the Victoires de la musique in 2002.

In March 2004, Nâdiya released another song, this became "Parle-moi" (Talk to Me), a song about family problems and contact with her parents. The song became her first big hit in France, debuting in the chart at #79 and making an amazingly big jump to number two in its second week within the singles chart. The song still remains Nâdiya's biggest hit in France, staying in the chart for 24 weeks. "Parle-moi" also became her first single that charted in Switzerland, peaking at #11 in its fifth week in the Swiss Singles Top 100.In Poland this single became the Hit Of The Summer 2004.Her second full French studio album was also recorded, 16/9 was released in June 2004. The album stayed in the chart for 93 non-consecutive weeks in the French album chart, with her highest peak being number six. Her (then) 5-year-old son also accompanied her on one song featured on the album ("Quand vient la nuit").

"Et c'est parti..." (French expression for "Here We Go"), the second single, became her first international hit, charting in several other European countries, including Belgium and the Netherlands. The music video to the song shows Nâdiya performing the song and boxing in a boxing ring. The single and video both feature Smartzee, a French rapper, and peaked at number five in France and number twenty-one in Switzerland. "Si loin de vous" ("So Far From You") was officially the last single off the 16/9 album, with "Signes" ("Signs") just being a download only single. "Si loin de vous", released in December 2004, was the last single off the album that charted in France (#6) and Switzerland (#27). The song is a military song, as this is shown in its videoclip. Though there is a music video for "Signes", its function is only for promoting the album. In 2005, the 16/9 album also received the Victoires de la musique award for rap/hip-hop/R&B album of the year.

According to her official website, in France she has sold over 500,000 copies of 16/9, 750,000 singles and 300,000 copies of her platinum-certified "L'histoire en 16/9" ("The history to 16/9") DVD, which features the 3 music video's (to Parle-moi, Et c'est parti... and Si loin de vous), the making of the videos, interviews, photos and a bonus CD with remixed songs.

2006-present: career development

Nâdiya signing autographes (2006)

In February 2006, Nâdiya returned with her "Tous ces mots" ("All these words") single, her first song that features Smartzee. The song peaked at number two in the French Singles Chart and at twenty-five in the Swiss Singles Top 200. Following the success of "Tous ces mots", her self-titled third studio album Nâdiya was released on June 7 in both France as. Nâdiya stated the album would have more rock influence than her previous two albums. SNEP recently revealed the best-selling singles during the first quarter of 2006 (from January 1 - March 31, 2006). Despite being released four weeks before the first quarter of 2006 ended, "Tous ces mots" managed to peak at number thirteen in the list.^[1] The second single with the applicable title "Roc", was released two weeks after the album's release date, on June 19. The music video to the song shows Nâdiya performing the song in a big stadium. The song follows "Tous ces mots" by debuting and peaking at number two (for four consecutive weeks) in France. It has also became Nâdiya's longest single running in the top ten, being eleven weeks in the chart and still in the top 5. In Switzerland, the single is less successful, debuting at number thirty and peaking one ahead at twenty-nine in its following week. As the third single off the album, "Amies-ennemies" was released on October 31, reaching the number four (#4) position in the French singles chart. The song samples a Chopin song and stayed in the French top ten for 11 weeks, only two weeks less than previous single "Roc."

In October 2006, Nâdiya denied having an affair with soccer player Zinedine Zidane.^[2] She said "we saw each other only once and then nothing else happened."

Nâdiya was supposed to start her first tour in November 2006, but due to a yet unknown reason, the performances between November 3 and December 9 were cancelled. The web site that posted the cancellation, ChartsInFrance.net, noted that the beginning of the tour would be delayed until 2007.^[3] Later, the official website announced the tour was delayed to 2008.

Nâdiya started recording a new album after the release of "Amies-ennemies" ("Friends-Enemies"). It turned out to be a greatest hits, called La Source ("The Source"). The album's lead single is "Vivre ou Survivre" ("Live or Survive"). Upon release of "Vivre ou Survivre", the official website mentioned the tour, to start on March 8, finishing with the grand finale and last concert on May 31, 2008, held in the 'Palais des Sports' (Sports Palace) in Paris. The song became her ninth top 40 hit.

On April 22, Nâdiya entered the French Singles Chart peaking at number one with her duet with Enrique Iglesias "Tired of Being Sorry (Laisse le destin l'emporter)" ("Let Destiny Fulfill Itself"). The song is her first #1 single in the French charts, as three previous singles only reached the second position. This single did not leave its dominative top-position for 11 consecutive weeks^[4] before falling at #2, keeping the second place for 6 consecutive weeks. The song currently, as of November 19, stand at #40 in the most successful singles in France in terms of chart positions.

Later, Nâdiya's official website was updated with the news that Nâdiya would release a new studio album on December 1, 2008.^[5] The name was later confirmed to be Électron Libre. Near the end of September 2008, a duet recorded by Nâdiya and Kelly Rowland "No Future in the Past" was sent to radio stations in France, functioning as the first single from Nâdiya's upcoming album.

Nâdiya was nominated for the 2009 NRJ Music Awards in the categories 'Group / duet / troupe of the year' (with Enrique Iglesias) and 'French female artist of the year'. She did not win either award.

Nâdiya is currently recording her sixth album and preparing for a tour this summer.^[6]

Discography

Albums

Singles

• ¹: Sales till the end of 2006. The sales numbers are for both the physical CD sales as well as downloads.

DVDs

Awards

• 2005 Victoires de la musique – rap/hip-hop/R&B album of the year (16/9)

Notes

External links

Official

• Nâdiya official web site (French)
• Blog fans (French)