Irma

One of France’s biggest YouTube success stories, soul-pop singer/songwriter Irma went from performing acoustic covers in her bedroom as a teenager to duetting with international superstars on the video-sharing site. Born Irma Pany in Bangangte, Cameroon, in 1988 to a guitarist father and church choir singer mother, she grew up in Douale, where she started playing the piano at age seven before moving to Paris in her teens to improve her education. In 2007, she began uploading her renditions of tracks by Norah Jones, Colbie Caillat, and Yael Naim onto YouTube and, after meeting Michael Goldman, son of legendary French musician Jean-Jacques, she signed to his My Major Company label a year later. Irma continued to develop her online presence, hooking up with established artists to perform various classic songs including will.i.am (the Jackson 5′s “I Want You Back”), Matthieu Chédid (Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep”), and Patrice (Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are A-Changin’“). After taking up a residency at Paris’ La Java for several months, she reached the Top Ten in 2011 with both her debut single, “I Know,” and its parent album, Letter to the Lord; signed a U.S. deal with Universal Republic; and appeared in a European Google Chrome advert celebrating her rise to fame. ~ Jon O’Brien