Olivia Ruiz

Biography

Olivia Blanc (born 1 January 1980), known as Olivia Ruiz, is a French pop singer belonging to the nouvelle chanson genre. She gained fame after reaching the semi-finals of the French Star Academy series in 2001.

Biography

Ruiz was born 1 January 1980 in Carcassonne, the daughter of musician Didier Blanc, though later taking her grandmother's maiden name, Ruiz. Her family on her mother's side is Spanish and fled Nationalist Spain to go to Marseillette, in the village's concert hall (subject of her second album). She has a brother, Anthony, born in 1985. He is a rap composer known by the nickname Toan. She studied in Carcassonne but went to college in Montpellier, where she studied performing arts, before changing to a BTS in communication.
At the age of 15, Ruiz started getting involved in music. She left her parents' house to live with her aunt in Narbonne, where she took theater and dance classes with her friends from Comigne, the band Rock Five. Together, they did some opening acts in order to make some money by singing the Cranberries' or Lenny Kravitz's songs. She also took dance classes at the Pelizzon School in Carcassonne and Trèbes. She entered the Médiévales de Carcassonne, a group of small artists, for their summer show. She started performing in different bars, along with Frank Marty (from the bands THC, Les Croquants and La Varda) a multi-instrumentalist from Narbonne. They mainly performed songs from old artists like Fréhel, Yves Montand and Gilbert Bécaud, but also songs from the new generation and Spanish standards.
In 2001, she was a prominent contestant in the first French edition of Star Academy, a popular TV reality show and musical contest. She was defeated in the semi-final by eventual winner Jenifer Bartoli but according to an interview on Europe 1 she claimed that she never wanted to win and, following a post-series tour, worked to distance herself from the Star Ac image.
For her second studio album La Femme Chocolat×La Femme chocolat14 November 2005 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 13 tracks1J’traîne des pieds3:312La Femme chocolat2:533I Need a Child2:504Non‐dits4:045Thérapie de groupe3:236La Petite Valse de Narbonne Plage4:027Quijote3:388Cabaret blanc4:109Goûtez‐moi2:3910Vitrier4:1411La Petite Voleuse4:4612La Fille du vent4:0513De toi à moi II / La Molinera9:16, Olivia Ruiz was recognised by the Victoires de la Musique as the Female Artist of the Year in 2007. For the live performances accompanying the record, she also received the prize in the category of Musical Show, Tour or Concert of the Year. The album topped the French chart and was certified as a diamond record for selling more than 750,000 copies in France and made it to the top 50 of the Walloon and Swiss charts. Off the album, the music videos of the tracks "J'traine des pieds×J'traine des piedsJuly 2007 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracks1J'traîne des pieds3:302Pour te dire tout3:47" and "La femme chocolat" were placed on rotation on the MCM French TV channel in 2006. The singles made it to the top 50 of the French and Walloon charts.
Olivia Ruiz wrote all the lyrics for her third studio album Miss Météores×Miss Météores13 April 2009 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 13 tracks1Elle panique2:312Les Crêpes aux champignons3:103Belle à en crever3:314Spit the Devil2:285Les Météores2:526Mon petit à petit2:507When the Night Comes3:018Le Saule pleureur3:349Quedate2:4810La Mam’3:2511Don’t Call Me Madam3:1112Peur du noir3:1813Eight O’Clock / Six Mètres4:35, co-orchestrated the music and employed a crew of guest stars including the rapper Buck 65, the indie band Noisettes and the folk and dark cabaret project Lonely Drifter Karen and featured the styles of nouvelle chanson, punk, folk and Hispanic rock. The record topped the French and Walloon album charts in 2009. Off the album, the single "Elle panique×Elle panique9 February 2009 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Elle panique2:31", with the music written by Buck 65 peaked at #2 of the Walloon chart. The music video of the song was placed on rotation on the MCM in May 2009. Her ex-partner is Mathias Malzieu, the lead singer of the band Dionysos.
During an interview, Ruiz said that she did not want to "stuff people" with her music and preferred waiting at least two years before releasing a new studio album. From August to October 2011, she shared the screen with Gérard Jugnot and François Berléand in Un jour mon père viendra, a French movie by Martin Valente. She also participated in the project Les Françoise, with Jeanne Cherhal, Emily Loizeau, Camille, La Grande Sophie and Rosemary Standley (from the band Moriarty).
During an interview for L'Express, Ruiz said that she started recording her fourth album after going to Cuba alone to take a break. The title of her album is Le calme et la tempête×Le Calme et la Tempête3 December 2012 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1My Lomo and Me (Je photographie des gens heureux)2:582Le Calme et la Tempête3:163Plus j’aime, plus je pique4:064Volver4:245L.A Melancholy3:106La Voleuse de baisers3:187Ironic Rainbow3:168Larmes de crocodîle3:369Question de pudeur2:2710Crazy Christmas2:5111Mon p’tit chat2:5212La Llorona5:18. It was released on 3 December 2012. This album was also a success with 150 000 copies sold.
In February 2013, she won her third Globes de Cristal Award as the Female Artist of the Year. (2007, 2010, 2013).
In October 2013, she played Candela, the gypsy in L'Amour sorcier, a ballet d'action written by Manuel de Falla in 1915.
In May 2014, she announced that her fifth studio album would be released by the end of 2014 or the beginning of 2015. However, the album, entitled À Nos Corps-Aimants×À nos corps-aimants18 November 2016 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 16 tracks1Mon corps mon amour3:442Il y a des nuits3:293Âme en dentelle3:184La Dame-oiselle4:195Nino mi niño3:556Dis-moi ton secret2:567Le Blanc du plafond3:228L'Éternité4:259Tokyo Eyes3:0510Paranoïaque transcendantal3:1111Nos corps-aimants2:5512Duerme negrito3:0513Il y a des nuits4:0014Nos corps-aimants (L.A. session 2015)3:0815Dis-moi ton secret (L.A. session 2015)2:5116Âme en dentelle (L.A. session 2015)3:13, was released on 18 November 2016.

Albums

2003 : J'aime pas l'Amour, produced by Iso Diop & Mitch Olivier
2005 : La Femme Chocolat, produced by Alain Cluzeau, Mathias Malzieu (Dionysos) & Olivia Ruiz
2007 : Chocolat Show
2008 : La Chica Chocolate (La femme chocolat)
2009 : Miss Météores
2010 : Miss Météores Live
2012 : Le Calme et La Tempête
2016 : À nos Corps-Aimants

Singles

2001 : Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight) - an ABBA cover sung by a group of Star Academy contestants including Ruiz and Jenifer Bartoli that reached No 1 in the French charts
2002 : Paris, songwriter Chet.
2003 : J'aime pas l'amour, songwriter Juliette.
2003 : Pas si vieille, songwriter Philippe Prohom.
2003 : Qui sommes nous ?, songwriter Chet and Jérôme Rebotier.
2004 : Le tango du qui, songwriter Stéphane Balmino and Denis Hénault-Parizel.
2004 : Les vieux amoureux, songwriter Chet and Jérôme Rebotier.
2005 : J'traîne des pieds, songwriter Olivia Ruiz and Ben Ricour.
2006 : La femme chocolat, songwriter Mathias Malzieu.
2007 : Non dits, songwriter Christian Olivier.
2007 : Goutez-moi, songwriter Mathias Malzieu.
2007 : Thérapie de Groupe
2008 : Bunny Maloney with Mathias Malzieu for the TV series of the same name.
2009 : Elle panique
2009 : Belle a en crever
2010 : Les crêpes aux champignons
2010 : Elle panique (Live)
2012 : My Lomo & Me (Je photographie des gens heureux)
2012 : Volver
2016 : Mon Corps, Mon Amour
2023 : La Réplique
2024 : Le Sel

DVDs

2007 : Chocolat Show (Live)
2010 : Miss Météores (Live)