Carla Bruni (born December 23, 1967, in Turin, Italy) is an Italian-French singer-songwriter, guitarist, former fashion model, and actress. She became internationally recognized first through her work in fashion and later through a restrained, intimate style of chanson and folk-pop. From 2008 to 2012, she was also widely known as the first lady of France during her marriage to then-president Nicolas Sarkozy.
Bruni moved to France with her family as a child and grew up in a cultivated, affluent environment in which music and literature were important influences. She studied art and architecture in Paris but left her studies at the age of 19 to pursue modeling. During the late 1980s and 1990s, she became one of the leading faces of the international fashion industry, working with houses including Chanel, Christian Dior, Yves Saint Laurent, Versace, Givenchy, and Karl Lagerfeld. Her career placed her among the prominent supermodels of the period, and she appeared in major advertising campaigns, fashion magazines, and runway shows.
Rather than treating modeling as an endpoint, Bruni gradually redirected her attention toward songwriting. She wrote several songs for Julien Clerc, including material recorded for his 2000 album *Si j'etais elle*. This work helped establish her as a composer before she began performing her own songs. Her debut album, *Quelqu'un m'a dit*, arrived in 2002, produced by Louis Bertignac. Built around acoustic guitar, understated arrangements, and Bruni's soft, slightly husky voice, the record became a major success in France and other Francophone markets. The title track, "Quelqu'un m'a dit," and songs such as "L'amour" and "Le plus beau du quartier" introduced a personal but carefully controlled form of modern chanson that drew on folk, pop, and jazz traditions.
Bruni took a different approach on *No Promises* (2006), setting English-language poems by writers including William Butler Yeats, Emily Dickinson, and W. B. Yeats to music. The album showed her interest in adapting literary texts while retaining the spare, guitar-led character of her work. Her third album, *Comme si de rien n'etait* (2008), returned largely to original French-language songwriting and reached the top of the French albums chart.
Her public profile changed considerably after her marriage to Nicolas Sarkozy in February 2008. As first lady, Bruni accompanied the president at official events and represented France on a number of public occasions, while continuing selected charitable and musical activities. Her visibility during this period made her one of the most internationally recognizable figures associated with French public life, but her official role remained informal rather than constitutional.
After Sarkozy left office, Bruni resumed recording and touring more extensively. *Little French Songs* (2013) marked her return to original material and combined new songs with adaptations. A live album, *A l'Olympia* (2014), documented her concert work. On *French Touch* (2017), she explored English-language standards and pop classics, including songs associated with the Rolling Stones, Depeche Mode, and other artists. Her self-titled album *Carla Bruni* followed in 2020, continuing her interest in intimate arrangements, multilingual performances, and romantic songwriting.
Bruni has also appeared on screen, most notably as a museum guide in Woody Allen's *Midnight in Paris* (2011). Her career is defined by an unusual ability to move between fashion, music, cinema, and public life while maintaining a distinct artistic identity: elegant, economical, literary, and centered on the close relationship between voice, guitar, and song.