Singer Claudine Luypaerts, better known as Maurane, was born in Brussels to a musical family. She started out on the violin at 8, before realizing that singing was her true calling. In 1979, she was discovered by French songwriter Pierre Barouh, who produced her first 45s. Danser, her debut album, came out in 1986. Two years later, she took on a role in a new version of rock opera Starmania, before releasing an eponynous offering which contained a handful of hits including Pas gaie la pagaille. This successful released brought about a steady flow of shows, further recordings and a couple of movie appearances. Launched in 2009, the album Nougaro ou l'espérance en l'homme paid tribute to the late great French vocalist Claude Nougaro.