Nanette is an American-Canadian singer, songwriter, actress and author, who has been based in Quebec, Canada during much of her career. Born Nanette Joan Workman on November 20, 1945 in Brooklyn, New York, she holds dual citizenship in both the United States and Canada. She was raised by musician parents in Jackson, Mississippi where she began her first performances. Her mother, Beatryce Kreisman, was in the chorus of Naughty Marietta with the New York City Opera Company, and her father, Ernest Workman, played trumpet in Tommy Dorsey's orchestra. She grew up in Jackson, Mississippi. As a child, she studied piano and began her career at 11, appearing in the local WLBT television series "Mr. Magic" until she was given her own weekly show, "Teen Tempos." She graduated from Provine High School then attended the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg leaving college at 18 for Broadway.
After understudying the lead of "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying," she played the role of Rosemary in 1964 and later played the lead in summer stock. In 1966, Workman met Tony Roman and recorded her first French single, "Et Maintenant," for him in Canada, where the song remained on the charts for fifteen weeks after becoming number one.
Over the next two years, she became a Canadian recording and TV star, mostly performing in French although raised as a native English speaker, finally hosting Fleurs D'Amours et Fleurs d'Amitie. In 1969, she moved to England where she appeared weekly on "Not Only... But Also." She also sang backup vocals on "You Can't Always Get What You Want" and "Country Honk" while credited Nanette Newman, She also worked with John Lennon and Elton John and appeared on the February 24, 1971 episode of "The Benny Hill Show," credited as Nanette and performing "Everybody's Singing Like Now."
Workman toured France in 1973 as an opening act for Johnny Hallyday and made three albums with Yves Martin touring Africa, Polynesia and Europe prior to coming back to Quebec in 1974. She recorded several more French albums, Lady Marmalade, Danser Danser, Donne Donne, and Call Girl. Returning to France in 1978, she starred in the rock opera, "Starmania" and sang backgrounds in the Mahogany Rush song "Sister Change." In 1980, she made the album, "Chaude," in collaboration with her brother, Billy Workman, and Luc Plamondon. She also toured Quebec with the show "Du gramophone au laser" and she returned to Paris in 1990 to star in Plamondon-Berger's second rock opera, "La Légende de Jimmy," based on the life of James Dean.
In April 2000, Nanette was inducted into the Mississippi Musician's Hall of Fame. She released another album, "Roots N Blues," in May 2001. In 2001 she also appeared in a Radio-Canada television series, "Rivière-des-Jérémie," and was the hostess for thirteen episodes of "Generation 70."
In 2007, she was recognized by the State of Mississippi when Governor Haley Barbour honored her at the opening of The Nanette Workman French House on the Mississippi State University campus, housing American and French-speaking students from around the world as an upper-classman residence. During her career, she has recorded together with numerous well-known musicians in the United States, Canada, England and France and been recognized in Mississippi both by being elected to that state's Musicians Hall of Fame.