Pauline Louise Benattar (; born 14 December 1988), better known by her stage name Louise Verneuil (), is a French singer-songwriter.

Biography

Verneuil was born in the department of Ariège,

Midi-Pyrénées Midi-Pyrénées (; or ; ) is a former administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region of Occitania. It was the largest region of Metropolitan France by area, larger than the Netherlands or Denmark. ...

. She has one sister. Her father, a pharmacist, enjoyed English-speaking artists including

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American singer-songwriter. Most of his music contains themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially songs from the later stages of his career. ...

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

and

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

, and taught Verneuil how to play guitar. Her Spanish mother, who died in 2018, listened to

Gilbert Bécaud François Gilbert Léopold Silly (24 October 1927 – 18 December 2001), known professionally as Gilbert Bécaud (), was a French singer, composer, pianist and actor, known as "Monsieur 100,000 Volts" for his energetic performances. His best-know ...

Marie Laforêt Marie Laforêt (born Maïtena Marie Brigitte Douménach; 5 October 1939 – 2 November 2019) was a French singer and actress, particularly well known for her work during the 1960s and 1970s. In 1978, she moved to Geneva, and acquired Swiss citi ...

, Barbara,

Jean Ferrat Jean Ferrat (born Jean Tenenbaum; 26 December 1930 – 13 March 2010) was a French singer-songwriter and poet. He specialized in singing poetry, particularly that of Louis Aragon. Biography Ferrat was born in Vaucresson, Hauts-de-Seine, the you ...

Serge Reggiani Serge Reggiani (born Sergio Reggiani; 2 May 1922 – 23 July 2004) was an Italian-French actor and singer. He was born in Reggio Emilia, Italy, and moved to France with his parents at the age of eight. After studying acting at the Conservato ...

Serge Gainsbourg Serge Gainsbourg (; born Lucien Ginsburg; 2 April 1928 – 2 March 1991) was a French singer-songwriter, actor, composer, and director. Regarded as one of the most important figures in French pop, he was renowned for often provocative rel ...

, and

Véronique Sanson Véronique Marie Line Sanson (; born 24 April 1949) is a three-time Victoires de la Musique award-winning French singer-songwriter and record producer with an avid following in her native country. Ten years after Barbara, Véronique Sanson be ...

. Verneuil's family moved to

La Bastide-sur-l'Hers La Bastide-sur-l'Hers (, literally ''La Bastide on the Hers''; ) is a commune in the Ariège department in the Occitanie region of southwestern France. The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Bastidhersois'' or ''Bastidhersoises''. ...

, Ariège when she was 18 months old, and owned a restaurant there. They moved to

Golfe-Juan Golfe-Juan (; ) is a seaside resort on France's Côte d'Azur. The distinct local character of Golfe-Juan is indicated by the existence of a demonym, "Golfe-Juanais", which is applied to its inhabitants. Overview Golfe-Juan belongs to the commu ...

when Verneuil was eleven and she was educated at Lycée du Mont Saint-Jean (1998-2002) in nearby

Antibes Antibes (, , ; ) is a seaside city in the Alpes-Maritimes Departments of France, department in Southeastern France. It is located on the French Riviera between Cannes and Nice; its cape, the Cap d'Antibes, along with Cap Ferrat in Saint-Jean-Ca ...

. After studying journalism at university, Verneuil spent time in

Punta Cana, Dominican Republic Punta Cana is a resort town in the easternmost region of the Dominican Republic. It was politically incorporated as the "Verón–Punta Cana township" in 2006, and it is subject to the municipality of Higüey ( La Altagracia Province). Accordi ...

before working in Paris as a publicist for a contemporary art gallery. She has been in a relationship with the musician

Alex Turner Alexander David Turner (born 6 January 1986) is an English musician. He is the lead vocalist and songwriter of the rock band Arctic Monkeys. Turner is known for his Songwriter, lyricism ranging from kitchen sink realism to surrealism, surreal ...

since 2018.

Music career

After moving to Paris at the age of 22, Verneuil chose a stage name inspired by the name of her mother, grandmother and great-grandmother (Louise) and the street where Gainsbourg once lived (Rue de Verneuil). In 2012, when Verneuil was 23, she was a contestant on France's '' The Voice''. She had never sung in front of an audience before and described Gainsbourg and

Alain Bashung Alain Bashung (born Alain Claude Baschung, ; 1 December 1947 – 14 March 2009) was a French singer, songwriter and actor. Credited with reviving the French chanson in "a time of French musical turmoil", he is often regarded as the most importan ...

as her main influences. Her ''Voice'' mentor was

Louis Bertignac Louis Laurent Bertignac (; born 23 February 1954) is a French guitarist, vocalist and songwriter. An ex Shakin' Street member and a founding member in 1976 of the rock band Téléphone, he formed Bertignac et les Visiteurs after Téléphone sp ...

, guitarist for the rock band

Téléphone Téléphone () was a French rock band formed in 1976. Their first, self-titled album was released in 1977; by the end of the decade they were one of the biggest French rock bands in the world, opening shows for The Rolling Stones in Paris, Queb ...

. Following her elimination in the quarter-finals, she recorded an album with Bertignac but did not release it. In 2013, she worked as a backstage reporter for ''The Voice''. Verneuil then began performing live and co-wrote a song for

Isabelle Boulay Isabelle Boulay, (; born 6 July 1972) is a Canadian singer. Biography Born in Sainte-Félicité, Quebec, where her parents owned a restaurant, Boulay moved to the nearby city of Matane at the start of her adolescence, and studied literature a ...

. In June 2019, she released a self-titled EP, produced by Samy Osta. In April 2020, she released her debut album ''Lumiere Noire'' also produced by Samy Osta. It features the songs from her EP and other songs including "Love Corail", "Emerencia", "Fugitif", "Lumiere Noire", "A mort amant" and "L'evadée belle". As of June 2022 she has recorded and mixed a new album and is no longer signed to Mercury Records.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Verneuil, Louise 1988 births 21st-century French women singers Living people French women pop singers French women singer-songwriters French singer-songwriters French people of Catalan descent French people of Spanish descent French rock singers