Mika is a British singer and songwriter. The performer has been nominated several times for the prestigious Grammy Award.
Childhood and youth of Michael Holbrook Penniman
Michael Holbrook Penniman (real name of the singer) was born in Beirut. His mother was Lebanese, and his father was American. Michael has Syrian roots.
When Michael was very young, his parents were forced to leave their native Beirut. The move was caused by military operations in Lebanon.
Soon the Penniman family settled in Paris. At the age of 9, his family moved to London. It was here that Michael entered the Westminster School, which inflicted a lot of damage on the guy.
Classmates and a teacher of an educational institution mocked the guy in every possible way. It got to the point that Mick developed dyslexia. The guy stopped talking and writing. Mom made the right decision - she took her son out of school and transferred him to home schooling.
In an interview, Michael repeatedly mentioned that thanks to the support of his mother, he reached such heights. Mom supported all the undertakings of her son and tried to develop his creative potential.
In adolescence, parents noticed their son's interest in music. Mika later took vocal lessons from the Russian opera singer Alla Ablaberdyeva. She moved to London in early 1991. After completing his secondary education, Michael studied at the Royal College of Music.
Unfortunately, Michael did not complete his studies at the Royal College of Music. No, the guy was not expelled. A more pleasant fate awaited him. The fact is that he signed a contract to record his debut album with Casablanca Records. At the same time, a stage name appeared, for which millions of music lovers fell in love with him - Mika.
According to music critics, the singer's voice spans five octaves. But the British performer recognizes only three and a half octaves. The remaining one and a half, according to the performer, still need to be “reached out” to perfection.
Mika: creative way
While studying at the Royal College of Music, Mika worked at the Royal Opera House. The musician wrote tracks for British Airways, as well as advertisements for Orbit chewing gum.
Only in 2006 Mika presented the first musical composition Relax, Take it Easy. The song was first played on BBC Radio 1 in Britain. Only a week has passed, and the musical composition was recognized as the hit of the week.
Mika was immediately noticed by music critics and music lovers. The expressive voice and bright image of the artist became a kind of highlight of Michael. They began to compare him with such outstanding personalities as Freddie Mercury, Elton John, Prince, Robbie Williams.
Mick's first tour
A year later, the British artist went on his first tour, which took place in the United States of America. Mick's performances smoothly turned into a European tour.
In 2007, the singer presented another track that could take the 1st position of the British chart. We are talking about the musical composition of Grace Kelly. The track soon topped the UK national charts. The song was at the top of the charts for 5 weeks.
In the same year, the artist's discography was replenished with the first studio album, Life in Cartoon Motion. Mika's second studio album The Boy Who Knew Too Much was released on September 21, 2009.
The singer recorded most of the compositions of the second album in Los Angeles. The album was produced by Greg Wells. To increase the popularity of the album, Mika gave several live performances on television.
Both records were warmly received by fans and music critics. The presentation of two collections was accompanied by a tour. Mika presented video clips for some of the songs.
The semantic load of the songs of the singer Mika
In his musical compositions, the British singer touches on various topics. Most often this is a problem of relationships between people, painful issues of growing up and self-identification. Mika admits that not all tracks of his repertoire are considered autobiographical.
He loves to sing about female and male beauty, as well as fleeting romances. In one composition, the singer spoke about the story of a married man who began an affair with another man.
Mika has repeatedly become a laureate of prestigious awards and prizes. From the numerous list of awards, it is worth highlighting:
- the 2008 Ivor Novello Award for Best Songwriter;
- receiving the Order of Arts and Letters (one of the highest awards in France).
Personal life of the artist Mika
Until 2012, there were rumors in the press that singer Mika was gay. This year, the British performer officially confirmed this information. He commented:
“If you are wondering if I am gay, I will answer yes! Are my tracks written about my relationship with a man? I will also answer in the affirmative. It is only through what I do that I have the strength to come to terms with my sexuality, not only in the context of the lyrics of my compositions. This is my life…".
The singer's Instagram has a lot of provocative photos with men. However, the British performer does not talk about the question "Is his heart busy or free?".
Mick's return to creativity after a personal tragedy
In 2010, the singer experienced a strong emotional shock. His sister Paloma, who for a long time worked as the singer's personal stylist, fell from the fourth floor, receiving terrible injuries. Her stomach and legs were pierced through the bars of the fence.
The girl could have died on the spot if the neighbor had not found her in time. Paloma has undergone many surgeries. It took her a long time to recover her health. This event changed Mick's mind.
Only in 2012 he was able to return to creativity. Actually, then the singer presented the third studio album. The record was called The Origin of Love.
In an interview with Digital Spy, the artist described the record as "more simple pop, less layered than the previous one", with more "adult" lyrics. In an interview with Mural, the artist stated that musically, the collection includes elements of the styles of Daft Punk and Fleetwood Mac.
From a number of tracks, fans of the work of the British singer identified several compositions. The attention of music lovers was attracted by the songs: Elle me dit, Celebrate, Underwater, Origin of Love and Popular Song.
Mika: interesting facts
- The singer is fluent in Spanish and French. Michael speaks some Chinese, but does not speak fluently.
- At the singer's press conferences, the question about his homosexuality is most often raised.
- Michael became the youngest knight in the history of the order.
- The British artist has more than 1 million followers on Instagram.
- Michael's favorite colors are blue and pink. It is in the clothes of the presented colors that the singer most often poses in front of the cameras.
Singer Mika today
After several years of silence, Mika announced the release of a new album. The collection, which was released in 2019, was called My Name is Michael Holbrook.
The album was released on Republic Records / Casablanca Records. The top song of the collection was the musical composition Ice Cream. Later, a video was also released for the track, in which Mika played the driver of an ice cream van.
Mika has been working on the new album for two years. According to the singer, the title track was written on a very hot day in Italy.
“I wanted to escape to the sea, but I stayed in my room: sweat, deadline, bee stings and no air conditioning. While I was composing the song, I ran into serious personal problems. Sometimes these problems caused me such emotional pain that I wanted to stop writing the track. By the end of the work on the composition, I felt lighter and freer ... ".
After the presentation of My Name is Michael Holbrook, the performer went on a big European tour. It lasted until the end of 2019.
The new compilation received many positive reviews from fans and music critics. Mika told reporters that this is one of the most intimate collections of his discography.
