Carla Bruni-Sarkozy was born on December 23, 1967 in Turin, Italy.  She moved to France with her family in 1973 and attended boarding school in Switzerland.  She soon returned to Paris to study art and architecture, but left school at age 19 to become a model.  One of her first major campaigns was for Guess jeans.  In the 90’s, she was one of the 20-highest paid models in the world.   In 1997, she basically quit modeling in order to pursue her music and before recording an album of her own, she sold the lyrics she wrote.  In 2002, she released her debut album called Quelqu’un m’a dit which was very well-received by both the public and critics and in 2007, she released an English-language album called No Promises.

She has dated many well-known people such as Eric Clapton, Mick Jagger and Donald Trump and even a French philosopher with whom she had a son, Aurélien, in 2001; but what really got everyone talking was her whirlwind romance with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, whom she met in November 2007 at a dinner party.  Their first public appearance was at Disneyland Paris the next month and after that time, they were followed everywhere by the press and their romance even ended up on the front pages of major newspapers and on the evening news throughout the world.    They married on February 2, 2008, at the Elysée Palace and ‘honeymooned’ at Versailles Palace. 

A month later, she accompanied President Sarkozy on a state visit to the United Kingdom where she met the Queen and made headlines with her Jackie Kennedy style.  That same year, she released a third album called Comme si de rien n’était, the proceeds from which are going to charity.  She juggles her official duties as First Lady of France with singing at various events and on TV.

Here is an article from Hello Magazine on her recent appearance on British TV: http://www.hellomagazine.com/music/2008/09/17/carla-bruni-metalica/

You can read more about her in French or in English at www.carlabruni.com and you can even sample her music.

Or if you are even more courageous, here is an interview with her that was published in L’Express where she said she would do her best as First Lady.
http://www.lexpress.fr/actualite/politique/carla-bruni-sarkozy-je-ferai-de-mon-mieux_470158.html