Natasha St-Pier

Natasha St-Pier (born 10 February 1981) is a Canadian singer, songwriter and television presenter. She is of Acadian heritage, and grew up in the Saint John River valley of New Brunswick, but has spent most of her career in France. St-Pier represented France in the 2001 Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Je n'ai que mon âme" (English translation: "I have only my soul"), gaining fourth place from 23 entrants.

She began her professional career at a young age in Canada, bringing out her first single at the age of 12, followed by her first album (Émergence) in 1996, at the age of 15. Her theatrical experience includes roles in the musicals Notre-Dame de Paris (in Canada and the U.K) and Don Juan (Canada, 2012).

St-Pier has had considerable commercial success in francophone countries, including France, Canada, Belgium and Switzerland. She has also become popular in a number of other countries, including Spain, Poland, Russia, Turkey and Japan. Her Eurovision song ("Je n'ai que mon âme") reached second position on the charts in France and Belgium when released as a single in 2001. In the following year, her single "Tu trouveras" ('You will find') reached position no. 3 in France and Belgium, and position no. 1 in Quebec. In 2006, her single "Un ange frappe à ma porte" ('An angel is knocking at my door') reached no. 1 in Belgium and no. 2 in France. In France, her album De l'amour le mieux (2002) was certified double platinum, while L'instant d'après (2003) and Longueur d'ondes (2006) were certified platinum and gold respectively.

In interviews, Natasha St-Pier has spoken about the importance of her Catholic faith. Following the 2013 concept album Thérèse – Vivre d'amour (for which she recorded most of the tracks), St-Pier recorded two further albums focusing on Saint Thérèse of Lisieux: Aimer c'est tout donner (2018) and Croire (2020). Her following album - Jeanne (2022) - focused on Saint Joan of Arc.

St-Pier has appeared as a guest in a number of TV series. She was coach in the second and third season of The Voice Belgique (The Voice of Belgium). In 2024, she and her dancing partner were winners in the French TV series Danse avec les stars season 13.

Natasha St-Pier was born 10 February 1981 at Bathurst, New Brunswick (Canada). Together with her brother Jonathan, she grew up in Saint-Hilaire, New Brunswick, a small village in the valley of the Saint John River near Edmundston. Both of her parents are ethnically Acadian, and some of her ancestry comes from indigenous peoples of Canada. Her father, Mario Saint-Pierre, was a primary school teacher who became teacher in a prison for minors and later director of the prison. Later he worked in the Ministry of Justice and in public security. Her mother, Rose-Marie Bard was a nurse, before becoming director of a retirement home. In April 2013, Natasha St-Pier stated during a broadcast of the radio programme Faites entrer l'invité (presented by Michel Drucker) that she is a cousin four times removed of Pope Pius X.

At the age of 8 years, St-Pier took the stage for the first time, and began studying classical dance, modern jazz, piano and song. In 1992, she was spotted by Alain Morisod and invited to participate in the Sweet People Show, a program for young talents produced by a local television station in Quebec. The following year, at the age of 12, she became the youngest finalist in the singing competition Le pouvoir de la chanson. She was then invited by producers Regean and Michela Lacroix to sign her first recording contract with their Mi Re La label. In July 1995, she recorded her first single: "Le parcours du cœur", written to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the Maurice Tanguay Foundation for underprivileged children. Subsequently, she concentrated her artistic efforts on singing.

In August 1996, she released her debut studio album in Canada, entitled Émergence, which she worked on with Steve Barakatt. She promoted the album with singles: “Il ne sait pas” and "Sans le savoir". After the release of the album, she broke her contract with her agents, which she explained by divergent perceptions of further artistic development. After parting company, she interrupted her career for less than three years. Negotiations between the two sides' lawyers over the broken contract lasted more than two years. Producer Guy Cloutier then offered St-Pier a partnership, in which he invested about one million Canadian dollars in the further development of her career.