Farmer 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, 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", "California", "C'est une belle journée", "Rêver" and "Les Mots".
[edit] Debut
Boutonnat and a young songwriter named Jérôme Dahan wrote Farmer's first hit, "Maman a tort" (one of the few not to be written by Farmer herself), which was released to much success 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, an image cultivated in her early days, especially on her début album, Cendres de Lune, which was released in April 1986.
"Libertine", the album's lead single, was released in March 86 and set the tone for Farmer's musical style. The sensual, romantic lyrics were inspired by 19th century literature and set to melodies written by Boutonnat, who directed all of Farmer’s videos up until 1992, giving them a cinematic style that was unusual for the time. 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 work on her sophomore album, entitled Ainsi soit je... (a play on the French expression Ainsi soit-il, meaning "So Be It"). 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 big-seller hits "Sans contrefaçon" (#2) and "Pourvu qu'elles soient douces", which became her first #1 single in her native country. Ainsi soit je... is the 46th best-selling album of all time in France.
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 a concert tour in 1989. After singing at a small venue in St Etienne as a test, the singer came to Paris to perform at the Palais des Sports for a whole week in May. Seeing this trial run as a positive experience, the singer agreed to 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. The costumes were designed by the French designer Thierry Mugler.
Farmer refuses interviews.
[edit] L'Autre... and "Désenchantée"
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 April 8, 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 changed 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 #12 and hit #1 two weeks later. 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. Désenchantée spent 9 weeks atop the SNEP chart as well as 6 weeks at the top of the Belgian chart. The song also made top ten in Canada and top 20 in Austria and the Netherlands. It is considered by many to be Farmer's signature-song.[3]
After the success of "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[4], three more very successful singles followed: "Regrets", a gold-selling #3 duet performed with Jean-Louis Murat, "Je t'aime mélancolie" (#3) and "Beyond My Control" (#8).
Prior to the release of the album's third single, on november 14, 1991[5] 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 fanmail, which she did not respond to). The man 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.
The success of the singles helped its parent album sell close to 2 million copies in France alone, having been certified Diamond in 1992 [6]. 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.
[edit] Dance Remixes & Giorgino
Following the massive amount of media attention concerning the release of the album L'Autre and its four singles, Farmer, a naturally shy person, decided to retreat and live out of the spotlight for some time. In late 1992 she released the compilation album Dance Remixes which was a 2-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 Euros.
Both single and album were top 10 hits in France, although, coming on the heels of the biggest success in her career, fell a little short of expectations. "Que mon cœur lâche" hit #9 and sold about 120,000 units, while the album sold about 200,000 copies. The single was also recorded in an English version, which was released under the name "My Soul Is Slashed", released as a single to no avail in Germany and in the U.S. This version is only available on the European version of Dance Remixes and in a longbox version of the best of compilation Les Mots[7]. It was the third time one of Mylène's songs had been translated into the English language, following Bad Girl (Libertine) and "My Mum Is Wrong" ("Maman a Tort").
"Que mon cœur lâche" would be the last single released by Farmer before the 3-year break (then the longest the singer had taken) which would result in the album Anamorphosée, released in 1995. In the meantime the singer would try her hand at movies, starring in the ill-fated Giorgino (1994), directed by her longtime collaborator Laurent Boutonnat. The film, shot in English, was a flop. Budgeted at 80 million Francs, it was seen by only 60.000 people and recovered only 1% of its budget[8]. One of the main reasons for the film's flop was its 3-hour-plus length. According to Farmer herself, the cold reception to Giorgino was particularly hard on Boutonnat, who was directing his first feature film[9], something he would not again do for 13 years until the release of Jacquou le Croquant in 2007.
[edit] Anamorphosis
During her time in California, Farmer began writing her fourth studio album, Anamorphosée, which showed 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. Anamorphosée debuted at #2 in the album charts 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.
[edit] Mylenium
Farmer returned in the 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.
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 1999, Farmer 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.
[edit] Alizée 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 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.
[edit] Les mots
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 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 included the new tracks and singles, "C'est une belle journée" and "Pardonne-moi"
[edit] Avant que l'ombre...
In December 2004, Farmer held a conference announcing her new album, Avant que l'ombre..., and single "Fuck Them All", as well as a special 13-night concert engagement at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy in January 2006. This era featured no further promotion, and marked a new level of reclusivity for the star, who stated only "what I have to say is in my music"; still, the record sold nearly a million copies. She returned to the stage in January 2006 for 13 dates in Paris-Bercy, beginning on the 13th and concluding 29 January. In explaining, the decision to perform only at Bercy, Farmer stated she could not tour due to the complex sets for the performances. A live album and concert DVD, Avant que l'ombre... à Bercy were released in December 2006. Within 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.
[edit] Point de Suture
In March 2008, Universal France confirmed Farmer would release her seventh studio album near the end of 2008, and embark on her fifth concert tour the following year, including two shows at the Stade de France. The record's lead single, "Dégénération", debuted at radio 19 June, with the cinematic video following 13 July. The song became Farmer's 5th #1 single. The album, released in stores on 25 August, and available for download as early as 20 August, followed suit debuting at #1 with over 100,000 copies sold in its first week. The electronic-driven Point de Suture continues in the vein of Farmer's previous work, featuring balades and upbeat, synth-driven pop songs including "C'est dans l'air" and "Sextonik" (a kinky ode to sex toys). The album sports more of Farmer's signature sophisticated lyrics, channeling Baudelaire on "Paradise Inanime", and referencing mortality and loss on the title track and "Si j'avais au moins". The album's second single, "Appelle mon numéro", was released 3 November, also hitting #1. Farmer's next single "Si j'avais au moins..." released on 13 February 2009, went straight to #1! "C'est dans l'air",the fourth single of the album,also went to #1,making it a clean sweep of #1's for all the singles plus the album, a first in her career. Farmer now has a record eight #1's in France, more than any other artist in French music history. Farmer's tour began 2 May, 2009, in Nice. This album won the French Album of the year awards at the NRJ Music Awards 2009.
[edit] Lisa
In the midst of her latest comeback, Farmer announced a new protégé in the vein of Alizée: Lisa, Farmer's niece. Her lead single, "Drole de creepie", was released in September, produced and written by Laurent Boutonnat and Farmer. The song accompanied the hit children's series, Growing Up Creepie, and the video depicts Lisa dressed as Creepie Creecher. Unlike Farmer & Boutonnat's previous side-projects, Lisa is marketed primarily to children. It is presently unknown if the collaboration will yield a full album.
[edit] Filmography Giorgino (1994 by Laurent Boutonnat) (portrayed Catherine) Arthur et les Minimoys (Arthur and the invisibles) (2006 by Luc Besson) (French voice of Princess Selenia)
[edit] Discography Main article: Mylène Farmer discography
[edit] Bibliography By Mylène Farmer Lisa-Loup et le Conteur (2003) - Mylène Farmer - Anne Carrière Ed. - ISBN 2843372216 - A tale written and illustrated by Mylène Farmer Avant que l'ombre à Bercy - Paris 2006 (2006) - Mylène Farmer - Anne Carrière Ed. - ISBN 2843374332 About Mylène Farmer Mylène Farmer (1989) - Patrick Milo - Albin Michel Ed. Mylène Farmer, Ainsi soit-elle (1990) - Philippe Seguy - Taillandier Ed. L'album photo Mylène Farmer (1991) - Geda Ed. Mystérieuse Sylphide (2000) - David Marguet - Idoles de la Pop Ed. Picture Book Mylène Farmer (2001) - Collectif - Omega Ed. Mylène Farmer de A à Z (2002) - Florence Rajon - MusicBook Ed. La part d'ombre (2003) - Caroline Bee, Antoine Bioy & Benjamin Thiry - Archipel Ed. Au Cœur du Mythe (2003) - Jean-Claude Perrier - Bartillat Ed. L'Ange Rouge (2003) - Béatrice Nouveau - Michel Lafon Ed. Le Mystère Mylène Farmer (2003) - Mathias Goudeau - Prélude & Fugue Ed. L'ange blessé (2004) - Caroline Bee - Librio Musique Ed. Mylène Farmer, de chair et de sang (2004) - Annie et Bernard Reval - France Empire Ed. Mylène Farmer (2004) - Bernard Violet - Fayard Ed. Mylène Farmer (2005) - Fabien Lecœuvre - VadeRetro Ed. Mylène Farmer & Vous : Le Référentiel (2005) - Maxime Lemen - Ter Prod Ed. Les Années Sygma (2005) - Sylvain Sennefelder & Maxime Lemen - Tear Prod Ed. Le Dictionnaire des Chansons de Mylène Farmer (2006) - Benoît Cachin - Tournon Ed. Fou de Mylène Farmer, deux années à l'attendre (2006) - Christophe-Ange Papini - K&B Ed. Belle de Scène (2006) - Julien Wagner - K&B Ed. Dans la peau de Mylène Farmer (2006) - Line Grégory - Michel Lafon Ed. Mylène Farmer Influences (2006) - Benoît Cachin - Tournon Ed. Mylène Farmer Phénoménale (2006) - Erwan Chuberre - City Ed. Mylène Farmer, le culte (2007) - Sophie Khairallah - Why Not Ed.[10] Le Référentiel Mylène Farmer 2008 (2007) - Renan Cornetto - K&B Ed. L'Intégrale Mylène Farmer (2007) - Erwan Chuberre - City Ed. Mylène Farmer, la collection - L'ultime référentiel (2007) - Why Not Ed.[11] Sainte Mylène, Priez pour Moi ! (2007) - Erwan Chuberre - City Ed. Mais où est encore passée Mylène Farmer ? (2008) - Bioy/Beuh/Tudor - K&B Ed. Amylène analgésique (2008) - Arno Mothra - Komakino Ed. Mylène Farmer : la libertine (2008) - Thierry Wolf - La Lagune Ed. Mylène (2008) - Hugues Royer - Flammarion Ed. Mylène Farmer : des mots sur nos désirs (2009) - Erwan Chuberre - City Ed.
[edit]
Companies owned by Farmer
List of companies[12] owned by Mylène Farmer born GautierName Immatriculation Legal status Activity Headquarters Capital Trivia
Requiem Publishing October 26, 1989 SARL Sound recording and music publishing 15 Rue de Douai, Paris 200,000 € Co-directed by Laurent Boutonnat
Stuffed Monkey December 13, 1993 SARL Sound recording and music publishing 4 Rue de la Paix, Paris 100,000 € Staffings : 5 (Mylène Gautier, Paul Van Parys...)
Innamoramento December 12, 1997 SARL Institutional and advertising films production 4 Rue de la Paix, Paris 45,000 €
Dichotomie November 29, 2000 SARL Soung recording and music publishing 4 Rue de la Paix, Paris 8,000 €
Isiaka February 27, 2002 SARL Soung recording and music publishing 15 Rue de Douai, Paris 8,000 € Co-directed by Laurent Boutonnat
SCI ML February 19, 2003 Civil society Rental of lands and other properties 15 Rue de Douai, Paris 225,000 € Co-directed by Laurent Boutonnat
[edit] Unofficial fanclub
The Mylène Farmer-International Fan Club (MFIFC) existed from 1995 to 2001. At its peak, it had over ten thousand subscribers in 37 countries.[13] 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.
[edit] External links Mylène Farmer at the Internet Movie Database Listen to Mylène Farmer's discography Mylene Farmer on Europopmusic.eu (English) Mylene Farmer's photos, videos, songs (English) Mylene Farmer's Concerts, Tourdates, Bio, Songs, Videos, Lyrics, Awards, Filmograpy, Videography and Discography (English) Mylene Farmer's French website and Forum (English/French)
[edit] References ^ The American society of composers, authors and publishers [1] (accessed 26 April 2009) ^ Dossier de presse Universal ^ http://mylene.net/mylene/d_lautre.php ^ Instant-Mag, No. 20, 2005, p. 9 ^ http://mylene.net/mylene/d_lautre.php ^ SNEP ^ http://www.sans-logique.com/mylene-farmer/discographie/singles/single.php?single=my-soul-is-slashed ^ http://www.sans-logique.com/mylene-farmer/giorgino/ ^ http://mylene.net/mylene/filmographie2.php ^ Editionswhynot.com ^ Editionswhynot.com ^ List of companies owned by Mylène Farmer societe.com (Retrieved March 27, 2009) ^ "Enterrement de première classe pour le Mylène Farmer International Fan-Club" (HTML). Actustar.com. Retrieved on 2001-06-01.
