Born in Paris, she grew up in Le
Tréport, Seine-Maritime,
and in the early 1970s, she became a fashion
designer. Drawn into the musical orbit by her friends, she began singing
with various jazz, new
wave, and R&B bands
starting in the early 1980s. In 1983, she met Jean-Michel Rivat, a composer and record
producer who had already made his name working with Joe
Dassin, Michel Delpech, France
Gall, and Patrick
Juvet, amongst others. In 1986, Rivat composed "Voyage Voyage", a synthpop
song that topped the charts in many European countries, and even reached number
five in the UK
Singles Chart — a feat for a French-language song, although this was a remix
of the original entry, which made number 53 in the UK.
The singer's androgynous look — complete with a porcupine-style
hairdo — made her one of the most colorful personalities to grace the European
pop scene, while her moniker, Desireless, was reportedly inspired by her voyage
to India and her
subsequent interest in its philosophy of acceptance and inner serenity. She
released her first album,
François in 1990, with the opening track "Qui Sommes-Nous?"
becoming her third and last hit (the second one was "John" in 1988).
Then she decided to take a break and gave birth to a daughter, Lili. Desireless'
second album, I Love You, came out in 1994. This time, she co-wrote all
of the compositions, which rendered the album more quiet and personal. Though
the release was generally well-received, the lack of promotion made it
short-lived. In 1995, the artist decided to abandon city life and move to a
picturesque rural area with her boyfriend and daughter. Both of her albums were
reissued on CD
in the late 1990s with bonus tracks added. Desireless started the new millennium
with a series of acoustic concerts
across France and began work on a third album, which included songs from that
tour.
