Véronique Sanson (FR)

About

Also known as: Veronique Sanson, Véronique Marie Line Sanson

Few French singer songwriters can claim the kind of seismic impact Véronique Sanson had when her debut album Amoureuse landed in 1972. Produced by Michel Berger, it went double gold in five months and reshaped the French charts, with Françoise Hardy famously saying it made every female singer feel left behind. The title track became an international phenomenon: Kiki Dee's English cover was a major UK hit, and the song has since been reworked in French, German, Spanish, Dutch, Japanese and more. Patti Dahlstrom even rewrote it entirely as "Emotion", which Helen Reddy and Shirley Bassey both recorded. Sanson went on to become a central figure in the Nouvelle chanson française movement, sitting alongside names like Alain Souchon, Francis Cabrel and Renaud in a generation that made album length artistic statements the norm on French radio. A three time Victoires de la Musique winner, she has kept releasing records well into the 21st century, with 2004's Longue Distance becoming her first number one album and later efforts continuing to chart strongly. She plays both piano and guitar, and writes her own material.