Patricia Kaas

Patricia Kaas was born on December 5, 1966, in the small town of Forbach, Lorraine region, eastern France, as the youngest of seven children, to French miner, Joseph Kaas and German citizen, Irmgard.

She spent her childhood in the French bordered commune of Stiring-Wendel and spoke only Lorraine Franconian, the language spoken in the house.

She wasn’t really interested in school, but was happy on the stage and hence, started singing from a very young age.

Encouraged by her mother, her first stage performance came at the age of 8, after which she continued performing at various small events.

Her first professional breakthrough came at the age of 13 when she was signed by the German cabaret-club, Rumpelkammer, in Saarbrucken, where she performed regularly for seven years.

While trying her luck in the music industry, she was noticed by architect Bernard Schwartz who introduced her to songwriter Francois Bernheim, after which French actor Gerard Depardieu agreed to sponsor her music.

Her first single ‘Jalouse’ was released in 1985, but failed to make a mark. However, it proved to be a great experience in her upcoming career.

In 1987, her single ‘Mademoiselle chante le blues’, written by Didier Berbelivien, became her first hit and was placed at No. 7 on the French singles chart. She recorded her next ‘D’Allemange’ in 1988.

Her first album ‘Mademoiselle chante…’, out in 1987, ranked at No. 2 in the French album charts for two months, going platinum in France, Switzerland and Belgium, and gold in Canada.

Her third album ‘Je ted is vous’, released in 1993, included her first German song and brought her into limelight. Besides selling over 3 million copies in 47 nations, it is still her most popular album in the German-speaking world.

Her 1997 album ‘Dans ma chair’, featuring American stars Lyle Lovett, James Taylor, and Diane Warren, turned out to be a blockbuster, selling over 1.5 million copies worldwide.