Mika
Mika at the NRJ Music Awards in 2012
Background information
Birth name	Michael Holbrook Penniman, Jr.
Also known as	Mica Penniman, Mika Penniman
Born	(1983-08-18) 18 August 1983 (age 28) Beirut, Lebanon
Origin	London, England, UK
Genres	Pop, rock, power pop, pop rock, glam rock
Occupations	Musician, singer-songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, keyboards, Piano
Years active	2006–present
Labels	Casablanca, Island, Festival Mushroom, Polydor, Universal Music
Website	Mikasounds.com

Mika ( /ˈmiːkə/; born Michael Holbrook Penniman, Jr.;^[1][2][3] 18 August 1983) is a British singer-songwriter.

After recording his first extended play, Dodgy Holiday EP, Mika released his first full-length studio album, Life in Cartoon Motion, on Island Records in 2007. Life in Cartoon Motion sold more than 5.6 million copies worldwide and helped Mika win a Brit Award—winning Best British Breakthrough act, and receive a Grammy Award nomination.^[4][5] In 2006, Mika started up his company, Dodgy Holiday Tours Limited.^[6] Two years later Mika released his second extended play, Songs for Sorrow, of which limited edition copies are now sold out worldwide. In 2009 Mika released his second studio album, The Boy Who Knew Too Much. Finishing his worldwide tour, Mika started writing and recording material for his third album, The Origin of Love, stating it will be "more simplistic pop, less layered than the last one".^[7]

Early life[link]

Mika was born in Beirut, the third of five children born to a Lebanese mother and an American father.^[8] When he was a year old his family was forced to leave war-torn Lebanon and moved to Paris.^[8][9] The first piano piece he learned to play was "Les Champs-Élysées", by Joe Dassin.^[8] At age seven, he wrote his first song, which he describes as an "awful" piano instrumental called "Angry".^[2] The family moved to London when he was nine years old. There, he attended the Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle, where he experienced severe bullying. He also had problems with dyslexia. In response to these experiences Mika was home-schooled by his mother at the age of 12, for six to eight months.^[2] He then attended St Philip's School in Kensington, where he was the head of the Schola Cantorum (the St. Philip's Choir). Later he attended Westminster School and the Royal College of Music, which he left to record his first album at Casablanca Records.^[10] He has also slightly altered his given name, Mica, changing the "c" to a "k" because he was frustrated by how often people would mispronounce it.^[11]

Mika at the 2007 Glastonbury Festival

Mika comes from a family of seven (Mika was one of five siblings). He has one younger brother and one younger sister along with two older sisters. His sister Yasmine, who works as an artist under the nom de plume DaWack, painted the cartoon art for his two albums Life in Cartoon Motion and The Boy Who Knew Too Much, and she is currently a fashion designer. Mika speaks French and Spanish fluently;^[8] in an interview on 28 September 2009 with The Chris Moyles Show on BBC Radio 1 he commented that he had taken Mandarin Chinese for 9 years but did not speak it very well; he also mentioned that his three sisters did all speak it fluently.

As a child Mika was trained by Alla Ardakov (Ablaberdyeva), a Russian opera professional, and later attended the Royal College of Music in London. His debut radio appearance was on Dermot O'Leary's BBC Radio 2 show in September 2006. He also appeared on Later... with Jools Holland, and on The Friday Night Project on 19 January 2007.^[12] Mika is rumoured to have a vocal range of five octaves,^[10] but claims that it is actually closer to three and a half octaves.^[13]

Mika denied allegations that he is steering clear of sexual taboos in order to appeal to the US market, pointing to the song "Billy Brown", which is about a married man who has an affair with another man. He is quoted as saying, "If I was worried about sexual taboos I certainly wouldn't have made the record I made. It has nothing to do with that. It has more to do with self-respect."^[14] In an interview in the US gay magazine Out he stated that "there is a way of discussing sexuality without using labels."^[15]

In a September 2009 interview in Gay & Night Mika commented on his sexuality: "I've never ever labelled myself. But having said that; I've never limited my life, I've never limited who I sleep with... Call me whatever you want. Call me bisexual, if you need a term for me..."^[16] Later he stated in an interview with This Is London "I consider myself label-less because I could fall in love with anybody - literally - any type, any body. I'm not picky."^[17]

In March 2010 Mika was named in France a Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters for services to music.^[18]

Musical career[link]

Early career: 2004–2006[link]

Mika's first single was a limited 7"/download release called "Relax, Take It Easy" (2006). It was play listed by BBC Radio 1 in the United Kingdom, and made Record of the Week by DJ Scott Mills. The Dodgy Holiday EP also became available for download. The song "Billy Brown" was available for free download for a week from the iTunes Store. A studio outtake titled 'Overrated', which was recorded in 2004, was "unofficially" released online.

Mika playing keyboard at V Festival, 2007

[edit] Life in Cartoon Motion: 2006–2008

In January 2007 Mika was on the top of the BBC News website's Sound of 2007 poll.^[19] His single "Grace Kelly" was released by Universal Music for digital download on 8 January 2007. It reached number one on the UK Singles Chart on 21 January 2007.

Mika's début album Life in Cartoon Motion was released on 5 February 2007, and has brought comparison with artists such as Freddie Mercury,^[20][21] Scissor Sisters,^[22] Elton John,^[23] Prince,^[24] Robbie Williams^[25] and David Bowie.^[25] "Grace Kelly," in fact, references Mercury in the lyrics: "I try to be like Grace Kelly/But all her looks were too sad/So I try a little Freddie/I've gone identity mad."

Mika was the musical act for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on 26 March 2007^[26] and 14 February 2008 and for Jimmy Kimmel Live on 27 March 2007.^[27] He also performed live on So You Think You Can Dance on 26 July 2007.

Mika live in concert

Mika toured the United States in June 2007, with support from Sara Bareilles and Natalia Lesz.

On 10 October 2007 Mika began his Dodgy Holiday Tour, playing at venues across Europe. On 17 November 2007 Mika started the UK leg of his tour with support from Palladium. The North American leg of his tour began in January 2008 with support from The Midway State and Creature and continued through February with a stop in Los Angeles for the 50th Grammy Awards.

His debut album Life in Cartoon Motion has a coming of age theme and deals with his transition from childhood to the present, though he has stated that not all of the songs are autobiographical. His songs often deal with difficult topics. For instance, in "Big Girl (You Are Beautiful)" the theme of larger women suffering from discrimination is explored. Mika has said that the fact that his mother was a big woman, and that he had seen the prejudices against her, helped him to write the song.^[28] In another example of dealing with more difficult subject matter, in the song "Billy Brown", Mika writes about a married man who has a homosexual affair.

On 20 February 2008 Mika opened the 2008 BRIT Awards with a live performance of "Love Today," "Grace Kelly," and a duet, "Standing in the Way of Control," with Beth Ditto. He was later awarded the BRIT Award for Best British Breakthrough Artist.

Mika has reportedly written songs for other musicians, saying "I write songs for other people under different names most of the time. I have a little family of three names. One of them has been discovered – it's Alice."^[29]