Pravi began her music career in 2014, after meeting French musician Jules Jaconelli. With Jaconelli, she began composing songs. The following year, she released an original song titled "Amour Impoli",[5] which led to her signing a contract with
Capitol Music France. She adopted the stage name Barbara Pravi from the
Serbian word pravi (
Serbian Cyrillic: прави,
lit. 'real', 'authentic', in the
masculine), as a homage to her Serbian grandfather.[6] Pravi has cited her musical influences as
Barbara,
Jacques Brel,
Georges Brassens,
Françoise Hardy, and
Aragon.[7] Upon beginning her professional recording career, Pravi performed on the soundtrack of the French version of the Swiss film Heidi with the song "On m'appelle Heidi" and afterwards was cast as Solange Duhamel in the musical show Un été 44 in November 2016, performing songs written by
Jean-Jacques Goldman,
Charles Aznavour and
Maxime Le Forestier.[8][9]
In 2017, Pravi released her first official single "Pas grandir".[10] The single was later included on her self-titled debut
extended play, which was released the following year. Also in 2017, Pravi starred in the television film La Sainte famille, as the role of Marion,[11] was later broadcast on
France 2 in December 2019.[12] From 2017 until 2018, Pravi performed on the 55 Tour, supporting French singer
Florent Pagny.[13] At the end of 2018, Pravi decided to alter her musical style by adopting a more traditional French chanson style, rather than the pop style that had dominated her early releases.[14]
On January 30, 2021, she had won “Eurovision France, c’est vous qui décidez ! 2021”, the French preliminary decision, for the
ESC 2021. In the year 2021 she had wrote the lyrics with Igit and Lili Poe and composed the music with Igit for the song “
Voilà”,[23][24] with which she represented
France at the
Eurovision Song Contest 2021 in
Rotterdam and finally took 2nd place; but only reached third place in the televoting. (
Måneskin won
ESC 2021 by a margin of 25 points.) This year's french entry achieved the best placement (2nd place) since
ESC 1991. Pravi was often asked to represent
France at
ESC in 2020 with Reviens pour l'hiver but she was turned it down because she ‘didn't feel ready’. As a break act at the
JESC 2021, she sang her song “
Voilà” from the
ESC 2021 again.
In the year 2022, she wrote the song “
Oh Maman !” [25][26] with Frédéric Château, with which Lissandro Formica represented France at the
Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in
Yerevan and finally won (1st), but only third place achieved in the televoting. This entrant gave
France the second
JESC victory in history.[27][28]
In July 2021, Pravi announced her first international tour for her debut studio album, On n'enferme pas les oiseaux (English: We don't lock up the birds), which came out on 27 August 2021.[33][34]
Pravi performed "Voilà" as an interval act at the
Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2021, which took place on 19 December in Paris.[35] Pravi also performed the song "L'homme et l'oiseau" (English: The man and the bird) at the 37th edition of the Victoires de la Musique, where she went on to win the Female Revelation of the Year award.[36][37]
In 2022, Pravi continued releasing songs, including "Priére pour soi" (English: Prayer for yourself) for
International Women's Day,[38] and "365", which is dedicated to her fans.[39] Pravi also wrote the song "Oh maman!" with Frédéric Château, with which
Lissandro Formica represented France at the
Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in
Yerevan and ultimately won, bringing France its second Junior Eurovision win.[40][41]
On 21 December, Pravi was announced as Florence in the TV film Adieu vinyle, set to be shown on
France 2 on 18 September 2023, after being premiered at the Angoulême Festival on 26 August 2023.[42]
Pravi announced on 6 January 2023 that she had signed to
Virgin Records France after eight years at
Capitol Music France.[43] She revealed two days later that she was in the process of writing and recording her second studio album.
On 13 January 2023, Pravi was announced as a temporary host on the
BBC Sounds podcast show Music Life. The first episode she hosted included November Ultra, Pi Ja Ma, Yaël Naïm and Melissa Lauveux as guests, and the second episode described Pravi's tour playlist, "Sur la route" (English: On the road). This appearance followed her French radio debut on
RTL2's Foudre with Waxx, during which she co-hosted an episode with Waxx.
In late February 2023, Pravi announced her first book, Lève-toi, alongside a single of the same name. A collaboration with Editions Julliard, author Huriya Asmahan, translator Aref Al-Haidari, singer-songwriter Emel and manager Élodie Filleul, Lève-toi was written in French and Arabic. The song was released on 8 March, while the book was released the following day.[44] In late May, Pravi was announced to star in Finalement, a film directed by
Claude Lelouch.[45]
On 28 July, Pravi was announced as the opening act of the 9th edition of the
Francophonie Games. which took place in
Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the same night. She sang the song "Lève toi" at the ceremony.[46] The following day (29 July),
Ferre Gola announced an "upcoming collaboration" with Pravi, no other details have been given thus far. Pravi was seen at his house in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo on the same day as it was reported.[47]
On 27 August, Pravi announced a collaboration with
Salvador Sobral for his new song "les eaux qui me gardent" which was released on 29 August.[48]
On January 19, 2024, she released her new single "Bravo"[49] talking about self-confidence.[50]
On March 8, Pravi released "Marianne" with Persian singer Golfshifteh Farahani. Soon later, she was announced as part of the cast for the France Televisions TV-series " Rebelle : les aventures de la jeune George Sand".
In her young adult years (ages 17, 20 and 24) she was forced to experience 3 abortions in terrible conditions.[58]
On 9 April 2022, Pravi celebrated the 37th birthday of her partner Antoine Molkhou.[59] Molkhou is a French DJ and podcast host, best known for being the artistic director of Rex Club[60] and a host of Arte Radio.[61] He also released his own music under the stage name Siler.[62]
On 2 April 2023, Pravi opened up to her battles with domestic violence in her teenage years, exclusively with Konbini, she commented upon her near-death experiences with her violent exes.[63]