Singer-songwriter Nicole Rieu was born in Chaumont on May 16, 1949. Her full name is Nicole Rieu de Pey, and she began singing in the 1960s with the group Les Spits, before meeting Lucien Morisse, director of radio Europe n° 1, who signed her to his Disc'AZ label in 1969 for the recording of two singles, "Si les oiseaux pouvaient parler" and "Espagne". Opening for various artists at the Olympia in Paris, Nicole Rieu launched a new phase in her career with Barclay, and found success with the song "Je suis" (1974), which was translated into English as "I Am". A string of hit songs followed, including "Homme", "Ma maison au bord de l'eau", "En courant" (an adaptation of the Diana Ross song "Do You Know Where You're Going To" ), "Je m'envole" and others, included on the albums Naissance (1974), Le Ciel C'Est Ici (1975) and Si Tu M'Appelles (1977). Her fame led her to represent France at the 1975 Eurovision Song Contest in Stockholm, where she finished in 4th place with "Et bonjour à toi l'artiste", written by Pierre Delanoë and composed by Jeff Barnel. Following this song, recorded in six languages, Nicole Rieu performed a series of concerts as far afield as Quebec, then took part in Didier Marouani's musical Le Rêve de mai (1978). The following year, she won the Hexagone d'or at Midem in Cannes with the song "La Goutte d'eau", based on the Irish standard "The Foggy Dew", included on an untitled album arranged by Jannick Top, with a variety of musical styles including pop, rock, reggae and disco. In 1982, her successor Zut saw her surround herself with experienced studio musicians for an encounter with funk and synthetic keyboards. After recording for young people and writing songs for Serge Sala and Isabelle Aubret, the singer returned in 1993 with the album Pêcheur d'Éponges (1993), followed by many others, including Vas-Y (1998), En Voix (2007), the three volumes of Jardins (2008, 2014, 2018), Femmes (2010), Où Vont les Mots? (2016) and Et Si la Vie Coulait (2023).
