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Mylène Farmer (September 12, 1961),
born Mylène Jeanne Gautier, is a Canadian-born French
singer and songwriter. She is the most successful French
recording female artist of all time, having sold some 25
million records.
Biography: Mylène Farmer was born in
Pierrefonds, Quebec Canada, a suburb (now borough) of
Montreal. Her parents, originally from France, moved
from France to Canada in the late 1950's as Mylene's dad
pursued an engineering contract. Her family returned to
France when she was eight.
She chose her stage name Farmer in homage to Frances
Farmer.
Mylène is often considered the most successful and
provocative female French recording artist, and the only
artist to have each of her studio albums sell over a
million copies in France. She is also very popular in
fellow French-speaking countries Belgium, Switzerland,
Canada and Luxembourg, as well as Japan, Russia and
parts of Eastern Europe.
Mylène's creative partner and collaborator since 1984
is Laurent Boutonnat, who has produced all of her music,
designed her shows, and filmed many of her music videos.
Boutonnat discovered Farmer when she replied to a
newspaper ad he had posted in finding an actress for a
small film project he was working on (Farmer &
Boutonnat were both film students in Paris at the time)
and a friendship, then partnership quickly blossomed.
Her best-known songs are "Désenchantée",
"Pourvu qu'elles soient douces", "Sans
Contrefacon", "Libertine", "Les
mots", "Rêver", "California",
"Ainsi soit je", "L'Instant X",
"Je t'aime mélancolie", "C'est une belle
journée", "XXL", "Je te Rends ton
Amour" and "Regrets".
Debut: She made her professional recording debut
in 1984 with the song "Maman a tort", which
became a surprise hit, followed in 1986 by her first
album, Cendres de Lune, which included the hits
"Libertine" and "Tristana". The
album became an instant smash.
The French Madonna & Ainsi soit Je: Farmer
gained fame with songs featuring ambiguous or shocking
lyrics, and somewhat explicit music videos: "Maman
a tort" was about the love of a young girl for her
female nurse in a hospital. "Pourvu qu'elles soient
douces" was about a man with an obsession for the
buttocks of his lover, with hints of sodomy; the video,
set in the 18th century, featured a caning.
"Libertine" is said to feature the first nude
appearance by a singer on a major music video. "Que
mon cœur lâche" was about love with condoms in
the age of AIDS; the video for the song features a scene
in which God tells Jesus he won't send him to Earth
again because the last time he did, it was a disaster.
Much of Mylène's fame and success can be attritubed to
her elaborate and theatrical music videos which often
span 8 minutes or longer. Indeed, her concerts and
videos are often compared to those of Michael Jackson
and Madonna ("Pourvu qu'elles soient douces"
lasts 17 minutes, while "California" was
directed by Abel Ferrara and cost $700,000).
During this time Farmer released her second album
"Ainsi soit Je...", which produced her first
#1 hit, "Pourvu qu'elles soient douces". At
the time of its release, the album was the highest
selling record ever by a female recording artist in
France, to date it has shifted more than 1,800,000
copies. Farmer also embarked on her first tour of
European arenas and concert halls which quickly sold out
and spawned the live album "En Concert".
L'Autre & Désenchantée: By the turn of the
decade Mylène was a fullblown superstar in France, but
it wasn't until the release of her third album,
"L'Autre", and lead single "Désenchantée"
that she became iconic. "Désenchantée" is
considered one of the most important songs ever released
in France, striking a universal chord with the political
and social dissatisfactions of many of the citizens of
France.
The song debuted at #12 before going #1
and went on to become the best selling French single of
all time (both in country and around the globe),
according to Guinness Book of World Records and IFOP.
Likewise, its parent album "L'Autre" sold more
than 2 million copies in France alone, making it the
third best selling album of all time in the country.
Leaving France: In December of 1991 a disturbed
man who had been stalking Farmer entered the
Polydoor/EMI Record Co. headquarters in Paris and held a
group of employees hostage at gunpoint demanding to talk
to Mylene. Tragically, the man killed a receptionist and
then committed suicide.
Following this occurrence Mylene shunned
all media attention and left France to live annonymously
in California. In the following years, Farmer became
almost as famous for her reclusivity as for her
recording career, keeping all aspects of her personal
life private, and limiting herself to one interview per
album.
Anamorphosis: During her time in California, Mylène
began writing her fourth studio album "Anamorphosée"
which marked a complete change of pace for the french
pop queen. The album had a very American, sheek-rock
sound that would divide Mylène's fanbase. The album was
launched by "XXL", a mid-tempo rock ballad
with blasting electric guitars, and a memorable video
featuring Mylene strapped to the front of a moving
train.
The single became her first to debut at
#1, and though it's sales were strong, they did not
match the expectations established by her previous
album. Likewise, the "Anamorphosee" album
debuted at #1 and sold half a million copies in its
first 3 months of release.
The album continued to sell well with
the release of "California", a jazzy
pop-ballad bolstered with bass guitar, and final single
"Rever", which helped return the album to the
#1 spot in December of 1996 - more than a year after its
release. In the summer of 1996 Farmer embarked on her
2nd concert tour, which received rave reviews and set
sales records in nearly every city it visited.
Innamoramento: After several years of
reclusivity, Farmer returned in the summer of 1999 with
her 5th studio album Innamoramento. The lead single
"L'Âme-Stram-Gram", was a futuristic
techno-ballad accompanied by a Chinese-themed video in
which Mylene committs suicide to save her twin.
The video for the second single,
"Je te Rends ton Amour" sparked a firestorm of
controversy with its use of religious imagery and was
condemned by the Catholic Church and banned by many
networks. Mylene's record company quickly released a
video single of the song which went on to became the
highest selling release of that kind in France. In late
2000 Farmer announced her third concert tour, called the
Mylenium Tour, which ran for 42 shows across France,
Belgium, Switzerland, and Russia.
In 2000, she recorded the song "L'Histoire d'une fée
c'est..." for the animated film Rugrats in Paris:
The Movie, and in 2001 released her third live album.
Alizée: In 2000, Mylène and Laurent Boutonnat
had assembled a number of songs and video ideas they
felt appropriate for a younger, new star. They
immediately began the hunt to break a new female singer
into the French pop charts - hence they found Alizée
who had gained fame as a contestant on the French tv
show "Star Academy".
Together Farmer & Boutonnat wrote
& produced Alizee's albums Gourmandises and Mes
courants électriques. Her hit "Moi... Lolita"
reached the top of the charts all around the world, and
Alizée became the most successful French singer that
year. In 2001 IFOP announced Mylene as the top earning
French entertainer of the year thanks largely inpart to
her writing, recording, and producing credits of
Alizee's music, which earned her 10.4 million Euros.
Alizée's image was closely guarded and crafted by
Farmer and Boutonnat; she was allowed to do few
interviews at no more than twenty minutes apiece, and
only a limited number of promotional appearances. In
2005 Alizée parted ways with the duo to strike it on
her own, her third album is expected in late 2007.
Les mots: At the end of 2001 Polydor issued
Mylene's first greatest hits collection: Les mots, whose
title track & lead single featured a duet with Seal.
"Les Mots" was the #1 selling album of 2001
& 2002, and remains the best selling compilation
album in France with 1.7 million sold.
Avant que l'ombre: In December of 2004, Farmer
held a nationally-televised press conference announcing
the spring release of her new album, Avant que
l'ombre..., and single "Fuck Them All", as
well as a special 13-night concert engagement at the
Palais de Omnisports Bercy in January 2006.
The album was a quieter affair for
Mylene, receiving no further interviews and only one
television performance as promotion, Mylene noting what
she had to say was in her songs. Nonetheless, the album
debuted at #1 and sold half a million copies.
She returned to the stage in January 2006 for 13 dates
in Paris-Bercy, with the final date being January 29.
Mylène stated that she could not tour the country due
to the complex sets built for the performances. She has
released a new live album, with a new concert DVD, Avant
Que L'Ombre... a Bercy, in December 2006.
She has recorded a single with Moby, "Slipping Away
(Crier la vie)", which was released in September
2006, and became her fourth number one single in France. |
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