Mika (singer)

Mika
Mika at the London Roundhouse on 3 July 2022
Born
Michael Holbrook Penniman Jr.

(1983-08-18) 18 August 1983 (age 40)
Beirut, Lebanon
Other namesMica
Mika Penniman
Citizenship
  • United Kingdom
  • United States
  • Lebanon
Occupations
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • producer
  • actor
Musical career
Genres
Instrument(s)
  • Vocals
  • keyboards
Years active2006–present
Labels
Websiteyomika.com

Michael Holbrook Penniman Jr.[6][7] (born 18 August 1983), known professionally as Mika (/ˈmkə/ MEE-kə, stylised in all caps), is a singer-songwriter born in Beirut, Lebanon, and raised in Paris and London.

After recording his first extended play, Dodgy Holiday, Mika was predicted to be the number-one breakthrough act of 2007 in an annual BBC poll of music critics, Sound of 2007.[8] Mika released his first full-length studio album, Life in Cartoon Motion, on Island Records in 2007, which has sold more than 8.3 million copies worldwide and helped Mika win a Brit Award—Best British Breakthrough act—and receive a Grammy Award nomination.[9] He topped the UK Singles Chart in January 2007 with "Grace Kelly" and has since gone on to record four more platinum-selling studio albums (most recently My Name Is Michael Holbrook released in October 2019), as well as serve as judge/mentor on both the French version of The Voice and the Italian version of X Factor.

Mika also starred for two seasons in his own television variety show in Italy, Stasera Casa Mika, which won the 2017 Rose d'Or Award for Entertainment,[10] and has hosted his own BBC Radio 2 show The Art of Song. In 2022, he co-hosted the Eurovision Song Contest alongside Italian singer Laura Pausini and Italian television presenter Alessandro Cattelan.[11]

In addition to his musical career, Mika has also worked as a visual artist and designer on various projects, among them sunglasses for the Italian eyewear company Lozza,[12] a clothing line for Belgian retailer JBC,[13] pens for the 100th anniversary of Pilot,[14] and (along with his sister Yasmine) three watches for Swiss company Swatch.[15]

  1. ^ Heather Phares. "Mika | Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 18 July 2015.
  2. ^ "Mika Returns: How the Glam-Pop Star Rejected Industry Standards to Make His Boldest Record Yet". Billboard. 27 September 2019.
  3. ^ "Single Review: Mika – 'Talk About You' – Renowned For Sound".
  4. ^ "Artists". Universal Music. Archived from the original on 29 May 2015. Retrieved 27 June 2013.
  5. ^ "Global Pop Phenomenon, MIKA, Releases Sophomore Album, We Are Golden, September 22" (Press release). Business Wire. 14 July 2009. Retrieved 27 June 2013.
  6. ^ Pareles, Jon (31 March 2007). "A rising British pop star revives a Mercurial style". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 June 2007.
  7. ^ Cotton, Fearne; Adam Luck (28 September 2009). "Mika at Live Lounge". BBC Radio 1. Retrieved 29 September 2009.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference BBC 6231243 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ "Brit Awards 2008: The winners". BBC. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
  10. ^ "How Mika sold 10m albums... then reinvented himself as an award-winning TV star". Music Business Worldwide. 27 October 2017. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
  11. ^ Moore, Sam (3 February 2022). "Mika set to co-host Eurovision 2022". NME. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
  12. ^ "Otticanet Magazine - Lozza sunglasses: when the past comes back in fashion". Otticanet.com (in German). Retrieved 11 October 2022.
  13. ^ "Mika presents 'Grace Kelly' collection". vrtnws.be. 7 May 2013. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
  14. ^ "Pilot Pen celebrates 100 years with popstar Mika - Channel Info". Channelinfo.net. Archived from the original on 2 June 2023. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
  15. ^ "MUMU-CUCURRUCUCU - SUOZ210 - Swatch® United States". Swatch.com. Retrieved 11 October 2022.

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