Lorie Pester

Laure Monique Pester, professionally known as Lorie, (born May 2, 1982) is a French singer. She has sold over 8 million albums and singles worldwide as of December 2007. Her first studio album Près de toi was certified triple platinum in France and she followed it with five other certified albums. Lorie is also an actress, who lent her voice for many French versions of international movies including Stuart Little 2. She stars in the TF1 TV film De feu et de glace, and guest-starred as a Parisian model on the American soap opera The Young and the Restless.

She has also launched a clothing line, "Lorie", only found in the Z stores in France. Her contract with Z ended in early 2009. When Lorie heard that producer Axel Brangeon was looking for a young girl that knew how to sing and dance, she immediately auditioned and won the contract. Lorie recorded "Près de moi", written by Johnny Williams and Louis Element, which was rejected by every record label. Williams uploaded the song onto a French website, peoplesound" and the song received 15,000+ downloads in two months.

Thereafter Epic Group Project of Sony Music France signed Lorie, who was only eighteen at the time. "Près de moi" was officially released in 2001, accompanied by a highly popular music video. It was certified Platinum in France for over 500,000 copies sold.