French (Nicki)   (UK)

EuroDance group
Added : 20/01/2007
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Latest Nicki French news

17/12/2024 : Last week, Nicki French released a new version of her current album Who, What, Where?, with remixed and extended versions of the tracks

06/12/2024 : Today sees the release of S.O.S. (Same Old Story), the brand new single from Nicki French

06/08/2024 : Nicki French's new album will be entitled Who, What, Where? and it is planned for August 12th. The CD version will include 2 bonus tracks

01/04/2024 : Nicki French's next single is planned for April and it is entitled Nothing Is Impossible. It premiered 2 days ago on the BBC

02/12/2023 : New from Nicki French, Xmas song Christmas At The Disco

21/11/2022 : Nicki French recorded a dance party cover of Santa Claus Is Coming To Town

06/12/2018 : New from Nicki French, single On Your Marks, Get Set, Go Away (Thanks to Tavi Meran)

More news

Nicki French albums

	Secrets	1995	BUY X
	French Revolution	1997	BUY X
	One Step Further 4 CDs	1st Jan 2015	BUY X
	A Very Nicki Christmas 2 CDs	24th Nov 2017	BUY X
	Glitter To The Neon Lights	2018	BUY X
	Let's Play That Song Again	2019	BUY X
	A Touch More Glitter	2020	BUY X
	Let's Play That Song Again vol. 2	2021	BUY X
	Who, What, Where?	12th Aug 2024	BUY X
	Who, What, Where? (Remixed & Extended)	14th Dec 2024	BUY X

Nicki French singles

	Total Eclipse Of The Heart	1994	BUY X
	Did You Ever Really Love Me?	1995	BUY X
	For All We Know	1995	BUY X
	Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree	1995	BUY X
	Hard To Say I'm Sorry	1997	BUY X
	Te Amo	1997	BUY X
	Don't Play That Song Again	2000	BUY X
	I Surrender	2004	BUY X
	Calling Out My Name	2005	BUY X
	Total Eclipse Of The Heart 2006 (vs Diva's DJs)	2006	BUY X
	Total Eclipse Of The Heart 2007	2007	BUY X
	Ain't No Smoke (Without Fire)	9th Nov 2009	BUY X
	Red Light (Spells Danger)	2013	BUY X
	The Boss	27th Oct 2014	BUY X
	Eurovision E.P	2015	BUY X
	This Love	21st Aug 2015	BUY X
	Steal The Crown	2018	BUY X
	On Your Marks, Get Set, Go Away	8th Nov 2018	BUY X
	It's Gonna Be A Cold Cold Christmas	Dec 2018	BUY X
	Raise Your Voice	16th Jul 2019	BUY X
	Haunted Heart	26th Oct 2020	BUY X
	Last Dance	4th Mar 2022	BUY X
	Santa Claus Is Coming To Town	5th Dec 2022	BUY X
	Christmas At The Disco	30th Nov 2023	BUY X
	Nothing Is Impossible	19th Apr 2024	BUY X
	High Hopes & Heartaches	8th Jul 2024	BUY X
	S.O.S. (Same Old Story)	6th Dec 2024	BUY X

Nicki French remixes

Te Amo (the UK mixes)

1997

BUY X

Nicki French biography

Nicola Sharon French aka Nicki was born in Carlisle, Cumbria to mum Eileen and dad Joe. Music was destined to be in the family – dad played the drums when he was younger, and mum the violin. Nicki’s brother, Tim, is very musical too – a guitarist, songwriter and singer (he appeared on the writing credits of one of her sister's album). However, her two sisters, Allison and Carolyn, stayed away from music.

The family moved down to Tenterden in Kent when Nicki was four years old. Always a keen singer, one of her early memories was sitting next to the radio, listening to the new chart rundown and singing along to all the songs, when Auntie Sally, her Godmother, came in and said to mum and dad, "She’ll be a singer when she grows up!"

The first ‘gig’ came at the age of seven, when Nicki was chosen to sing a solo - the first verse of ‘O Little Town of Bethlehem’ at the Infants’ School Christmas Concert. A few years later she won the local talent contest, and within the year had joined her first band, Krisp, run by Tim and his friend Kelvin.

From the age of 16, Nicki studied Music and Drama at West Kent College in Tonbridge, Kent, passing her ‘A’ Levels two years later. At the annual college musical, she played the lead role of Laurey in ‘Oklahoma!’, earning rave reviews for her performance. She then moved up to London and started auditioning for bands and theatre shows.

In the early 1980s, Nicki became a part of a duo, Whisky and Sofa. They released a song called Dirty Den, about the Eastenders character, written by a well-known writer, Barry Mason (he wrote The Last Waltz for Engelbert Humperdinck and Delilah for Tom Jones). It was played on the Radio One Breakfast Show.

Nicki started working the pubs and clubs, moving onto gay pubs and clubs a short while later - The Spread Eagle in Shoreditch was her first. However the most exciting show for Nicki was at the Player of the Season annual dinner/dance at Tottenham Hotspur FC - her team! They had just signed a new player and were introducing him to the fans - a player by the name of Paul Gascoigne, and Gazza and all the other players got up on stage with her to perform a couple of songs - a special moment.

Nicki had been working on the gay scene for some time, when she made one of her regular visits to perform in a club in Cardiff, which was also the fateful night she met John Springate. They hit it off straight away, and started what was to become a long association with his recording studio.

In 1991 Nicki was booked as the leading lady in a series of revue shows on a cruise ship, touring Europe and beyond and covering shows such as ‘Mack and Mabel’, ‘Oklahoma!’, ‘Paint Your Wagon’, ‘Calamity Jane’, along with more general tributes to Stage and Screen. Nicki has always loved Musical Theatre, and even now would relish the opportunity to take part in a big production, particularly in the West End.

The same year, Nicki met trumpet player Gavin Mallett on stage at the London Palladium, where they were both working in the band for the Irish songstress Rose-Marie. 18 months later they married in Nicki’s parish church in Tenterden, St Mildred’s, where she had been in the Church choir as a teenager, and a teacher at the Sunday School for over two years (she even ran it at one point)

Early in 1994 Nicki and John Springate recorded a dance version of Bonnie Tyler's Total Eclipse of the Heart. A few months later Mike Stock took it on, re-jigged it and made it into the massive worldwide hit it was - the first release, and success, of his new record company, Love This Records.

Produced by Mike Stock and Matt Aitken, Total Eclipse of the Heart became the first big hit of 1995 by a new artist, reaching #5 in the UK charts. It went to #2 on the Billboard Hot 100, the highest placing in the UK by a UK artist since the 1980s, and spent six months in the chart there. It also reached #1 in Australia, Japan, Brazil, Israel, Spain, Holland and Canada. Although she didn’t manage to fit in all the places, Nicki started touring extensively around the world with Gavin, finding that Total Eclipse of the Heart, and Nicki’s lively stage show, were a huge success wherever they went.

Her second single For All We Know, a cover version of the Carpenters' reached 42 in the UK singles chart due to poor distribution and a barcode error. The track was due to be released in America but due to a dispute between record companies only made it as far as a promo release.

To cap a great 1995, Nicki’s success continued at the annual Dance Music Authority Magazine Awards in the USA, where she was honoured to win all three awards she was nominated for - Best Female Vocalist, Single of the Year and Most Promising Newcomer.

Nicki managed to achieve the often elusive international recording success, and in the summer of 1995 released her debut album, Secrets, which sold over 50,000 copies in its first week of sale in the USA. A second album, French Revolution, included tracks co-written by Nicki.

In March 1996, Nicki embarked on her first visit to Brazil, totally unaware of the extent of her success in the South American territories, where no less than 9 of her songs have been huge hits, particularly Did You Ever Really Love me? (her personal favourite) and Te Amo. She subsequently returned to tour there five times in 18 months.

In 1997 Nicki was approached by Jim Steinman, the original writer of Total Eclipse of the Heart, and famous for his work with Meatloaf, Celine Dion, Cher and Barbra Streisand. He had heard the French Revolution album, and wanted to work with Nicki. She then recorded a couple of tracks for his new record company, Ravenous.

Nicki carried on doing live shows around the world, then in August 1999, had another call from John Springate – the song he had for her this time was entitled Don’t Play That Song Again, written by John and Gerry Shephard (members of the 70s band Glitter Band), and they were planning to enter it for Song for Europe. John had never realised that Nicki was a HUGE fan of the Eurovision Song Contest... They recorded the track in two takes, and the song was put forward for selection. It then went through all the elimination rounds, and after the Radio 2 listeners voted it into the final four, Nicki ended up back in the Top of the Pops studio again, to perform the song live on BBC1. That was 20 February 2000 – a day she will remember forever. The song blasted the other entries into the water, and Nicki comfortably won the public’s vote – and support – thus fulfilling her childhood dream of representing her country at Eurovision in Stockholm, an experience she classes as ‘the most magical week of my life’. Although it didn’t win (it ended #16 only), the UK delegation did win one award – for Best Party during the week of rehearsals! Nicki’s popularity in Sweden since then is such that she was one of the headline acts at Stockholm Pride in 2001. In the Summer of 2003 she was invited to return and performed again – this time with her live band and singers. The audience reaction was amazing.

In the lead-up to Eurovision, Nicki took part in many television and radio interviews, and a lot of people noticed how natural she was in front of the camera, which has seen her move more into presenting work. She is currently working on some pilot projects for the BBC, and is in negotiations to co-host a new regional programme in the South-East. She would also love to return to Musical Theatre, and has been in talks with several production companies.

In January 2003, Nicki was the only British artist to feature in an all-star line up for an ABC Television special in Los Angeles, ‘The Disco Ball – a 30-Year Celebration’, which was filmed at the Shrine Auditorium, home of the Oscars Ceremony, and included Gloria Gaynor, Whoopi Goldberg, KC & the Sunshine Band, Chic, Irene Cara, Usher, Village People... The show has since been repeated on TV around the world many times.

She provided backing vocals on the 2006 release of New Emotion's 9 to 5 (Energise). In Spain, she recorded some songs, including three new versions of old Eurovision favourites with John Springate.

Nicki has never had children, but back in 1991, after eight years of asking, Gavin finally got his way when she agreed to get a dog – Satchmo the English Cocker Spaniel is now two and a half years old, and ‘THE most wonderful dog ever!’ (Nicki’s words).

2007 : she was cast as understudy for the original London cast of "Menopause the Musical", starring Su Pollard. She was subsequently part of all the UK and Irish productions, and has played three out of the four roles throughout her connection with the show, elevating to being cast in the main roles

2008 : she played Queen Genevieve in "Sleeping Beauty" at Chipping Norton Theatre.

2009 : she released the single Ain't No Smoke (Without Fire). She joined the cast of the musical pantomime Cinderella, playing the Fairy Godmother. She also re-released a special edition of her 2nd album French Revolution

2010 : she toured the UK in the musical Annie, performing 8 different roles every night.

2014 : Nicki's new single was entitled The Boss.

2015 : She started working with producer Mike Stock again, and released a new single entitled This Love as well as a Eurovision E.P.

2017 : Nicki is working on a new single entitled Teardrops (On the Disco Floor)

2018 : Nicki released 3 new singles : On Your Marks, Get Set, Go Away, Steal The Crown and It's Gonna Be A Cold Cold Christmas

2019 : a new single was out : Raise Your Voice

2020 : she released the single Haunted Heart and a new album, A Touch More Glitter

2021 : she was among the cast of Cinderella musical, playing the part of the evil stepmother. She released the EP Let's Play That Song Again vol. 2

2022 : she released the single Last Dance in March.She then recorded the cover Santa Claus Is Coming To Town.

Nicki French official website
Thanks to Abelito

Nicki French biography was last updated Mon, October 2nd 2023

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