Yannick's opening serve on the music scene was a debut album entitled Black and What. Released in the early 90s, this first album was produced by Eric Ghenassia (a well-known figure on the French music scene who had already produced albums for a number of show-biz stars including Princess Stephanie of Monaco). Fired by his old childhood dream of launching a singing career, Yannick was highly enthusiastic about the release of Black and What and excited at the idea of "getting some real emotions across!".

Weary of the routine on the tennis circuit - not to mention the endless round of celebrity appearances at sponsors' events! - Yannick had already tried his hand at singing off the courts, performing in bars and clubs with tennis buddies Mats Wilander and John McEnroe. What's more, Yannick had discovered that, from many points of view, life as a singer was infinitely preferable to life as a tennis player. "When you win on the courts, he told one journalist, "Your happiness is always at someone else's expense. But when you're up on stage you get to share your happiness with everyone around you!"

Yannick had a clear advantage when it came to launching a career off the courts and that was his media celebrity. The tennis player's good looks, flamboyant dreadlocks and his string of glamorous girlfriends guaranteed regular appearances in the show-biz press. So Yannick had little trouble convincing popular French TV station TF1, the record company Carrère and Wellcome (an independent label looking for a mainstream face) that he was a winner off the courts as well as on.

Needless to say, Noah's fans remained faithful to the champion when he hung up his racket. Indeed, Black and What scored a huge hit on the French music scene and Saga Africa, the first single release from the album, went on to become a major summer smash. True, Noah's first album was not in the same league as his childhood idols - Hendrix, James Brown and Bob Marley - but it gave him a means of expressing himself off the courts. The songs on Noah's first album revolved around themes close to the singer's heart, evoking the values of roots, friendship, positive thinking and attacking his bête noire, racism. In 1993 Noah lobbed a second album, Urban Tribu, over the net, but this more clearly Anglo-Saxon-influenced opus enjoyed rather less success than the first.

On both Black and What and Urban Tribu Noah worked in close collaboration with music friends and his producer, Eric Ghenassia. And it comes as no surprise to learn that Noah's new album also revolves around songs specially written with him in mind. In fact, the French, English and Cameroonian lyrics on Yannick Noah come close to painting a definitive portrait of the former French tennis star, emphasising his international personality (Noah has lived in Yaoundé, Paris and New York) and his eclectic musical tastes (which range from rock and reggae to sensitive slow ballads). The twelve songs on Noah's new album are very much drawn from real life and evoke concerns close to the heart of the sports sex-symbol who recently reinvented himself as a humanitarian aid activist (setting up the "Enfants de la Terre" charity with his mother).

Noah's new songwriting team is also very close to his heart, as he explains in the press dossier accompanying the new album: "Destiny brought me together with this team (Erick Benzi, Jean-Jacques Goldman, J. Kapler etc). And they've given me a very special gift, writing a collection of songs specially for me. I accepted this wonderful gift without a moment's hesitation, without listening to the music or reading one word of the lyrics […] But when I set to work on the songs I responded to them immediately because they corresponded to something deep inside. And that's the way I record them - totally spontaneously!"

A number of African music friends also get to guest on Yannick's new album, Lokua adding his 'dandy' vocals, Sally Nyolo bringing a touch of Paris-style "bikutsi", Georges Seba singing with his famous choir and Hadja (an up-and-coming star from the Frikyiwa label) also makes a contribution. Yannick's African guest stars reflect a certain move on the singer's part to return to his roots and pay homage to his ancestors (c.f. the moving tribute to his late grandfather Simon Papa Tara). Yannick also makes sure he pays his respects to reggae (Jamafrica), women (Les Lionnes) and children (J'aime les gosses).
Add a dose of well-crafted arrangements and some very smooth production, and Yannick Noah could soon find himself with another hit on his hands. What's more, to mark the release of his third album, Noah will be playing a one-off concert at the legendary Olympia music-hall in Paris in December. And we've no doubt the former tennis star's fans will be out in force - not because they're necessarily excited about his music, but because they want to show their loyalty to the man himself!

Yannick Noah Yannick Noah (Sony Music) 2000
Yannick Noah will be in concert at the Olympia, in Paris, on December 5th