The youngest of six children, Nâdiya was born and raised in Tours to Algerian parents. Not long after turning 16, Nâdiya earned the title of French champion in the 800-meter track and field competition. Now, in her thirties, she is one of France’s biggest R&B stars. Sung with the passion of the young mother that she is, Parle-moi (Talk to me) tackles the difficult topic of child abuse.

Adonis sings us a song about protecting the environment, with a little help from his cat! Listen closely and you’ll see why he’s right to tell you not to do everything he does.

Here’s a love song from the French band Hangar for the seafarers in all of us: “Version Originale.”

Mademoiselle K and Zazie are trying to please in “Me taire te plaire.” The song’s title means “keeping quiet to please you” — a strategy most lovers are familiar with!

Discover love in capital letters with the French band Hangar singing “Les Mots” [Words].

At a demonstration of immigrants and homeless people in Paris, this woman sings a catchy little tune that shows her sentiments toward President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Though Mai Lingani grew up in Côte d’Ivoire, she is one of the most popular singer/songwriters in Burkina Faso, where she was born. In 1998 that country presented her with its highest award for a musician, the “Prix national de la chanson.” In addition to her beautiful French and melodious English, Mai also speaks (and sings in) three African tongues: Moré, Dioula, and Bissa. Please enjoy our interview with this delightful talent!

The Toxic Avenger is a French house artist based in Strasbourg. In this video, he teams up with Orelsan to bring Facebook to life.

At nightfall in Gstaad, the preeminent ski resort in the Alps, a privileged few among the stars and high society can listen to the most popular classical musicians in the world…

Alex explains the differences between the soprano, alto, and tenor saxophones. This is one of those situations where size definitely matters.

Alex gives a detailed description of the saxophone and all its different parts. Did you know that, despite its association with jazz music, the saxophone was actually invented in the 1840s for use in military bands?

Alex Terrier’s second project as a bandleader, “Roundtrip,” is a critically-acclaimed album in the vein of John Coltrane. Listen to it in full (and for free!) here.

Saxophonist Alex Terrier talks about how he came to be a jazz musician and shares some photos. Come take a glimpse inside the life of this gifted artist.

Carmen Maria Vega—a four-member band led by the eponymous singer, born in Guatemala and raised in Lyons—show off their musical and “creative” talents in this video for their popular song “La Menteuse.” What do you think? Any chance Carmen is stretching the truth about all that lying?

Nicola Sirkis, head of Indochine, the new wave French rock band that’s been popular since the 1980s, has a few things to say about some of his fellow artists. (Could he mean megastar Johnny Hallyday?) Nicola’s strong voice (in many senses) is clearly one of the reasons Indochine has so much staying power.

This politically charged performance by Patrice Maktav was censored by French television for mentioning President Sarkozy in a less than flattering manner. See if you can use your French skills to guess where his name fits in the song.

Melissa’s inner “petites fées du coeur” are unleashed and band together to free two soulmates frozen in time. All the mini-Melissas are there: the warrior, the sensitive type, even the one with her head not quite on her shoulders.

Melissa tells us how the music video for “Army of Love” came to be. She produced and directed it herself, with the help of animator Thomas Guerigen. It was a labor of love—one that paid off!

Another treat from the land of the young, ambitious, and—dare we say it?—talented: the group Paulin performs their emotional song “Elle” for us.

Fate works in funny ways. Melissa’s tale of how she came to be in “Mozart L’Opéra Rock” shows us that some things are just written in the stars. We’re glad she agreed.