Born Isabelle Geffroy on May 1, 1980, in Tours, Indre-et-Loire, France, she performed as a singer for much of her life. Her vocals are often compared to those of Edith Piaf.

In association with the Play On label, she made her full-length solo debut with the self-titled album Zaz in 2010. Featuring a few songs written and produced by Raphaël, the album was well-received by critics and spawned the hit single "Je Veux." As positive word-of-mouth spread, Zaz steadily rose to the top of the French albums chart, hitting number one in its sixth week of release, and the album eventually went double platinum in France. Her international following grew, and during 2012 Zaz subsequently toured throughout Europe, Japan, and Canada. One year later, she released her second album, Recto Verso. Like Zaz's debut, Recto Verso went double platinum in her native France, and was certified gold in Germany, Belgium, Poland, and Switzerland.

Her third album, Paris, was conceived as a love letter to the capital, including a sequence of songs associated with Paris, including Cole Porter's "I Love Paris" (featuring Nikki Yanofsky) and Charles Trénet's "La Romance de Paris" (featuring Thomas Dutronc). The joyous results, released in 2014, resulted in Top Ten chart placings across Europe. ~ Jason Birchmeier