Artist : Corneille
Album : The Birth Of Cornelius
Label : Sony
Genre : R&B
Bitrate : 166 kbps avg
Source : CD (LP)
Playtime : 00:51:43 (65 MB)
Rls date : 2007-06-27
Store date : 2007-07-02
[Track List]
1. Back To Life 4:32
2. Love Is Good 3:24
3. Too Much Of Everything 3:43
4. I Never Loved You 3:53
5. Murder 4:03
6. Spending On You 3:58
7. Sweet Dependency 4:35
8. Home Is By You 5:41
9. I'll Never Call You Home Again 3:47
10.A Man Of This World 4:26
11.The One 4:29
12.Heaven 5:12
Cornelius Nyungura, known as Corneille, is a German
born Rwandan francophone singer. His work is greatly
influenced by American funk and soul music; among
those he admires are Prince, Marvin Gaye and Stevie
Wonder.
Corneille was born on March 24, 1977 in Freiburg,
Germany, where his parents were studying, though he
spent most of his childhood in Rwanda. He discovered
his passion for music in 1993, and so joined an R&B
group, who won the DΘcouverte 1993 competition. This
also introduced him to songwriting and musical
composition.
However, his life changed after the genocide in 1994.
His father, ╔mile Nyungura, was leader of a political
party (PSD); as a result, his parents and some of his
relatives were killed in the massacre. Corneille fled
to Germany, where some of his parents' friends took
him in.
In July 1997, Corneille decided to leave Germany in
order to pursue studies in communication, and moved
to Montreal, Quebec (Canada) to attend Concordia
University. During this time, he founded O.N.E., an
R&B band, with Gage Pierre and Martin Gardy, whom he
had met shortly after arriving in Quebec. Zoukin, one
of the group's songs written by Corneille, rose to
first place in Canadian airplay. Then, at the
beginning of 2001, Corneille left the group, wishing
to pursue a solo career. He began to center his songs
on his past.
During 2002, Corneille worked on various projects.
He wrote and composed the songs Ce soir for the
COCKTAIL R&B 2 compilation (Ghetto R&B, Sony Music)
and Si seulement on s'aimait for Hip Hop Folies
(Sony Music). Invited by Dave Stewart, he performed
at his first showcase at the RΘservoir in Paris, and
had the chance to sing with Jimmy Cliff. In January
2003, he was invited to perform the first part of
Cunnie Williams at Olympia. His first public concert
at Opus Club followed shortly thereafter.
Corneille's first album, the Canadian version of Parce
qu'on vient de loin, was released on September 10, 2002.
It was little known. The French version, which included
numerous bonuses on the second disc, was released on
October 20, 2003. It quickly became successful. To
date, the album sold more than a million copies.
In April of 2003, Corneille sang with Craig David,
repeating a verse in French in the song Rise and Fall.
He underwent his first tour during May 2003, receiving
a full house in Paris, Marseilles, Lyon and Bordeaux.
In March of 2005, the singer participated in the
concert Africa Live, which was organised to fight
against paludism. This is the first time that he has
returned to his home continent since the genocide.
Les marchands de rΩves, Corneille's second album,
was released in November 2005.
He married Sofia de Medeiros, his girlfriend of four
years, on September 9th, 2006 in a small and private
ceremony by the lake at the Quintessence hotel, 130km
north of Montreal. She is a model and actress of
Canadian and Portuguese parentage.
Corneille is working with the Canadian Red Cross to
raise awareness of children who are victims of war.
Corneille finished recording his first english album,
which should be released in June 2007. The first
single is called "Back to life", and can be heard on
his myspace page.