Barbara Weldens dead: French singer 'electrocuted' on stage at church concert

Barbara Weldens, an up-and-coming French singer, has died after collapsing in the middle of a church concert.

The 35-year-old entertainer, who released her debut album in February, had been performing on stage in the village of Goudron, in the Lot region, when she suffered an apparent cardiac arrest. Her set was part of the Léo Ferré festival, which has been cancelled in the wake of tragedy.

While the cause of her death has yet to be revealed, local media are reporting that she may have been electrocuted.

According to La Depeche, she was barefoot with a camera on stage and could have touched an electric device that malfunctioned.

Welden had been tipped to be 'the next big thing' on the French music scene following the release of her debut album Le grand H de l'homme, which was critically acclaimed.

She was the recipient of the 2016 Pic d'Or of the Chanson de Tarbes and had also won the Academie Charles Cros' creativity award and 1st prize at the Jacques Brel Festival's Young Talents 2016 competition.

The organisers of Pic d'Or paid tribute to Weldens describing her as a "radiant woman, full of energy and talented", adding they were "deeply saddened" by news of her passing.

"It was with great emotion that we learned this morning of the death of Barbara Weldens, our Pic d'Or 2016 at a concert last night in Gourdon in the Lot, obviously electrocuted," the statement read.

"Our team is deeply disturbed by the brutal disappearance of the artist who had appeared on the stage of the Theater des Nouveaux on 20 May, during our last edition.

Police have launched an investigation into the circumstances that led to her death. They "will see in the next weeks if a requalification is necessary", the prosecutor's office told Europe 1.