Sheila (singer)

Infobox Musical artist
Name = Sheila

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Background = solo_singer
Birth_name = Annie Chancel
Alias = Sheila (and) B. Devotion
Born = Créteil, France birth date and age|1945|8|16
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Genre = disco
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Years_active = 1962-present
Label = Carrere, Warner
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URL = http://www.sheilahome.com/
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Sheila (born Annie Chancel on August 16, 1945 in Créteil) is the stage name of a French pop singer, who became successful as a solo artist in the 1960s and 1970s and later fronted a successful disco act called Sheila (and) B. Devotion.

Her stage name "Sheila" was taken from the title of her first release, which was a French cover version of the American hit by Tommy Roe.

Career

Sheila started her musical career in 1962, after being noticed by Claude Carrère, a French music producer and songwriter. This collaboration would last actively for over 20 years. It ended definitely in 1995 with a highly publicized lawsuit and won the royalties battle against her former producer.

Sheila had numerous and well-remembered hits in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980's, playing the well-behaved young girl image. The first one was "L'école est finie" (School is over), in 1962 (1 million copies).

In the "Eight Women" movie, Ludivine Sagnier sang her 1963 "Papa t'es plus dans l'coup" (Daddy, you are not in on it anymore) hit. Sheila's music also features prominently in the 1996 French film "Une robe d'été (A Summer Dress)." The character Sébastien is a devoted fan of Sheila, and Sheila's version of the Sonny & Cher classic, "Bang Bang," is featured on the soundtrack.

In 1977 she came back as "Sheila and B. Devotion" (in some countries records were released under the name "Sheila B. Devotion"; in others, under the name "Sheila and Black Devotion") and changed her style to disco. She also started singing in English. She again enjoyed considerable success, with hits like "Spacer" (from the album "King of the World", produced by Chic), which was later sampled for the song "Crying at the Discothèque" by Swedish pop group Alcazar, "Love Me Baby" and a "Singin' in the Rain" cover.

She ended her collaboration with Carrère at the beginning of the 1980s. She took a brand new musical direction in 1983 when she met Yves Martin (a talented composer and producer who later became her husband). Her new songs were critically acclaimed. Being disappointed with the music business, she decided to put an end to her career in 1989.She finally had a highly successfull comeback in 1998 with re-recordings of her greatest hits and some new songs (the new CD went gold within 1 month).

She is still very popular, having met huge success in concerts held in 1998 and 2002 at the Olympia and in 2006 at the Cabaret Sauvage with an unplugged concert.It has been 6 years since her last studio album "Seulement Pour Toi" was released .Her complete recordings were released in a 18 CD box-set in 2006 including more than 400 songs, unknown tracks, alternate takes, duets, TV performances and german, italian, spanish and english versions of her greatest hits.
Sheila has sold more than 70 million records worldwide (80 singles or LPs went gold), she was the top selling artist in France in the 60's and 70's.

Discography

Albums

*"Singin' in the Rain" (1977)
*"King of the World (album)" (1980)
*"Little Darlin"' (1981)
*"On dit" (1983)
*"Je suis comme toi" (1984)
*"Zenith 85" (1985)
*"Tendances" (1988)
*"Le Meilleur" (1998) Re-recordings of her greatest hits
*"Dense" (1999)
*"Seulement pour toi" (2002)

ingles

* "Tu es le soleil" (1974)
* "Mélancolie" (1974)
* "Love Me Baby" (1977)
* "Singin' in the Rain" (1978) UK # 11 - as "Sheila B. Devotion"
* "Kennedy Airport" (1978)
* "You Light My Fire" (1978) UK #44 - as "Sheila B. Devotion"
* "Seven Lonely Days" (1979)
* "Spacer" (1979) UK #18 - as "Sheila and B. Devotion"
* "King of the World" (1980)
* "Little Darlin'" (1981)
* "Et Ne La Ramene Pas" (1981) Chart position unknown - French cover version of "Shaddap You Face".

References

*"Guinness Book of British Hit Singles" 7th Edition
*"Une robe d'été," [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118036/ Internet Movie Database] . Accessed May 25, 2007.

Audio sample

External links

* [http://www.rfimusique.com/siteen/biographie/biographie_6152.asp Biography]
* [http://ondit.unblog.fr Sheila dans le monde des artistes "French"]