Pomme (singer)

Pomme playing autoharp at a concert in Bourges, September 2020

Claire Pommet was born on 2 August 1996 in Décines-Charpieu but grew up in Caluire-et-Cuire, a French town in the metropolis of Lyon.[1][2] She learned music theory with her three siblings from the age of 6, joined a children's choir, La Cigale de Lyon, at age 7, and learned to play the cello at age 8.[3][4] Her mother plays the flute while her father, a real estate agent, listened to Michel Polnareff, Serge Reggiani, and Charles Aznavour. One of her father's friends introduced her to American folk and country music.[3][5] She is self-taught and publishes videos on the YouTube web platform.[6]

Pommet's stage name "Pomme", which derives from her last name, was a nickname used by her friends at university.[7] In early 2015, Pomme was signed to Polydor Records and began working on her debut extended play (EP) En cavale.[8] 2016 She released her debut single "J'suis pas dupe" in June 2015.[9] Following the EP's release in January 2016, it received a positive reception and was promoted with music videos and concerts.[7][10]

In September 2017, aged 21, she performed for the first time at La Boule Noire in Paris. In October she released her first chanson française album, titled À peu près; it was described as a mixture of pop and folk by Salome Rouzerol-Douglas in Le Figaro. It was "very encouraging" according to Gilles Renault in Libération.[5] At the same time, Marie-Catherine Mardi of RFI said that "the lyrics do not convince [in their entirety]" but praised Pommet's voice.[3][6][11][12] Despite the acclaim received, Pomme expressed frustration towards the album since she felt trapped by "the desire to please [others] more" instead of herself.[13] She performed in the first part of the Asaf Avidan tour in autumn 2017.[12]

In February 2018, she performed at the Café de la Danse in Paris, after having performed as an opening act for Louane and Vianney,[6] then took the stage in La Cigale in mid-2018 and in La Trianon in early 2019.[14] In 2019, she released her second studio album Les failles (2019), which was later reissued a year later. Described by Pomme as an album with "absolute truth and humility", she conceived it while reflecting on a breakup.[15][16] In February 2020, she won the Victoires de la Musique award for album révélation ("newcomer album") of the year with Les failles.[17] The singer later released the EP Quarantine Phone Sessions in May 2020, which she stated to be available only during the COVID-19 lockdowns.[18]

In 2021, she was crowned artiste féminine ("female artist") of the year.[19] On New Year's Day, Pomme revealed plans of releasing a third studio album in 2022 through her Twitter account.[20] Later in that month, her collaboration "Everything Matters" with Norwegian singer-songwriter Aurora was released as a single from the latter's third studio album, The Gods We Can Touch (2022).[21] In May 2022, she published the children's book Sous les paupières with French singer Pauline de Tarragon, who also did the illustrations.[22]

• Director information obtained from each video description on YouTube.[37]