This section tells you more about famous French artists: singers, actors, writers, poets or painters.

Do you know Coeur de Pirate ?

Béatrice Martin (born September 22, 1989), better known by her stage name Cœur de pirate (French: pirate heart) is a Canadian singer-songwriter. A francophone from Montreal, she sings mostly in French and has been credited with “bringing la chanson française to a whole new generation of Quebec youth”.

Born in the province of Quebec, Béatrice Martin started playing the piano when she was only three years old. She entered the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal at the age of nine and studied there for five years.

At the age of 15, she played as a keyboardist in the post-hardcore band December Strikes First which starred her best friend, Francis, who would later become the subject of the song “Francis” on her debut album.[citation needed] Martin had a brief stint as keyboardist for Bonjour Brumaire from late 2007 to April 2008.

2007–2009: Debut album and first success

In a report broadcast on French television, Martin explained that she chose the name “Cœur de pirate” to appear not “as an isolated musician, but to get a band identity from the start.” She released her debut album Cœur de pirate on September 16, 2008 on Grosse Boîte. Described as “rather simple” musically, it mostly featured Martin’s voice and piano playing with some minor additional instrumentation.

In February 2009, Martin attracted wider media attention when a photographer from Quebec City, Francis Vachon, used the song “Ensemble” as the soundtrack to a viral video on YouTube entitled “Time lapse of a baby playing with his toys”, leading to coverage on Good Morning America, Perez Hilton‘s website, The Globe and Mail and elsewhere.[

2009–2011: Side projects Pearls and Armistice

In March 2009, Martin released a song in English, “One for Me”, under the name Pearls on MySpace. In a later interview she described the project as a joke and said she did not plan to continue it, though she did not not rule out the possibility of releasing music in English at a later date.

In June 2009, she made a special appearance of CBC Radio‘s Q radio show with Jian Ghomeshi. She performed her single “Ensemble” and a new song, titled “Place de la république”.

Martin performed with Jay Malinowski of Bedouin Soundclash in May 2010 on Q, and talked about collaborating with him in the future. She was later featured in a Bedouin Soundclash song, “Brutal Hearts”, on the Light the Horizon. Martin, Malinowski, and several members of the American rock band The Bronx subsequently collaborated on a five-song EP under the band name Armistice, which was released on February 15, 2011.

 

2011 to present: Blonde and upcoming English project

On March 27, 2011, Martin revealed via her Facebook page that she was to return to the studio to commence work on her second album the following day. Her second album, Blonde, was released on November 7, 2011 in both digital and hard copy versions. “Adieu” and “Golden Baby” were released as singles from this LP.

After announcing her pregnancy in February 2012, Martin stopped touring during the second half of the year and gave birth to a daughter in September. In early 2013, Martin returned from her hiatus with a music video for “Place de la république”, the first for which she acted as director, and an international tour beginning in March. She also revealed that she was currently working on a “totally different” English-language project after being approached by a label and artistic director and had already recorded some demos.

Awards

Cœur de pirate received a 2009 CBC Radio 3 “Bucky” award determined by listener votes. Her song “Comme des enfants” received the 2009 “Bucky” award for “Best Reason to Learn French”.