ZAZ (Isabelle Geffroy) is compared to Edith Piaf. The birthplace of the wonderful French singer was Mettray, a suburb of Tours. The star was born on May 1, 1980.
The girl, who grew up in the French province, had an ordinary family. His father worked in the energy sector, and his mother was a teacher, taught Spanish. In the family, besides ZAZ, there were two more children - her sister and brother.
Isabelle Geffroy's childhood
The girl began to study music very early. Isabelle was only 5 years old when she was sent to the Conservatory of Tours, and her brother and sister also entered there with her. Studying in this institution lasted 6 years, and the course of study included such subjects as: piano, choral singing, guitar, violin, solfeggio.
At the age of 14, ZAZ left Tours for Bordeaux, a year later she began to study vocals there, and was also fond of sports - kung fu. The girl turned 20 when she became a personal scholarship holder, and this gave her the opportunity to study at the Music Center. Isabelle's list of musical preferences included: Ella Fitzgerald, Vivaldi, Enrico Masis, French chansonnier songs, even African and Cuban motifs.
The beginning of the singer's career
As a vocalist, Isabelle Geffroy began performing in the early 2000s with Fifty Fingers, a blues band. Also as a singer of a jazz quintet, she performed with orchestral groups in Angouleme, and in Tarno she was invited to perform with three other singers with a variety orchestra, in which there were only 16 performers.
ZAZ spent two years on tour with them. And after that, Isabelle performed instead of the soloist of the group Don Diego, working in the style of Latin rock. In the same period, a pseudonym first appeared, which became the stage name of the singer - ZAZ. The combination of different musical genres is a feature of this group. With the same team, the singer participated in the Angulen festival of multi-genre music.
Oh Paris, Paris!
Since 2006, ZAZ has begun conquering Paris. She devoted three years to singing in various Parisian restaurants and clubs, of which a year and a half - in the Three Hammers club. A feature of the performances was that the singer did not use a microphone.
However, ZAZ dreamed of freedom of creativity and improvisation, so she went into free "swimming" on the Parisian streets and sang in Montmartre, as well as on the Hill Square. Later, the singer recalled that sometimes she managed to earn about 450 euros within 1 hour. At the same time, ZAZ collaborated with the rap group LE 4P, and the result was two videos - L'Aveyron and Rugby Amateur.
The most famous hit of ZAZ
In 2007, information appeared on the Internet about the search for a new soloist "with a hoarseness" in her voice by the composer and producer Kerredin Soltani. ZAZ proposed its candidacy - and successfully. Especially for her, Je Veux was written, a recording studio and a publishing company were found.
But the performer continued to search for her creative path. In 2008, she sang with the Sweet Air group and released a joint album, which, however, was never released. And in the winter of 2008, ZAZ traveled around Russian cities for 15 days, and her partner was pianist Julien Lifzik, with whom she gave 13 concerts.
In January 2009, the singer found a stunning success - she won a competition at the Olympia concert hall in Paris. After such a victory, the doors of all famous recording studios opened for ZAZ with offers to record an album, and she also received a prize of 5 thousand euros and the opportunity to shoot a video clip. But before the recording of the album, 1 year and 2 months passed, during which the singer again went to Russia, and then to Egypt and Casablanca.
Debut album by Isabelle Geffroy
In the spring of 2010, the debut of the ZAZ record took place. 50% of the album's songs were written by the singer herself, and the rest by Kerredin Soltani and the famous artist Rafael. The ZAZ album became "gold" and took a leading position in the ratings.
After that, a big tour of France and participation in famous European music festivals took place. ZAZ became the star of the Belgian, Austrian and Swiss charts.
Since 2013, after the second disc, and until now, the singer has not lost popularity in her homeland, has been working on releasing new albums and regularly gives concerts abroad.
Personal life of Isabelle Geffroy
ZAZ refers to artists who keep their personal lives private. It is only known that for some time she was married to a Colombian, with whom she remembers warmly.
The newlyweds played the wedding in Colombia with the participation of numerous relatives of the groom. However, the couple soon divorced, which the singer does not regret at all. The couple did not have children, and, having become free, ZAZ again plunged headlong into creativity.
Artist career today
Currently, in addition to creative activities, ZAZ practices charity, because she is one of the richest women in her country. The love of French chanson fans for the singer has not disappeared to this day.
