Nanette Joan Workman is a singer-songwriter, actress and author, who has been based in Quebec, Canada, during much of her career. She holds dual citizenship of both the United States and Canada. She was raised by musician parents in Jackson, Mississippi, where she began her first performances. She mainly performs in French although raised as an English speaker. She has recorded with well-known musicians in the U.S., Canada, UK and France and has been recognized in Mississippi by being elected to that state's Musicians Hall of Fame and having a Francophone house named after her at the state university.
Biography
Childhood
Workman was born in Brooklyn, New York, on 20 November 1945, to musician parents. Her mother, Beatryce Kreisman, was in the chorus of Naughty Marietta with the New York City Opera Company, and her father, Ernest Workman, played trumpet in Tommy Dorsey's orchestra. She grew up in Jackson, Mississippi. As a child she studied piano and began her career at 11, appearing in the local WLBT television series Mr. Magic until she was given her own weekly show, Teen Tempos. She graduated from Provine High School and attended the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, leaving college at 18 for Broadway.
Career
After understudying the lead of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, she played the role of Rosemary in 1964 and later played the lead in summer stock. In 1966, Workman met Tony Roman and recorded her first French single, "Et Maintenant", for him in Canada, where the song remained on the charts for fifteen weeks after becoming number one. Over the next two years she became a Canadian recording and TV star, finally hosting Fleurs d'amour, fleurs d'amitié. In 1969, Workman moved to England where she appeared weekly on Peter Cook and Dudley Moore's comedy series Not Only... But Also. Mistakenly credited as Nanette Newman, Workman sang backing vocals on "You Can't Always Get What You Want" and "Country Honk", tracks from The Rolling Stones' 1969 album Let it Bleed, as well as on the Stones' 1969 single, "Honky Tonk Women". She also worked with John Lennon and Elton John. In addition, she appeared in one of the black-and-white episodes of The Benny Hill Show, performing "Everybody's Singing Like Now" on the 24 February 1971 edition. Workman toured France in 1973 as an opening act for Johnny Hallyday. She made three albums with Yves Martin touring Africa, Polynesia and Europe before returning to Quebec in 1974 where she recorded several more French albums. Lady Marmalade, Danser Danser, Donne Donne and especially Call Girl placed first on the hit parades. Returning to France in 1978, she starred in the Rock Opera Starmania as Sadia. In 1979, she sang backing vocals in the Mahogany Rush song "Sister Change". In 1980, she made an album Chaude in collaboration with her brother Billy Workman and Luc Plamondon and toured Quebec with the show Du gramophone au laser which recounted the history of the Québécoischanson. In 1990, she returned to Paris to become La Diva in Plamondon-Berger's second rock opera, La Légende de Jimmy, based on the life of James Dean. In April 2000, Workman was inducted into the Mississippi Musicians Hall of Fame. Roots N Blues, another album in English, was released in May 2001. In 2001, she also appeared in a Radio-Canada television series, Rivière-des-Jérémie, and was the hostess for thirteen episodes of Generation 70. In 2007, she was recognized by the State of Mississippi when Governor Haley Barbour honored her at the opening of The Nanette Workman French House on the Mississippi State University campus. The house accommodates American and French-speaking students from around the world as an upper-classman residence.
