Izïa Anna Rosine Higelin (French pronunciation: [izja ana ʁozin iʒlɛ̃]; born 24 September 1990), more commonly known by her stage name Izïa, is a French rock singer, guitarist and actress. Her most recent album, La Vitesse, was released in 2022.

Izïa
Izïa Higelin
Izia at the Week-end des Curiosités, Ramonville, 2015
Background information
Birth nameIzïa Anna Rosine Higelin
Born (1990-09-24) 24 September 1990 (age 33)
Paris, France
OriginParis, France
GenresRock
Instrument(s)Vocals, electric guitar, piano.
Years active2006 (2006)–present
LabelsUniversal
WebsiteOfficial website

Early life edit

 
Izïa at an Aéronef concert in Lille in 2010.

Izïa was born in Paris on 24 September 1990 to Jacques Higelin, a famous French singer of Belgian and Alsatian descent,[1][2] and Aziza Zakine, a dancer and chorist of Tunisian descent.[3] She comes from a family of artists; beside her father and mother, her two half brothers are Arthur H and Kên Higelin. She was influenced by music from an early age when her father introduced her to jazz and British pop music.[4] At the age of seven, she formed a duo with her father; she provided the vocals while he played piano.

Career edit

Music edit

When she was 13 Izïa started to take an interest in rock bands such as Nirvana and Led Zeppelin. At this time, she wrote her first song, titled "Hey Bitch", which later featured on her debut album.

A year later she met Caravan Palace bassist Antoine Toustou through her parents and the pair played their first live show in 2004.[4] Six months later, her backing group was expanded to three people when Izïa and Toustou were joined by Sébastien Hoog and Vincent Polycarpe.[5] She left school at the age of 15 in order to concentrate on a career in music.[4]

In 2006, Izïa released her first extended play and the following year she opened for Iggy & the Stooges at the Printemps de Bourges music festival.[5] She consequently embarked on a tour of France, which consisted of over thirty dates.[4] On 8 June 2009, her eponymous debut studio album, Izia was released in France.[6] In some reviews, the album garnered comparisons to Janis Joplin.[7] The album performed reasonably well in the French albums chart, achieving a peak position of #31 and staying in the top 100 for 17 consecutive weeks.[8]

Izïa has since released three more albums that reached the charts in France: So Much Trouble (2011), La Vague (2015), and Citadelle (2019). In 2021, Izïa contributed a cover of the Metallica song "My Friend of Misery" to the charity tribute album The Metallica Blacklist.[9]

Film edit

Izïa made her film debut in 2012, appearing in the film Bad Girl under her full name, Izia Higelin. She was nominated for several awards for her performance in the film, including the César Award for Most Promising Actress. Since then she has continued to act sporadically, appearing in the 2015 film Summertime and playing Camille Claudel in the 2017 film Rodin.

Discography edit

Studio albums edit

Year Album Peak positions Certification
FR
[10]
BEL
(Wa)

[11]
SWI
[12]
2009 Izia 24
2011 So Much Trouble 10 96
2015 La Vague 13 52
2019 Citadelle 13
[13]
60
2022 La vitesse 26 70 99

Singles edit

Year Album Peak positions Singles
FR
[10]
2009 "So Much Trouble" 84 So Much Trouble
2009 "La Vague" 80 La Vague

Filmography edit

Year Title Role Director Notes
2012 Bad Girl Louise Patrick Mille César Award for Most Promising Actress
Nominated—Lumières Award for Most Promising Actress
Nominated—Globes de Cristal Award for Best Actress
2014 Samba Manu Olivier Nakache
Eric Toledano
Nominated—César Award for Best Supporting Actress
Fils de Hervé P. Gustave
Mune: Guardian of the Moon Glim Alexandre Heboyan
Benoît Philippon
2015 Summertime Delphine Catherine Corsini Nominated—Lumières Award for Best Actress
2016 Saint-Amour Benoît Delépine
Gustave de Kervern
2017 Rodin Camille Claudel Jacques Doillon
2021 La Vengeance au Triple Galop Debby Harper Alex Lutz & Arthur Sanigou TV film
2022 The Takedown (Loin du périph) Alice Gautier Louis Leterrier Netflix
Tower of Strength Louis Leterrier Filming

References edit

  1. ^ Higelin, Jacques; Lehoux, Valérie (2015). Je vis pas ma vie, je la rêve. Fayard. p. 7.
  2. ^ Chanter pour la paix. Paris: Mango jeunesse. 2003. p. pink. ISBN 2-7404-1630-X.
  3. ^ Janua, Thomas. "Qui est Aziza Zakine, la mère d'Izia Higelin ?". telestar.fr. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
  4. ^ a b c d "Izia: Sa Biographie" (in French). concerts.fr. Archived from the original on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 24 October 2009.
  5. ^ a b "Izia Biographie" (in French). music-story.com. Archived from the original on 9 June 2009. Retrieved 24 September 2004.
  6. ^ About her eponymous studio album, Izia, Artistik Rezo, Annabelle Verjus. 15 July 2009. (French)
  7. ^ Carl Kieser (5 June 2009). "Album Review - Izia". Rock'n'France. Retrieved 24 October 2009. [dead link]
  8. ^ "Izia - Izia". lescharts.com. Retrieved 24 October 2009.
  9. ^ He, Richard S. (10 September 2021). "Every Metallica Blacklist cover ranked from worst to best". loudersound. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
  10. ^ a b "Izia discography". lescharts.com. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  11. ^ "Izia discography". ultratop.be/fr. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  12. ^ "Discographie Izia". hitparade.ch. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
  13. ^ "Le Top de la semaine : Top Albums Fusionnes – SNEP (Week 42, 2019)" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved 22 October 2019.[permanent dead link]

External links edit