Patricia Kaas

Patricia Noëlle Kaas (French: [kas]; born 5 December 1966) is a French singer. Her music is a mix of pop, cabaret, jazz, and chanson.

Since the appearance of her 1988 debut album Mademoiselle chante..., Kaas won 6 Victoires de la Musique awards and has sold over 20 million records worldwide. She had her greatest success in Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Canada, Russia, Finland, Ukraine, and South Korea with her third album Je te dis vous. In 2002, Kaas made her film debut in And Now... Ladies and Gentlemen with Jeremy Irons. She represented France in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 in Moscow and finished in eighth place.

Career

1966–1984: Early life

Patricia Noëlle Kaas, the youngest of her family, was born on 5 December 1966 in Forbach, Lorraine, France, near the German border. Her father, Joseph Kaas (1927–1996), a miner, was a French Germanophone, and her mother, Irmgard (née Thiel; 1930–1989), was a German from Saar. Kaas grew up in Stiring-Wendel, between Forbach and Saarbrücken on the French side of the border. Until the age of six, she spoke only Lorraine Franconian. Her mother encouraged Kaas, then a young girl, to become a singer. At the age of only eight Kaas was already singing songs by Sylvie Vartan, Dalida, Claude François and Mireille Mathieu, as well as English-language songs such as "New York, New York", at various small events such as the marriage of her brother. Her first real success came when she received first place at a pop song contest.