Carla Bruni on her return to music, Mick Jagger and her new album, French Touch

Carla Bruni has been writing and singing music for over two decades. While many will recognize her as the former first lady of France, or perhaps even remember her early years in the modelling world, Bruni has always been a singer-songwriter first.

She shares what it was like joining forces with David Foster to take on English-language covers of her favourite classic songs, from Andy William's "Moon River," to AC/DC's "Highway to Hell," to the Rolling Stones' "Miss You." Bruni's Latin version of the Stones' 1978 hit has even received Mick Jagger's blessing.

"[Mick Jagger] posted something, I think on Facebook, saying he likes my version," she says. "I was so surprised because we didn't ask — he did it spontaneously. Of course we sent [our version] to him and the whole band, but we didn't expect anything. You know, the Stones must have people making covers of this song every day. So we didn't expect any answer or any comment, and we got a very nice one."

These days, Bruni says she is happy to be out of the political spotlight so she can focus on her music and family. The former first lady of France looks back at her husband's time in office as a great honour, but admits she's "glad he's done."

"We're all very happy," she says, "because it's not so easy to live surrounded by 50 police guys every day."

Bruni joined Tom Power live from a studio in Paris, France to talk about touring in North America, her latest album and her love of sparse, simple music production.

Her new album French Touch is out now.

— Produced by Shannon Higgins and Diane Eros

Carla Bruni, 'Miss You'