Carla Bruni Tedeschi was born in December 23, 1968, in Turin, Italy. At the age of 5, her family left for Paris. When she was 19, she decided to stop studying art and architecture, to become a full-time model.

She was a very successful fashion model until 1998. Since then she has devoted herself to chanson. Her debut album, Quelqu'un m'a dit, on which she sings in French (despite her Italian origin), was released in 2002. To date it has sold over a million copies across Europe. Her second album, No Promises (this time in English, with songs inspired by famous English-language poets), was released in January 2007.

She married the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, in the beginning of 2008.

Her music career still did not cease after becoming the First Lady. She released her third album "Comme si de rien n'était" (as if nothing happened) on 11 July 2008. The songs are self-penned except for one rendition of "You Belong to Me" and another song featuring a poem by Michel Houellebecq set to music. Royalties from the album will be donated to unidentified charitable and humanitarian cause.