Carla Bruni

Bruni is an heiress to the fortune created by the Italian tire manufacturing company CEAT, founded in the 1920s by her legal grandfather, Virginio Bruni Tedeschi.

Carla Bruni-Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa (born Carla Gilberta Bruni Tedeschi; ; 23 December 1967) is an Italian and French singer, songwriter and former model who served as the first lady of France from 2008—when she married then president Nicolas Sarkozy—to 2012.

She was born in Italy and moved to France at the age of seven.

The company was sold in the 1970s to Pirelli (the brand continues in its former subsidiary in India, founded in 1958).

The family moved to France in 1975, purportedly to escape the threat of kidnapping by the Red Brigades, a Communist terrorist group active in Italy in the 1970s and 1980s.

Bruni grew up in France from the age of seven and attended the boarding school Château Mont-Choisi in Lausanne, Switzerland.

She went to Paris to study art and architecture, but left school at 19 to become a model.

By her biological father, Bruni has a half-sister, Consuelo Remmert.

Bruni was a model from 1987 to 1997 before taking up a career in music.

Bruni signed with City Models in 1987, aged 19.

Paul Marciano, president and creative director of Guess? Inc., came across her picture among composite cards of aspiring models, and chose her to model with Estelle Lefébure in campaigns for Guess?

jeans.

Bruni subsequently worked for designers and fashion houses such as Christian Dior, Givenchy, Paco Rabanne, Sonia Rykiel, Christian Lacroix, Karl Lagerfeld, John Galliano, Yves Saint-Laurent, Shiatzy Chen, Chanel, and Versace.

By the 1990s, Bruni was among the 20 highest-paid fashion models, earning US$7.5 million in her peak year.

While modelling, Bruni dated Eric Clapton, then Mick Jagger.

In 1997, Bruni quit the world of fashion to devote herself to music.

She was a modeling subject of a 1999 trompe-l'œil wool-knit dress body painting by Joanne Gair that is included in Gair's second book, Body Painting: Masterpieces by Joanne Gair.

She sent her lyrics to Julien Clerc in 1999, based on which he composed six tracks on his 2000 album Si j'étais elle.

She wrote several songs for Julien Clerc that were featured on his 2000 album, Si j'étais elle.

Bruni released her first album, Quelqu'un m'a dit, in 2003, which eventually spent 34 weeks in the top 10 of the French Albums Chart.

In 2003, her debut album Quelqu'un m'a dit, produced by Louis Bertignac and released in Europe, was a surprise hit, selling 2 million copies.

Bruni won the Victoire Award for Female Artist of the Year at the 2004 Victoires de la Musique.

Three songs from the album appear in Hans Canosa's 2005 American film Conversations with Other Women, the song Le Plus Beau du quartier was used in H&M's Christmas 2006 commercial, and the title track was featured in the 2003 movie Le Divorce and in the 2009 movie (500) Days of Summer.

In 2005, she wrote the lyrics for 10 out of 12 songs for Louis Bertignac's new album Longtemps, and performed two duets with him on the album, Les Frôleuses and Sans toi.

She continued recording after her marriage.

She had a brother, Virginio Bruni Tedeschi (1959 – 4 July 2006), who died from complications of HIV/AIDS.

Her (legal) paternal grandparents and her maternal grandfather were Italian, while the last quarter of her ancestry is French.

She is second cousin of Alessandra Martines.

In 2008, however, Bruni told Vanity Fair that her biological father is Maurizio Remmert, a classical guitarist who comes from a wealthy family.

When Remmert met Marisa Borini at a concert in Turin, he was a 19-year-old classical guitarist, and their affair lasted six years.

Her sister is actress and movie director Valeria Bruni Tedeschi.

On 11 April 2008, a 1993 nude photograph of Bruni taken during her modelling career sold at auction for US$91,000 (€65,093) – more than 60 times the expected price.

She released her third album Comme si de rien n'était on 11 July 2008.

In 2009, she created the Carla Bruni-Sarkozy Foundation for philanthropic efforts.

Bruni was born in Turin, Italy.

She is legally the daughter of Italian concert pianist Marisa Borini and industrialist and classical composer Alberto Bruni Tedeschi.

In January 2010, her song "L'amoureuse" was featured in an episode of NBC's Chuck, "Chuck vs. First Class".

The same year, Bruni released her second album, No Promises, then the following year, she released her third album, Comme si de rien n'était. In 2013, Bruni released her fourth album, Little French Songs.

In 2017, Bruni released her fifth album, French Touch.

She has sold 5 million albums during her career.