Corneille

Cornelius Nyungura (born 24 March 1977), known by his stage name Corneille, is a Canadian singer and songwriter. He was born in West Germany to Rwandan parents, spent most of his childhood in Rwanda, and eventually emigrated to Quebec, Canada in 1997. He sings in French and English. His work is greatly influenced by American funk and soul music; he is inspired by Prince, Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder.

Corneille was born in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany, although he spent much of his childhood in Rwanda. He discovered his passion for music in 1993, and so joined an R&B group, who won the Découverte 1993 competition. This also introduced him to songwriting and musical composition. However, his life changed after the Rwandan genocide in 1994. His father, Émile Nyungura, was a leader of the political party PSD thought to be opposed to the government and therefore a target; Corneille witnessed the assassination of his parents and his three brothers and sisters when he was 17 years old. He fled to Germany, where some of his parents' friends took him in.

In July 1997, Corneille decided to leave Germany in order to pursue studies in communication, and moved to Montreal, Canada, to attend Concordia University. During this time, he founded O.N.E., an R&B band, with Pierre Gage and Gardy Martin, whom he had met shortly after arriving in Quebec. Zoukin, one of the group's songs written by Corneille, rose to first place in Canadian airplay. Then, at the beginning of 2001, Corneille left the group, wishing to pursue a solo career. He began to centre his songs on his past. During 2002, Corneille worked on various projects. He wrote and composed the songs "Ce soir" for the Cocktail R&B 2 compilation (Ghetto R&B, Sony Music) and "Si seulement on s'aimait" for Hip Hop Folies (Sony Music). Invited by Dave Stewart, he performed at his first showcase at the Réservoir in Paris, and had the chance to sing with Jimmy Cliff. In January 2003, he was invited to perform as an opening act for Cunnie Williams at the Olympia.