Marilou Bourdon (born September 20, 1990) is a

French-Canadian French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fr ...

pop singer and cookbook

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

from

Longueuil Longueuil () is a city in the province of Quebec, Canada. It is the seat of the Montérégie administrative region and the central city of the urban agglomeration of Longueuil. It sits on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River directly acr ...

Early life

Bourdon was born on September 20, 1990. At age 8 she began singing for friends and relatives and by age 10 was already a local success. Her first appearance was at an annual concert show. She was discovered in 2001, when she sang a duet with

Natasha St-Pier Natasha St-Pier (born 10 February 1981) is a Canadian singer of Acadian origin who has spent most of her career in France. She was coach in the second and third season of The Voice Belgique (''The Voice of Belgium''). Career Natasha St-Pier r ...

in a

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

show called ''Stars à domicile''. She started recording by singing children's songs for TV shows and movies. This led to a feature appearance at age 12 on one of French Canada's biggest TV shows where she paid homage to her idol,

Celine Dion Céline Marie Claudette Dion ( ; born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Noted for her powerful and technically skilled vocals, Dion is the best-selling Canadian recording artist, and the best-selling French-language artist of all time. Her ...

, as part of a two-hour special that reached 3 million viewers. She sang Dion's first hit song, " Ce n’était qu’un rêve", to positive reviews.

Music career

Her career started in 2002 with her first single, "Je serai la pour toi", in a duet with Canadian singer Gino Quilico. The song was the French version of " There For Me", covered by

Sarah Brightman Sarah Brightman (born 14 August 1960) is an English classical crossover soprano singer, actress and dancer. Brightman began her career as a member of the dance troupe Hot Gossip and released several disco singles as a solo performer. In 1981, ...

in a

duet A duet is a musical composition for two performers in which the performers have equal importance to the piece, often a composition involving two singers or two pianists. It differs from a harmony, as the performers take turns performing a solo ...

with

José Cura José Luis Victor Cura Gómez (born 5 December 1962) is an Argentine operatic tenor, conductor, director, scenographer and photographer known for intense and original interpretations of opera characters, notably ''Otello'' in Verdi’s ''Otello' ...

. The song went to number one, the album went gold, and Marilou became a star at 12 years old. She then signed with

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainment ...

Canada and Sony Music France – the first joint venture between the two countries. In 2003, Marilou sang "Everyday" for the soundtrack of

Caillou's Holiday Movie ''Caillou's Holiday Movie'' is a 2003 Canadian animated Christmas film, based on the 1997 Canadian TV series ''Caillou'', itself based on the 1989 book series of the same name by Hélène Desputeaux. ''Caillou's Holiday Movie'' was released dir ...

. In 2004 Marilou was signed by Feeling Mgmt, the company owned by Céline Dion and René Angelil and together with Mario Lefebvre, they began to chart her path to success. In 2005, at age 15, she released her debut ''La Fille qui Chante''. One of its singles included a duet with Garou. The album was released in multiple countries and included four Top 10 singles, two of which, "Chante" and "Tu es comme ca", went to #1.

René Angélil René Angélil (; January 16, 1942 – January 14, 2016) was a Canadian musical producer, talent manager and singer. He was the manager and husband of singer Celine Dion. Early life Angélil was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, to a father of ...

, who also managed

, became her manager. After several concerts and promotions, Marilou played in

Luc Plamondon Luc Plamondon, OC, CQ (b. March 2, 1942 in Saint-Raymond, Quebec), is a French-Canadian lyricist and music executive. He is best known for his work on the musicals ''Starmania'' and ''Notre-Dame de Paris''. He is the brother of Louis Plamondo ...

's musical comedy ''

Notre-Dame de Paris Notre-Dame de Paris (; meaning "Our Lady of Paris"), referred to simply as Notre-Dame, is a medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité (an island in the Seine River), in the 4th arrondissement of Paris. The cathedral, dedicated to the ...

''. Marilou's self-titled sophomore album was released in 2006 and this time, the songs "Danser sur la lune", "Emmene-moi" and "Un monde en amour" went to the top of the chart. The latter was written for her by

. A final song from those sessions, "Tactile", was released in late 2007 and once again topped the radio charts. She headlined her first tour in 2006 while continuing with high school studies. Later in the year, she made her "Tout simplement Marilou" province-wide tour. As she neared her 18th birthday, she decided to try songwriting. Inspired by artists such as

Alanis Morissette Alanis Nadine Morissette ( ; born June 1, 1974) is a Canadian-American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her emotive mezzo-soprano voice and confessional songwriting, Morissette began her career in Canada in the early 1990s with tw ...

John Mayer John Clayton Mayer ( ; born October 16, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Born and raised in Fairfield County, Connecticut, Mayer attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, but left and moved to Atlanta in 1997 with ...

and

Muse In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the ...

, she collaborated with multiple writers and quickly produced 30 songs. She was introduced to Sam and JB, two young Montreal hotshot producers and musicians. The three of them locked themselves in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

's Piccolo Studio and recorded ''60 Thoughts A Minute''. Featuring 13 songs co-written by Marilou, the album was mixed by

Tom Lord-Alge Tom Lord-Alge (born January 17, 1963) is an American music engineer and mixer. He began his career at The Hit Factory in New York. Subsequently, he was the resident mixer at what used to be known as "South Beach Studios", located on the ground f ...

and mastered by

Ted Jensen Ted Jensen (born September 19, 1954) is an American mastering engineer, known for having mastered many recordings, including the Eagles' ''Hotel California'', Green Day's '' American Idiot'' and Norah Jones' ''Come Away with Me''. Biography Ted ...

Television debut

Marilou premiered in the first season of the 2008 French television series ''Chante!'' (Sing!).

Writing career

As of October 2015, Marilou has become more known as a chef/cookbook author along with her partner Alexandre Champagne. Her book "Three Times A Day" (or "Trois Fois Par Jour" in French) has received critical acclaim, and bestseller status, selling over 200,000 copies in Quebec as well as English-speaking Canada.

Discography

Albums

*2005: ''La fille qui chante'' *2007: ''Marilou'' *2012: ''60 Thoughts a Minute'' (#60 CAN) *2013: ''Au milieu de mon écart''

Singles

*2002: Je serai là pour toi (duet with Gino Quilico) *2005: "Tu es comme ça" (duet with Garou) *2005: "Chante" *2007: "Danser sur la lune" (solo in Canada, duet with

Merwan Rim Merwan Rim (born 13 July 1977 in Sarcelles, France) is a French actor and singer-songwriter. Biography At the age of 17, Merwan Rim started to learn and instruments as an autodidact. Realizing his gift in musical arts, Merwan decided to become ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

) *2007: "Emmène-moi" *2008: "Tactile" *2012: " Bruises" (duet with

Train In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and Passenger train, transport people or Rail freight transport, freight. Trains are typically pul ...

) *2020: "Rose pâle"

Others

*2005: "Entre les 2 yeux" (limited release in Canada)

Filmography

*2008: ''Chante!'' (French TV entertainment series) *2011: ''

Funkytown "Funkytown" is a song by the American disco/funk band Lipps Inc., released in 1980 as the second single from their 1979 debut album, '' Mouth to Mouth''. It was successful globally, reaching top spots in places such as the United States, West ...

'' *2012: '' Brave'' (Canadian French voice of Princess Merida)

Cookbooks and magazines

* 2015: Three Times a Day (Trois Fois Par Jour) * 2016: Three Times a Day vol. 2 (Trois Fois Par Jour Tome 2) * 2015: Magazine no 1, Automne * 2015: Magazine no 2, Hiver * 2016: Magazine no 3, Printemps * 2016: Magazine no 4, Été * 2016: Magazine no 5, Automne * 2016: Magazine no 6, Hiver * 2017: Magazine no 7, Printemps * 2017: Magazine no 8, Été * 2017: Magazine no 9, Automne

References

External links

Marilou - official site, in French
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marilou 1990 births Living people French Quebecers French-language singers of Canada People from Longueuil Singers from Quebec Canadian women rock singers Canadian women pop singers Canadian cookbook writers 21st-century Canadian women singers