Nicola "Nicki" French is an English singer and actress. She is best known for her 1995 dance cover version of "Total Eclipse of the Heart", which reached the US and UK Top 5, and for representing the United Kingdom in the 2000 Eurovision Song Contest in Stockholm.

 

French was born in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. She provided backing vocals on Rose-Marie's 1992 album, Emotional Exposure. Generally, French had been a session singer for many years before she covered "Total Eclipse of the Heart", a song originally made famous by Bonnie Tyler. French's single was first released in 1994 in the United Kingdom. When it was re-released in 1995 the song reached number 5 during a three-month chart run in the UK Singles Chart, selling over 250,000 (UK) copies in the process and earning a silver sales award.

 

This was followed by even more successful chart run in the United States, where the track reached number 2, spending six months on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and gained Gold certification from the RIAA. The single also reached number 1 in a number of countries – Japan, Canada, Spain and Brazil – as well as charting in Australia, Germany, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, Denmark and Norway. French sold in excess of 5 million copies.

 

Nicki French has once again teamed with Mike Stock and his team at Modal Production Group to produce a 2015 summer hit "This Love" which was released on the 30th June 2015.