Biography

Mylène Farmer born Mylène Jeanne Gautier[1] (born 12 September 1961) is a Canadian,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. She holds the record for the most number one hits in the French charts, with ten as of 2010.

Early years

Farmer was born in Pierrefonds, Quebec, Canada. 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 the age of 17, however, 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, 1930s 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, after replying 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.

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 will not send him to Earth again because the last time "it was a disaster." The videos for "Beyond My Control" and "Je te rends ton amour" were censored at the time because of their sexual and violent content; later released in a video single, the latter one became the highest selling release of that kind in France.

Her most well-known songs include "Désenchantée", "Pourvu qu'elles soient douces", "Sans contrefaçon", "Libertine", "California", "C'est une belle journée", "Rêver", "XXL" and "Les Mots".

Debut (1984-1989)
Boutonnat and a young songwriter named Jérôme Dahan had written a song, and were auditioning to find a singer to record it. Farmer was eventually chosen and recorded the song, called "Maman a tort" (one of the few songs not to be written by Farmer herself), which was released to good success in March 1984. The video cost the modest sum of 5000 FR but caused a stir in the music world.[2] However, the following single, "On est tous des imbéciles", was met with little praise.

Despite the relative success of her first two singles, Farmer, helped by Boutonnat, started working on her first album. Even if this album was almost entirely written and composed by Boutonnat, it was then that it was decided that Farmer would write the lyrics of her songs and Boutonnat would compose the music and direct the videos. "Libertine", the album's lead single, was released in March 1986 and set the tone for Farmer's musical style. The sensual, romantic lyrics were inspired by 19th-century literature. As for the video, which had a running time of more than 10 minutes, Boutonnat got inspired by the film Barry Lyndon and the novels of the Marquis de Sade, thus giving the video a cinematic style. Farmer, lit by candlelight, is shrouded in mystery and sexual ambiguity. The following single, "Tristana", also met success and the video also had a cinematic approach that impressed the audience. Meanwhile, another single from the album, Plus grandir, also shot in cinematic 35 mm, was the very first video in which a French female singer appeared naked.[3]

In 1988, Boutonnat and Farmer began work on her next album, Ainsi soit je... (a play on the French expression ainsi soit-il, meaning "so be it" or "amen"). This album, infused with a much darker atmosphere, is more sexually ambiguous than her previous one, featuring songs inspired by Mylène’s favourite authors, including the French romantic poet Charles Baudelaire and the American horror writer Edgar Allan Poe. The album sold 1.8 million copies on the back of the Nº2 hit "Sans contrefaçon" as well as the first Nº1 hit of career, "Pourvu qu'elles soient douces". The other singles, "Sans logique" and title song were also hits in France, while the Juliette Gréco cover "Déshabillez-moi" became a fan favourite. Ainsi soit je... is the best-selling female album in France of the 1980s.[4]

In spite of her drama courses, Farmer found it difficult to overcome shyness when in front of an audience. It was only after hesitation that she agreed to make a concert tour in 1989. After singing in a small venue in Saint-Étienne as a test, the singer came to Paris to perform at the Palais des Sports for a week in May. Following the positive response of the audience, she agreed for a full-scale 52-date tour through francophone Europe. A live album documenting the tour was released at the end of the year, titled En Concert, also containing a new song, "A quoi je sers", in which she questions the future of her career. The costumes of the tour were designed by the French designer Thierry Mugler.

It was also during this period that it was noticed that Farmer rarely gives interviews or appears in public, even though she did much more than she does today.[5]

L'Autre... and "Désenchantée" (1990-1992)
By the turn of the decade Farmer was a full-blown superstar in France, but it wasn't until the release of her third album, L'Autre..., and single "Désenchantée" that she became iconic. The album, released on 8 April 1991, displayed a new image to her audience: more mature, more confident, with very short hair and a more defiant attitude (as evidenced in the videos for "Désenchantée" and particularly "Je t'aime mélancolie", in which Farmer plays a professional boxer fighting a male opponent). The music had also evolved in comparison to her previous records. The lyrics now approached a larger scope of subjects such as religion ("Agnus Dei"), politics ("Désenchantée") and press criticism ("Je t'aime mélancolie").

"Désenchantée", the album's lead single, became a phenomenon in French pop music, striking a universal chord with its political lyrics. The song debuted at Nº12 in France and hit Nº1 two weeks later, remaining 9 weeks atop of the chart. At the time, it 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. It also spent 6 weeks at Nº1 in Belgium. The song also made the Top 10 in Canada and the Top 20 in Austria and the Netherlands. It is considered by many to be Farmer's signature-song.[6] "Désenchantée", which was accompanied by an epic video directed by Laurent Boutonnat in which Mylène plays a rebelling prisoner in a facility which resembles a concentration camp or gulag.[7]

Following the phenomenal success of Désenchantée, Farmer released three more very successful singles from the album: "Regrets", a gold-selling Nº3 duet performed with Jean-Louis Murat, "Je t'aime mélancolie" (Nº3) and "Beyond My Control" (Nº, the latter having a blood-and-sex-charged video that was banned from airplay. The success of the singles helped its parent album sell close to 2 million copies in France alone, having been certified Diamond in 1992.[8] It spent a then-record 20 weeks at the pole position of the French charts, as well as topping the chart in Belgium and making top 10 in Canada. It has become Farmer's best selling studio album.

Prior to the release of the album's third single, on 14 November 1991[6] 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 had previously written the singer some fan mail, which she did not respond to. He killed a receptionist and committed suicide. Following this occurrence Farmer shunned media attention and left France to live in Los Angeles for a few weeks.[9]

Giorgino (1992-1994)
In late 1992 she released the remix album Dance Remixes, a two-disc set containing 14 remixes of the singer's greatest dance hits plus a new song - and also single - called "Que mon cœur lâche". As usual, Farmer did not shy away from controversy; "Que mon cœur lâche", a song dealing with AIDS and sexual relations, is accompanied by a video directed by Luc Besson (the first time in the singer's career that a video wasn't directed by Laurent Boutonnat) in which Farmer plays an angel sent down to earth by God (who refuses to send Jesus again stating that "last time it was a disaster") to save mankind from itself. The imagery in the clip references pop stars, condoms, prostitution, homosexuality and drug use. It had a budget of about € 100 000. The single was also recorded in an English version, which was released under the name "My Soul Is Slashed".

"Que mon cœur lâche" would be the last single released by Farmer in 3 years. In the meantime the singer would star in a movie, as her longtime collaborator had written a script he had wanted to direct for a long time. The result was the ill-fated Giorgino (1994). The film, shot in English, was a huge critical and commercial flop. Budgeted at 80 million Francs, it was seen by only 60 000 people and recovered only 1% of its budget.[10] One of the main reasons for the film's flop was its 3-hour-plus length. According to Farmer herself, the bad reception of Giorgino was particularly hard on Boutonnat, who was directing his first feature film,[11] something he would not do again for 13 years until the release of Jacquou le Croquant in 2007. Following the lukewarm reception of the film, Farmer decided to leave France to take a long break in the USA.

Anamorphosée (1995-1997)
During her time in California, Farmer started to write her fourth studio album, Anamorphosée, before inviting Laurent Boutonnat over there to reconcile after the bitter incidents of 1994 and to start making music together again. Farmer also started listening to rock music during that period; as a result, the album had an American chic-rock sound[12][Full citation needed]. The album was launched by "XXL", a rock song 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 Nº1. Anamorphosée debuted at Nº2 in the album charts and sold half a million copies in 3 months. The album continued to sell well with the release of "L'Instant X", "California" (a jazzy-pop ballad bolstered with bass guitar featuring a highly-acclaimed video directed by Abel Ferrara), and "Rêver", which helped the album reach Nº1 in January 1997 – 16 months after its release. The album is the first to contain music written by Farmer.

In summer 1996 Farmer embarked on her second concert tour which met with huge success. The corresponding live album, Live à Bercy, is currently the best-selling French live album ever. During the tour, Farmer sang a Raï version of Michel Polnareff's La Poupée qui fait non with Khaled which was released as a promotional single from the live album and became a Top 10 hit in France.

Innamoramento and Mylènium (1998-2000)
Farmer returned in spring 1999 with her 5th studio album Innamoramento. The lead single "L'Âme-stram-gram" was a futuristic up-tempo techno-ballad with erotic lyrics accompanied by a Chinese-themed video in which Farmer commits suicide to save her twin. Both the single and the album went straight to #2 on the charts.[13]

The video for the second single, "Je te rends ton amour", sparked controversy because of its religious blasphemy being condemned by the Catholic Church and banned by many networks. Despite this, Farmer released a video single, which became the highest selling release of that kind in France.

In late 1999, Farmer embarked on her third concert tour, the Mylenium Tour, which set the record of the highest grossing tour by a non-English speaking artist. The stage of the show featured a huge pharaonic statue at the center of the stage from which she emerged and flew before being carried down by the hand of this very statue. During the tour, Farmer released the album's third and fourth singles: "Souviens-toi du jour" and "Optimistique-moi".

After "Innamoramento", the last single of 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 Mylènium Tour along with "Dessine-moi un mouton", the promotional single for the live CD of the show.

Alizée (2000-2004)
Main article: Alizée
In 2000, Farmer and Laurent Boutonnat had assembled songs and video ideas they felt appropriate for a younger, new star. They began the search for a female singer to break 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. Alizée's biggest hit, "Moi... Lolita" reached the top of the charts and she became the most successful French singer that year. In 2001, Le Figaro announced Farmer as top earning French entertainer of the year thanks, in part, to her writing, recording, and producing credits of Alizée's music, which earned 10.4 million euros.[14][15]

Alizée's image was crafted by Farmer and Boutonnat; she was allowed a few interviews of no more than 20 minutes and a limited number of promotional appearances. In 2005, after two successful albums and a concert tour, Alizée amicably parted ways with the duo to meet different songwriters and producers.

Les mots (2001-2003)
At the end of 2001, and seventeen years into her career, Universal issued Farmer's first greatest hits collection: Les Mots whose title track and lead single, a duet with Seal, became an enormous hit. The music video of the song was the first one directed by Laurent Boutonnat since "Beyond My Control", and borrowed many influences from art. Les Mots was the Nº1 selling album of 2001 and 2002, and remains the best selling greatest hits album in France with more than 1.5 million sold. The album also featured the new tracks and singles, including the Top 5 hit "C'est une belle journée".