Cœur de pirate

Béatrice Mireille Martin (French pronunciation: [beatʁis maʁtɛ̃]; born 22 September 1989), better known by her stage name Cœur de pirate ([kœʁ də piʁat]; French for Pirate's Heart), is a Canadian musician. A francophone from Montreal, she sings mostly in French and has been credited in Montreal Mirror with "bringing la chanson française to a whole new generation of Quebec youth."

Career

Early beginnings

Born in the province of Quebec, Martin started playing the piano when she was only three years old. She entered the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal at age nine and studied there for five years.

She is the niece of actor Alexis Martin.

At age 15, she played as a keyboardist in the post-hardcore band December Strikes First, which starred her best friend, Francis, who would later become the subject of the song "Francis" on her debut album. Martin had a brief stint as keyboardist for Bonjour Brumaire from late 2007 to April 2008.

2007–2009: Debut album and first success

In a report broadcast on French television, Martin explained that she chose the name "Cœur de pirate" to appear not "as an isolated musician, but to get a band identity from the start". She initially called herself Her Pirate Heart, but translated the name to French when she stopped writing songs in English. She released her debut album Cœur de pirate on September 16, 2008, on Grosse Boîte. Described as "rather simple" musically, it mostly featured her voice and piano playing along with some minor additional instrumentation.