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Rose Laurens

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Vocalist

The Resume

    (March 4, 1953-April 30, 2018)
    Born in Paris, France
    Birth name is Rose Podwojny
    Also billed as Rose Merryl
    Recorded 'Africa' 'Survivre,' 'Mamy Yoko,' 'Vivre,' 'Danse Moi,' 'Night Sky,' 'Cheyenne,' and 'Quand tu Pars'
    Albums include 'Deraisonnable' (1982), 'Ecris ta vie sur moi' (1986), and 'J'te preterai jamais' (1990)
    Performed as Fantine in the original French stage production of 'Les Miserables' (1980)
    Original vocalist to sing Fantine's signature melody, 'J'avais rêvé d'une autre vie' (translated into English as 'I Dreamed a Dream')

Why she might be annoying:

    She was a Euro-Pop one-hit wonder.
    She decided to she wanted to be a singer after her parents took her to a Dionne Walters concert at the Olympia.
    She failed to achieve crossover popularity outside the European market.
    Her big hit was a song perpetuating the 'Voodoo' stereotype of the African continent as a Pagan wasteland shrouded in mystery.
    She broke off with her progressive French rock group, Sandrose (for which she sang lead vocals), after less than a year and a half, citing creative differences.

Why she might not be annoying:

    She wrote many of her songs herself, including 'La Nuit.'
    Her grandfather was a pianist/violinist who wrote musical accompaniment for silent films in Warsaw.
    She won her first singing contest at the age of 8, using the 30 francs reward to buy a Barbie doll in a blue gingham dress.
    Her 'Africa' single became a #1 hit on the charts in both Austria and her native France.
    'Africa' would also become a Top 5 hit on the charts in Germany, Norway, and Switzerland.
    She put her career on hold in the late-eighties after learning that her common-law husband and songwriter, Jean-Pierre Goussaud, was suffering from cancer.
    Claude-Michel Schonberg said in a radio interview that her 'Fantine' served as the template for the subsequent West End-Broadway revivals of 'Les Miserables' in the early-eighties.

Credit: BoyWiththeGreenHair


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 4 Votes: 25.00% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 5 Votes: 20.0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 14 Votes: 57.14% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 7 Votes: 57.14% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 7 Votes: 57.14% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 8 Votes: 50.0% Annoying