Vanessa Paradis

Vanessa Paradis is a French singer, model, and actress. She became a star at the age of 14 with the international success of her single ‘Joe le taxi’ in 1987.

At age 18, Vanessa Paradis was awarded France’s highest honors as both a singer and an actress, including the Prix Romy Schneider, the César Award for Most Promising Actress, and the Victoires de la Musique for Best Female Singer.

Vanessa Paradis’ most notable films include Élisa (1995) alongside Gérard Depardieu, Witch Way Love (1997) opposite Jean Reno, Une chance sur deux (1998) co-starring with Jean-Paul Belmondo and Alain Delon, Girl on the Bridge (1999), Heartbreaker (2010), and Café de Flore (2011).

Vanessa Paradis has been a muse to numerous musicians and lyricists who each took one of her albums under their aegis, including Étienne Roda-Gil (1988), Serge Gainsbourg (1990), Lenny Kravitz (1992), Matthieu Chedid (2007), Benjamin Biolay (2013), Samuel Benchetrit and The Bees (2018).

Vanessa Paradis has been made an Officer in the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2011 and was named a Knight in the Ordre national de la Légion d’honneur in 2015, which are two of France’s highest honors.

As a model, Vanessa Paradis has appeared on more than 300 magazine covers worldwide, including Vogue, Elle, Harper’s Bazaar, Madame Figaro, Paris Match, Vanity Fair, Glamour, Premiere, and Marie Claire. She has been a spokesmodel for Chanel since 1991, chosen by Karl Lagerfeld.

Vanessa Paradis’ tribute to Jeanne Moreau at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival, during which they sang in duet ‘Le Tourbillon’, became notable in French popular culture.