February 15, 2016

Israeli-French singer-songwriter Yael Naim is France’s singer of the year. The French-born, Israeli-raised 38-year-old soul singer won Female Artist of the Year at the 2016 Victoires de la Musique (France’s Grammys).

Her new album, Older, was also nominated for Album of the Year.

Naim has two other Victoires under her belt: She won album of the year in 2008 for her self-titled album; and French singer of the year in 2011.

The Victoires de la Musique awards are voted on by a jury of 600 professionals from the French music industry. The general public picks Song of the Year.

“Wow, thank you all,” Naim posted on her Facebook after being chosen Artist of the Year.

Speaking to ISRAEL21c in an earlier interview, Naim credits her soloist days with the Israeli Air Force orchestra as a boon to her career. She said she regards herself as “lucky” for being chosen by the IDF to be an army musician and singer because it “gave me lots of experience in live performances.”

Naim was born in Paris and grew up in the Tel Aviv suburb of Ramat Hasharon. She broke out into the music scene with her hit single “New Soul,” which was handpicked by Steve Jobs for an Apple advertisement in 2008.