Sébastien Izambard

Childhood

Sébastien, the only son of Maurice and Marie Izambard, stylist by profession, was born and raised in the 16th arrondissement of Paris or Arrondissement Passy, France. Sebastian's childhood was hard, his parents had divorced and his father left him when he was six. He grew up in a poor single parent household and lived with his mother in a small room of 10^m2 on the top floor of a block of apartments in Parisian Dense with her great-grandmother. These years were very difficult. He studied at the Lycée Janson de Sailly in Paris, considered one of the best schools in Europe.

Over the years, his love for music he grew up and he learned to play guitar, piano and singing through self-study. Piano is the first instrument he played as his grandmother Jacqueline, whom he called Mimine, had one and he began composing songs on it at the age of just five years. Piano helped as a therapy as it became his way of self-expression.

As his mother worked, he grew accustomed to solitude and independence. At the age of 12 years he cooked cakes as a gift for her after her workday. He confesses that for him, becoming an adult was more a way to learn to get out of trouble since before their parents got separated, he witnessed violence, drugs and abuse. Due to this psychological impact, he was becoming a cautious, introverted and a repressed child. However, with the help of child specialists he was able to overcome this feeling of repression. At 17, tired of a life of violence and beatings of his mother, he went to live with his grandmother and spent many years without maintaining any relationship with his mother.

Private life

Sébastien got engaged to Australian Renée Murphy on 1 June 2007 and they married 17 August 2008 in France. Renée was a publicist for Sony BMG when she met Sebastien in Australia in 2005, who was on a tour with Il Divo .

A few months before the wedding, on 20 March 2008, Sebastien and Renée became parents of twins, Rose and Luca, who were born in the Royal-des-Champs Port of Paris maternity hospital. On 20 May 2011, the couple's third child Jude was born at Queen Charlotte's Hospital in London.

Solidarity work

Sèbastien is an active member of two charities; with the French organization AMTM (Assistance Médicale Toit du Monde) which helps poor children in Nepal and India where during one of his campaigns to raise funds in September 2008, Seb raffled several of his Armani suits; and the Australian Sanfilippo Children's Foundation organization of which he is global ambassador.

He recorded two videoclips and collaborated in solidarity projects such as the Noël Ensemble, a record in which more than one hundred artists participated in order to raise funds for the fight against AIDS.

Soloist

Izambard started his career as a pop musician in France, releasing a solo album called Libre and his song Si Tu Savais was ranked first in French Hit Charts. Besides being a singer, Izambard is also an accomplished music composer, pianist, and guitar player In Paris he has written music for many French artists. In 2001, he performed with Johnny Hallyday as a guest in the Olympia Theater in Paris. His music, greatly influenced by Jeff Buckley, earns him the acknowledgement of French and Canadian audiences.

French singer Florent Pagny is his musical godfather.

Record producer and composer

Sébastien says that composing and writing songs is his passion, writing for the pleasure of writing. Before joining Il Divo wrote and produced songs for other French artists.

In parallel with Il Divo, Izambard continued writing songs with pop stars in the world; as with Australian Darren Hayes, the lead singer of Savage Garden; the star of The Phantom of the Opera Ramin Karimloo; Guy Chambers; and with the lyricist Don Black.

In November 2014, Sébastien led the project to create an album with different Australian artists for raising money. Izambard, with the help of Sony Pictures Entertainment, produced the album titled For Bringing Hope Isla and Jude, which was released on 5 December 2014 with the single written by Kate Bush This Woman's Work, for St. Filippo Foundation.

Musical Theatre

Izambard performed in February 2002 in Richard Cocciante's musical "Le Petit Prince", where he played the role of the Business Man. Before being a member of Il Divo he also performed in several theatre plays as part of the group "La Troupe".

He was preparing his second album with Francis Madjouli and Lionel Florence when he became involved with Il Divo.

Duets and Collaborations

Izambard has made many music & duets collaborations with major artists, both alone and with a member of Il Divo

Il Divo

While recording his second solo album after collaborating on Le Petit Prince, Sébastien attended an audition for the musical The Sun King. While waiting, he met Geraldine Larrosa, (Innocence) and her then-partner Carlos Marín, who spoke to him after hearing Sébastien sing in online videos. Carlos said it was worth a try, so Sébastien went to the Bastille in Paris, where the auditions were being held by Sonny Takhar. Hearing Izambard Caruso performed the song while playing the piano himself, relaxed and convinced that he had nothing to lose since he thought would lead nowhere. But Cowell heard him and offered him the job. Sebastien he said to himself: Je Ne Regrette Rien (I have nothing to lose),. accepted and devoted worldwide in the stateless musical quartet Il Divo in December 2003, along with Urs Bühler (Switzerland), David Miller (US) and Carlos Marín (Spain). Izambard is the only member of the group who is not classically trained.

Izambard has said that he has two dreams while being in Il Divo: composing a song for the quartet, and singing songs in French. In fact, Ancora, the second album of the group, contains two songs in French: "Je Crois en toi" (a duet partially in French with Céline Dion) and "Pour Que Tu M'Aimes Encore." "I Believe in You" is an original song for both artists, while Pour Que Tu M'Aimes Encore is Dion's, considered to be her most famous song in French.

Their first album, called Il Divo became a worldwide multiplatinum selling record when released in November 2004, entering Billboard at number 4; it sold five million copies worldwide in less than a year and knocked Robbie Williams from the number one spot. Their second album, Ancora, was released on 7 November 2005 in the United Kingdom. Il Divo's third album Siempre was released on 21 November 2006 in the United States and on 27 November 2006 internationally. Their latest album, The Promise, was released on 10 November 2008 (world) & 18 November 2008 (US), and shot straight to number 1 in the United Kingdom. In 2013 they published A Musical Affair, the album's songs are inspired by famous plays and musicals.

On 9 June 2006, Il Divo performed the 2006 FIFA World Cup official song, "The Time of Our Lives," with R&B singer Toni Braxton live, at half-time, during the opening match between Germany and Costa Rica and again a month later at 9 July closing ceremony. The song is available exclusively on the Voices from the FIFA World Cup compilation album and on the European reissue of Braxton's album Libra but not on any Il Divo album. Il Divo have been on several world tours and have received 50 gold and platinum awards. Their last tour in 2014 covered five continents and over 33 countries.

On December 12, 2008, Il Divo debuted a new song during the finale of Swedish Idol 2008, held at the Globen Arena in Stockholm. The group achieved a milestone in their performance history on December 20, 2011, when they held their largest capacity concert to date. This event took place at the Defensores del Chaco Stadium in Asuncion, Paraguay, drawing an audience of 33,900 people.

13 May 2012 Il Divo performed the song Caruso with a staging of riding the rhythm of the song during the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II at Windsor for the entire royal family and Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom.

On 6 September 2012, it was announced that Il Divo would release a Greatest Hits album. The album was produced by Alberto Quintero and featured songs spanning Il Divo's successful eight-year career to date, as well as four new songs including My Heart Will Go On, I Will Always Love You, Can't Help Falling in Love and Alone.

On 19 July 2014, Il Divo performed before a capacity crowd at Edinburgh Castle esplanade where a pop festival took place ahead of the 2014 Commonwealth Games. The group performed Amazing Grace.

On 23 March 2015, it was announced that Il Divo was the winner of the 2015 Silver Clef Award, giving them the coveted Classic PPL. The gala award ceremony took place on 3 July at the Grosvenor House Hotel, a five-star hotel in London.

Soloist

1. 2000 – Libre

1. 2004 – Il Divo
2. 2005 – Ancora
3. 2006 – Siempre
4. 2008 – The Promise
5. 2011 – Wicked Game
6. 2013 – A Musical Affair
7. 2015 – Amor & Pasión

1. 2005 – The Christmas Collection

1. 2012 - The Greatest Hits

1. 2009 – An Evening with Il Divo: Live in Barcelona
2. 2014 – Live in Japan
3. 2016 – Live in Japan 2016

Collaborations other albums

1. 2000 – Nöel Ensemble
2. 2005 – On ne change pas; Celine Dion (Il Divo)
3. 2006 – Voices from the FIFA World Cup (Il Divo)
4. 2006 – Libra; Toni Braxton (Il Divo)
5. 2014 – Engelbert Calling; Engelbert Humperdick, song "Spanish Eyes". (Il Divo)
6. 2015 – Los Dúos; Juan Gabriel song "Amor eterno" (Il Divo)

Musical theater

1. 2002 – Le Petit Prince, (Studio version)
2. 2002 – Le Petit Prince, (Full version)

Producer

1. 2014 – Hope – This Woman's Work

Composer

1. 2010 – Ramin de Ramin Karimloo
2. 2011 – Secret Codes and Battleships de Darren Hayes

Soloist

1. 2004 – Libre

Musical works

1. 2002 – Le Petit Prince

Il Divo

1. 2004 – Live at Gotham Hall
2. 2005 – Encore
3. 2005 – Mamá
4. 2006 – The Yule Log: The Christmas Collection
5. 2006 – Live At the Greek Theater
6. 2008 – At the Coliseum
7. 2009 – An Evening with Il Divo: Live in Barcelona
8. 2011 – Live in London
9. 2014 – Live in Japan
10. 2016 – Live in Japan 2016

1. 2004 – Regresa a mí
2. 2005 – Mama
3. 2006 – Time of our Lives.
4. 2014 – Le Temps Des Cathédrales
5. 2014 – Who Wants to Live Forever
6. 2014 – Aimer
7. 2014 – Can You Feel the Love Tonight
8. 2014 – Memory
9. 2015 - Amor & Pasión -Trailer-