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| Full Name: | Mylene Farmer - Contact Mylene Farmer |
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Hollywood Reporter - Found Aug. 28, 2008 6 debut, is Montreal-born French superstar Mylene Farmer's 'Degeneration.' That's after a No. 1 debut in France and a 33-1 climb in Wallony. |
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Mylene Farmer
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| Mylène Farmer | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Mylène Jeanne Gautier |
| Born | 12 September 1961 |
| Origin | Canada |
| Genre(s) | Pop |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, songwriter, actress |
| Years active | 1984–present |
| Label(s) | Polydor Records |
Mylène Farmer born Mylène Jeanne Gautier (born 12 September 1961), Montreal, Canada) is a French singer, songwriter, occasional actress and author. She has sold more than 25 million records and is among the most successful recording artists of all time in France.1
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Mylène Gautier was born in Pierrefonds, Quebec, Canada, a suburb (now borough) of Montreal. Her parents moved from France in the late 1950s as Farmer's father, Max, pursued an engineering contract on a dam. Her family returned to France when she was eight, settling in the Parisian suburb of Ville d'Avray. In her teenage years, Farmer was passionate about horse-riding, qualifying as a riding instructor at the equestrian centre in Saumur. At 17, however, Mylène Farmer discovered acting and she abandoned the stables to take a three-year course at the Cours Florent, a drama school in Paris. Changing her name to Mylène Farmer as a tribute to her idol, 30s Hollywood actress Frances Farmer, she began to earn a living as a model acting in several TV ads.
In 1984, Farmer met Laurent Boutonnat, a young film student also enrolled in Cours Florent, when she replied to a newspaper ad for an actress for a small film he was working on. Farmer and Boutonnat became friends and forged a creative partnership, writing and producing the music. Boutonnat, whose ambition was to become a film director, was the force behind Mylène’s videos. Much of Farmer's fame and success can be attributed to elaborate and theatrical music videos which are seen as short films. Her concerts and videos are 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).
Farmer gained fame with songs featuring shocking yet poetic lyrics, and explicit music videos: "Maman a tort" was about the love of a young girl for her female hospital nurse. "Pourvu qu'elles soient douces" contains hints of sodomy; the video, set in the 18th century, featured a caning. "Libertine" is said to feature the first full frontal nudity 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 "it was a disaster."
Farmer is the most successful and provocative female French recording artist, the only artist to have each of her studio albums gaining platinum status in France. She is also popular in Belgium, Switzerland, Russia and parts of Eastern Europe.
Among her best-known songs are "Désenchantée", "Pourvu qu'elles soient douces", "Sans contrefaçon", "Libertine", "C'est une belle journée", and "Rêver".
Boutonnat teamed with the young songwriter, Jérôme Dahan, and the pair wrote Farmer's first hit, "Maman a tort" - a single which went to the top of the French charts in March 1984. The video cost the modest sum of 5,000 FR but caused a stir in the music world. Boutonnat cast Farmer as a provocative Lolita figure, and the singer cultivated the image in her early career, especially on her début album, Cendres de Lune. This album, in January 1986, sold 1 million copies.
"Libertine", the first single from the album in March '86, set the tone for the Farmer style. Farmer’s sensual, romantic lyrics (which she writes herself) are inspired by 19th century literature and set to melodies written by Boutonnat. Boutonnat directed Farmer’s videos, imposing his style. The video which accompanied "Libertine" is charged with 18th century eroticism (conjuring images of the film Barry Lyndon and the novels of the Marquis de Sade). Farmer, lit by candlelight, is shrouded in mystery and sexual ambiguity. This erotic ambience was her trademark throughout her career, infusing the videos "Tristana" and "Sans contrefaçon".
In 1988, Boutonnat and Farmer began their second album, Ainsi soit je... (a play on the French expression Ainsi soit-il, meaning "Amen"). This album, infused with the same erotic atmosphere, featured songs inspired by Mylène’s favourite authors, among them the French romantic poet Baudelaire and the American horror writer Edgar Allan Poe. The album sold 1.8 million copies on the back of the million-selling hits "Sans contrefaçon" and "Pourvu qu'elles soient douces", the latter her first #1 single. At the time it was the best-selling album ever by a female artist in France.
In spite of her drama courses, Farmer found it difficult to overcome shyness form in front of an audience. It was only after hesitation that she agreed to a concert tour in 1989. After singing at a small venue in St Etienne as test, Farmer arrived in Paris to perform at the Palais des Sports for a whole week in May. Farmer appeared to enjoy performing for she followed the concerts with 52 dates throughout Europe. A live album documenting the tour was released at the end of the year, titled En concert. The costumes were designed by the French designer Thierry Mugler.
Farmer refuses interviews.
Her single "Désenchantée" became the best-selling French single of all time according to the Guinness Book of World Records. Likewise, its parent album L'Autre... sold more than 2 million in France,2 the third best selling album in the country. The album supported the hit "Regrets", a duet with tar Jean-Louis Murat, and "Je t'aime mélancolie", the video for which portrayed Farmer as a boxer.
In December 1991 a disturbed man who had been stalking Farmer entered the Polydor Records headquarters in Paris and held employees at gunpoint demanding to talk to her. The man killed a receptionist and committed suicide. Following this occurrence Farmer shunned media attention and left France to live in California.
During her time in California, Farmer began writing her fourth studio album Anamorphosée a change of pace. The album had an American, chic-rock sound. The album was launched by "XXL", a mid-tempo rock ballad with blasting electric guitars, and a video directed by Marcus Nispel featuring Mylène strapped to the front of a moving train. The single became her first to debut at #1. The Anamorphosée album debuted at #2 and sold half a million copies in 3 months. The album continued to sell well with the release of "California", a jazzy pop-ballad bolstered with bass guitar, and the "Rêver", which helped the album reach #1 in January 1997 - 16 months after its release. In summer 1996 Farmer embarked on her second concert tour.
Farmer returned in the spring 1999 with her 5th studio album Innamoramento. The lead single "L'Âme-stram-gram" was a futuristic up-tempo electronic song with erotic lyrics accompanied by a Chinese-themed video in which Farmer commits suicide to save her twin.
The video for the second single, "Je te rends ton amour", sparked controversy because of its religious blasphemy and was condemned by the Catholic Church and banned by many networks. Farmer's record company released a video single, which became the highest selling release of that kind in France.
In late 1999Farmer embarked on her third concert tour, the Mylenium Tour, which set the record for highest grossing tour by a non-English speaking artist. During the tour, Farmer released the album's third and fourth singles: "Souviens-toi du jour" and "Optimistique-moi" which became the biggest hits from the album.
After Innamoramento, the last single off the album, she recorded "L'Histoire d'une fée, c'est..." for the animated film Rugrats in Paris: The Movie, and released her third live album and DVD documenting the Mylenium Tour along with "Dessine-moi un mouton", the promotional single for the live CD of the show.
In 2000, Farmer and Laurent Boutonnat had assembled songs and video ideas they felt appropriate for a younger, new star. They began the hunt to break a female singer into the French charts - they found Alizée, a contestant on the French television show Graines de stars. Farmer and Boutonnat wrote and produced Alizée's albums Gourmandises and Mes courants électriques. Her hit "Moi... Lolita" reached the top of the charts and Alizée became the most successful French singer that year. In 2001 IFOP announced Farmer as top earning French entertainer of the year thanks to her writing, recording, and producing credits of Alizée's music, which earned 10.4 million euros.
Alizée's image was crafted by Farmer and Boutonnat; she was allowed a few interviews at no more than 20 minutes and a limited number of promotional appearances. In 2005 Alizée parted with the duo. Her third album was in December 2007.
At the end of 2001 Polydor issued Farmer's first greatest hits collection: Les mots, whose title track and lead single featured a duet with Seal. Les Mots was the #1 selling album of 2001 and 2002, and remains the best selling compilation album in France with more than 1.5 million sold. It also includes, as a new track, one of Farmer's C'est une belle journée.3
In December 2004, Farmer held a conference announcing her new album, Avant que l'ombre..., and single "Fuck Them All", as well as a 13-night concert engagement at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy in January 2006. Farmer stated she could not tour due to the complex sets for the performances. The album was a quiet affair for Farmer, who gave no interviews and did only one promotional television performance. Nonetheless, the album debuted at number 1 and sold close to 1 million.
She returned to the stage in January 2006 for 13 dates in Paris-Bercy, with the final date being 29 January. A live album and concert DVD, Avant que l'ombre... à Bercy were released in December 2006. In its first months, the DVD became the best selling music DVD in France.
Farmer recorded a single with electronic musician Moby, "Slipping Away (Crier la vie)", released in September 2006, which became her fourth number one single in France.
Farmer's seventh studio album, the electronic-driven Point de Suture, was released on the Internet on 20 August. The album's lead single, "Dégénération", debuted 19 June. The album includes another duet with Moby, "Looking for my Name". She was going to record a duet with David Bowie but had to cancel due to Bowie's health. The first single from the album, "Dégénération", entered the French SNEP Top 50 at #1 with the highest weekly sales in 2008. This is her 5th number one, the most for any artist, tying with Céline Dion. The single also climbed to number 10 on the download charts the same week (sales week ending 23 August). It was followed by "Appelle mon numéro", released on November 3 which became her 6th number one making a new record of the most number ones in French chart history.
Farmer has another protogée. Lisa is the performer "Drole de creepie", produced and written by Laurent Boutonnat, with lyrics by Farmer . Her video has also released, in which she dances as a ballerina in a dark, spider-inspired costume. There is also a cartoon associated with the song. "Drole de creepie" is the leading single of a cartoon Growing Up Creepie.
The Mylène Farmer-International Fan Club (MFIFC) existed from 1995 to 2001. At its peak, it had over ten thousand subscribers in 37 countries.6 The club published subscriber-only fanzines, which included interviews with people who personally knew Mylène, including Khaled, Marcus Nispel, Abel Ferrara, H. R. Giger and Paco Rabanne. They also organized a fan tour in which several members attended concerts in Moscow and St. Petersburg.
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