Hélène Ségara
Hélène Ségara (born 1971 as Hélène Aurore Alice Rizzo) spent her early years on the French Riviera. She was born of an Italian father and Armenian mother in the small town of Six-Fours-Les Plages on a peninsula east of Marseilles. Her parents divorced and she lived with one and then the other and finally with her grandparents. Her singing aspirations led her to leave school at the age of 14 to ply her trade in venues along the Côte d'Azur. She had a son (Raphael) at age 19 and moved to Paris when 25 in 1996 where she came to the notice of Orlando, the brother and producer of star singer Dalida. This led to a 5-year run of significant success.
Hélène Ségara (born 1971 as Hélène Aurore Alice Rizzo) spent her early years on the French Riviera. She was born of an Italian father and Armenian mother in the small town of Six-Fours-Les Plages on a peninsula east of Marseilles. Her parents divorced and she lived with one and then the other and finally with her grandparents. Her singing aspirations led her to leave school at the age of 14 to ply her trade in venues along the Côte d'Azur. She had a son (Raphael) at age 19 and moved to Paris when 25 in 1996 where she came to the notice of Orlando, the brother and producer of star singer Dalida. This led to a 5-year run of significant success.
The lead single “Je vous aime adieu” from her 1996 debut album Coeur de verre (“Heart of Glass”) was written by Thierry Geoffroy, Christia Vie and Christian Loigerot. It won the 1997 Rolf Marbot “Song of the Year” prize awarded by SACEM, the French copyright organization. That album also included a duet with Andrea Bocelli, “Vivo per lei” that also rose to #1 and captured attention. Her big break then came in 1999 with the role of Esméralda in the musical play Notre Dame de Paris. She remained with the show through its 6-month Paris run beginning September 1998, its move to Quebec in March 1999, then Las Vegas and New York in 2000.
Medical procedures for a cyst on her vocal cords led to a short performance hiatus in 2000. Her second album appeared in 2000, “Au Nom d'une femme.” Its first single release, "Il y a trop de gens qui t'aiment" spent 7 weeks atop the charts in both France and Belgium, followed by a concert tour. In February 2001, she received the “Female Artist of the Year” award from Victoires de la Musique (French Grammies). A third album came in 2003 and a fourth in 2006 along with attendant tours. By 2021 she had released 16 albums, numerous singles and frequent tours and concerts. Along the way, she married musician and music executive Mathieu Lecat in 2003, had another 2 children and engaged in many charitable activities. For several years, she has served as a judge on Simon Cowell’s “Got Talent” franchise “La France a un incroyable talent.”
Songs by Hélène Ségara
Vivre (“Live”) from "Notre Dame de Paris"
Je ne vois que par toi (“I can see only by you”), (Album “Parmi la foule,” 2011)
Je ne vois que par toi (“I can see only by you”), (Album “Parmi la foule,” 2011)