Nolwenn Leroy

Nolwenn Leroy (born September 28, 1982 in Saint-Renan, Brittany, France) is a French singer, revealed by Star Academy, a popular French TV show, in 2002.

Between 1982, when she left Saint-Renan and 1993, when she arrived with her family in her grandparents' house in St-Yorre, Nolwenn moved out several times, living in Paris, Lille, Guingamp and other places.

At the age of 11, her music teacher detected her skills for music. Following her advice, Nolwenn started to learn how to play the violin.

Beginning in July 1998, she stayed a full year as an exchange student in the United States, in Cincinnati, Ohio. During that stay, she attended a two-day workshop in the Hamilton High School, a performing arts school. When she came back to France, she spoke fluent English, and decided to attend classical singing lessons in the Vichy music conservatory.

Watching the first edition of Star Academy in 2001, Nolwenn became fascinated by Armande Altaï, a singing teacher and one of the show's judges. She decided to enroll in her class. She later was cast for the second edition of the show, although her family has denied that Armande Altaï pulled strings for her to be selected as a candidate. The public chose her as the winner on December 21, 2002.

Her first album, Nolwenn, was released in March 2003 and certified platinum (more than 300,000 sold) in November. As of 2006, Universal Music claims that more than 600,000 albums have been sold, but no other official certification has been made by the SNEP (Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique). On December 6, 2003, Nolwenn Leroy started a tour throughout France, Belgium and Switzerland.

Her second album, Histoires Naturelles (french stars Laurent Voulzy and Alain Souchon worked on it), was released in December 2005. Two singles were released from the album. The title track song, Histoires Naturelles and the other was Nolwenn Ohwo!. Both released with music videos, Histoires Naturelles's music video carried the theme of the album. Portraying her being treated as a Natural History gallery asset. She appears as a Butterfly, Spider and a coccoon moth caterpillar. The third single to be released was Mon Ange.