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Emma Shapplin

French soprano

Wikipedia contributorsAdapted for Fathomly · View authors
1 min read
Source updated July 22, 2026
Image credit is listed at the end of this article.

Emma Shapplin (born Crystêle Madeleine Joliton, 19 May 1974) is a French soprano singer, composer and visual artist known for her fusion of operatic singing with electronic and pop music influences. She debuted in 1997 with the album Carmine Meo, which achieved multi‑platinum status and sold over two million copies worldwide.

01Biography

Emma Shapplin was born Crystêle Madeleine Joliton on 19 May 1974, in the Paris suburb of Savigny-le-Temple)

02Vocal career

When she was 18, singer Jean-Patrick Capdevielle convinced her to return to taking classical lessons so as to improve her singing technique. She discovered that although rock had given her more artistic freedom and hedonistic lifestyle than classical music, it was still not enough for her, so she decided to create her own style. This became a combination of early opera, modern trance and pop music. Shapplin and Capdevielle subsequently worked together on her first release, Carmine Meo, written by Capdevielle.

03Discography

Albums

Other releases

Watch videos about Emma ShapplinExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Emma Shapplin”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

Images, from Wikimedia Commons:

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