Michael Holbrook Penniman Jr. (born 18 August 1983), known professionally as Mika ( , stylised in all caps), is a singer-songwriter born in

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

, 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 The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

poll of music critics, Sound of 2007. Mika released his first full-length studio album, ''

Life in Cartoon Motion ''Life in Cartoon Motion'' is the debut album released by British singer-songwriter Mika. The album was produced by Greg Wells, mixed by Wells, with co-production on two songs by Jodi Marr and John Merchant. The album was released via Casabl ...

'', on

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in Jamaica by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in 1959, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, another ...

in 2007. It sold more than 8.3 million copies worldwide and helped Mika win a Brit Award—Best British Breakthrough act—and receive a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

nomination. He topped the UK Singles Chart in January 2007 with "

Grace Kelly Grace Patricia Kelly (November 12, 1929 – September 14, 1982), also known as Grace of Monaco, was an American actress and Princess of Monaco as the wife of Prince Rainier III from their marriage on April 18, 1956, until her death in 1982. ...

" and has since gone on to record four more platinum-selling studio albums (most recently ''

My Name Is Michael Holbrook ''My Name Is Michael Holbrook'' is the fifth studio album by British singer-songwriter Mika (singer), Mika. It was released on 4 October 2019 through Republic Records. The album was promoted in North America with the Tiny Love Tiny Tour at small v ...

'' released in October 2019), as well as serve as judge/mentor on both

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

and

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

versions of ''The Voice'', and the Italian version of ''X Factor''. Mika also starred for two seasons in his own television variety show in Italy, ', which won the 2017 Rose d'Or Award for Entertainment, and has hosted his own

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the List of most-listened-to radio programs, most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 14 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the sta ...

show, ''The Art of Song''. In 2022, he co-hosted the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

alongside Italian singer

Laura Pausini Laura Pausini (; born 16 May 1974) is an Italian Pop music, pop singer. She rose to fame in 1993, winning the newcomer artists' section of the Sanremo Music Festival 1993, 43rd Sanremo Music Festival with the song "La solitudine", which becam ...

and Italian television presenter

Alessandro Cattelan Alessandro Cattelan (born 11 May 1980) is an Italian television and radio presenter best known for presenting the Italian edition of ''Total Request Live'', broadcast by MTV Italia, and '' Le Iene'', broadcast by Mediaset's Italia 1. Cattelan al ...

. In addition to his musical career, Mika has worked as a visual artist and designer on various projects, among them sunglasses for the Italian eyewear company Lozza, a clothing line for Belgian retailer JBC, pens for the 100th anniversary of

Pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

, and (along with his sister Yasmine) three watches for Swiss company

Swatch Swatch is a Swiss watch company founded in 1983 by Ernst Thomke, Elmar Mock, and Jacques Müller. It is a subsidiary of The Swatch Group. The Swatch product line was developed as a response to the "quartz crisis" of the 1970s and 1980s, in whic ...

Life and career

1983–2006: Childhood and early career

On 18 August 1983, Mika was born in

, the third of five children—he has two older sisters, Yasmine and Paloma, a younger sister Zuleika, and a younger brother, Fortuné. His parents are an American-born Lebanese-Syrian mother (Mary Joan "Joannie", , daughter of John Mouakad and Odette Farah) and an American father (Michael Holbrook Penniman, son of William Frederick Penniman III and Dorothy Dyar). Mika's father was a banker born in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

. His paternal grandfather William Frederick Penniman III was a diplomat. Mika's maternal grandfather John Mouakad was Syrian (from

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

). When Mika was a year old, his family was forced to leave war-torn

and moved to Paris, France. The family lived for a time in Paris. "I was brought up as a Parisian boy, you know," Mika said in an interview. "With the pencil-striped trousers and the hat that I had to wear to school. It was very traditional..." The first piano piece the young Mika learned to play was "

Les Champs-Élysées LES or Les may refer to: People * Les (given name) * Les (surname) * L.E.S. (producer), hip hop producer Space flight * Launch Entry Suit, worn by Space Shuttle crews * Launch escape system, for spacecraft emergencies * Lincoln Experimental S ...

", by

Joe Dassin Joseph Ira Dassin (; November 5, 1938 – August 20, 1980) was an American–French singer-songwriter. In his career spanning sixteen years (1964–1980), he enjoyed numerous successes in France and the French-speaking world, as well as singing ...

. At the age of 7, he wrote his first song, a piano instrumental called "Angry", which he describes as "awful". In 1990 Mika's father went on a business trip to Kuwait and became trapped in the U.S. embassy for about eight months when the Gulf War broke out. When the elder Penniman returned home, he was forced to take a new job, which meant a move to London. The family moved to London when Mika was 9 years old. There, he attended the

Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle The Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle, usually referred to as the Lycée or the French Lycée, is a French co-educational primary and secondary independent day school, situated in South Kensington in the Royal Borough of Kensington and ...

, where he experienced severe

bullying Bullying is the use of force, coercion, Suffering, hurtful teasing, comments, or threats, in order to abuse, aggression, aggressively wikt:domination, dominate, or intimidate one or more others. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. On ...

and had problems with

dyslexia Dyslexia (), previously known as word blindness, is a learning disability that affects either reading or writing. Different people are affected to different degrees. Problems may include difficulties in spelling words, reading quickly, wri ...

. In response to these experiences Mika was

home-schooled Homeschooling or home schooling (American English), also known as home education or elective home education (EHE) (British English), is the education of school-aged children at home or a variety of places other than a school. Usually conducted ...

by his mother and trained in music by Alla Ardakov (Ablaberdyeva), a Russian opera professional. He also studied with the Royal Opera in London and made his stage debut as a chorus member in Strauss's ''Die Frau Ohne Schatten'' at the

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is a theatre in Covent Garden, central London. The building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. The ROH is the main home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orch ...

in London's Covent Garden. He continued as a

boy soprano A boy soprano (British and especially North American English) or boy treble (only British English) is a young male singer with a voice in the soprano range, a range that is often still called the treble voice range (in North America too) no m ...

with the Royal Opera and, at 15, he showcased his vocal range in a 1998 production of ''The Pilgrim's Progress'' by

Vaughan Williams Ralph Vaughan Williams ( ; 12 October 1872– 26 August 1958) was an English composer. His works include operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies, written over ...

. Although still young, Mika also worked singing jingles for a variety of companies, most notably Orbit chewing gum and

British Airways British Airways plc (BA) is the flag carrier of the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in London, England, near its main Airline hub, hub at Heathrow Airport. The airline is the second largest UK-based carrier, based on fleet size and pass ...

. Once he returned to school, Mika attended St Philip's School in

Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...

, where he was the head of the Schola Cantorum (the St Philip's Choir). Later he attended

Westminster School Westminster School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Westminster, London, England, in the precincts of Westminster Abbey. It descends from a charity school founded by Westminster Benedictines before the Norman Conquest, as do ...

in London, where he took the lead role in a number of school productions. After a very brief stint (one day) at the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

, Mika then managed to gain entrance to the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music (RCM) is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including pe ...

. Mika left the Royal College of Music to record his first album at

Casablanca Records Casablanca Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Republic Records. Under its founder Neil Bogart, Casablanca was most successful during the disco era of the mid to late 1970s. The label focuses ...

. His first single was a limited 7"/download release called "

Relax, Take It Easy "Relax, Take It Easy" is the debut single by British singer-songwriter Mika, from his debut album '' Life in Cartoon Motion''. In the UK, it failed to chart upon its original release in October 2006, but after " Grace Kelly" topped the charts ...

" (2006). It was playlisted by UK's

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

and was made Record of the Week by DJ

Scott Mills Scott Robert Mills (born 28 March 1973) is an English radio DJ, television presenter and occasional actor. He is best known for presenting the '' Scott Mills'' show on BBC Radio 1 from 2004 to 2022 and since then, on BBC Radio 2, where he has be ...

. His '' 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 song titled 'Overrated', which was recorded in 2004, was "unofficially" released online. His debut radio appearance was on

Dermot O'Leary Seán Dermot O'Leary (born 24 May 1973) is a British-Irish broadcaster. He presented the television talent show ''The X Factor'' on ITV from 2007 until its final series in 2018, with the exception of 2015. Since 2021, O'Leary has presented ITV' ...

's BBC Radio 2 show in September 2006.

2007–2008: ''Life in Cartoon Motion''

In 2007, things took off for Mika. His single "

" was released by

Universal Music Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum ...

for digital download on 8 January 2007. On 19 January 2007, he appeared on '' Later... with Jools Holland'', and on ''

The Friday Night Project ''The Sunday Night Project'' is a British comedy-variety show by Princess Productions that first aired on Channel 4 in February 2005 under the title ''The Friday Night Project''. Originally broadcast on Friday nights, the show moved to Sunday n ...

''. That same month, Mika was voted the top of the

BBC News website BBC News Online is the website of BBC News, the division of the BBC responsible for newsgathering and production. It is one of the most popular news websites, with 1.2 billion website visits in April 2021, as well as being used by 60% of the U ...

's Sound of 2007 poll. "Grace Kelly" reached number one on the UK Singles Chart on 21 January 2007, and stayed at number one for five weeks. The single featured on his debut album, ''

'', which was released on 5 February 2007. The album went straight to number one in the UK and 11 other countries, and brought comparisons with artists such as

Freddie Mercury Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara; 5 September 1946 – 24 November 1991) was a British singer and songwriter who achieved global fame as the lead vocalist and pianist of the rock band Queen (band), Queen. Regarded as one of the gre ...

Scissor Sisters Scissor Sisters are an American pop rock band formed in 2000. The band's current line-up consists of Jake Shears (vocals), Babydaddy (various instruments), Del Marquis (guitar, bass) and Randy Real (drums). Former members include vocalist A ...

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

Robbie Williams Robert Peter Williams (born 13 February 1974) is an English singer and songwriter. He found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995, launching a solo career in 1996. His debut studio album, ''Life thru a Lens'', was re ...

and

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

. The song "

", in fact, references Mercury in the lyrics: "I try to be like Grace Kelly/But all her looks were too sad/So I tried a little Freddie/I've gone identity mad." The album went on to sell more than 8.3 million copies worldwide and rack up 2.8 billion streams. ''

'' has a coming of age theme and deals with Mika's 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) "Big Girl (You Are Beautiful)" is the fourth single from the debut album ''Life in Cartoon Motion'' of singer Mika. It reached number 9 in the UK charts after it was released on 23 July 2007. It was inspired by, and written for, the Butterfly ...

"'' 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. In another example of dealing with more difficult subject matter, in the song ''"Billy Brown"'', Mika writes about a man who is married to a woman and has an affair with another man. Mika at V Festival 2007

Mika toured the United States in June 2007, with support from

Sara Bareilles Sara Beth Bareilles ( ; born December 7, 1979) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actress. She has sold over three million albums and over 15 million singles in the United States. Bareilles has earned various accolades, including ...

and

Natalia Lesz Natalia Lesz (born 27 July 1981 in Warsaw, Poland) is a Polish actress, a pop singer and songwriter. Background Lesz is a graduate of the renowned acting department at the Tisch School of the Arts, New York University (NYU). While in New York Ci ...

. He also made several significant U.S. television appearances to support his new album. He was the musical act for ''

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show is the fourth and sixth installment of ''The Tonight Show''. Hosted by Jay Leno, it aired from May 25, 1992, to May 29, 2009, replacing ''The Ton ...

'' on 26 March 2007 and 14 February 2008 and for ''

Jimmy Kimmel Live! ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'', sometimes shortened to ''JKL'', is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, and broadcast on ABC. The nightly hour-long show tapes and is based out of the Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywo ...

'' on 27 March 2007. He also performed live on ''

So You Think You Can Dance ''So You Think You Can Dance'' is a franchise of reality television shows in which contestants compete in dance. The first series of the franchise, created by '' Idols'' producers Simon Fuller and Nigel Lythgoe, premiered in July 2005 and has ...

'' on 26 July 2007. 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 in Glasgow, Scotland, with support from

Palladium Palladium is a chemical element; it has symbol Pd and atomic number 46. It is a rare and lustrous silvery-white metal discovered in 1802 by the English chemist William Hyde Wollaston. He named it after the asteroid Pallas (formally 2 Pallas), ...

. The North American leg of his tour began in January 2008 with support from

The Midway State The Midway State is a Canadian alternative rock band from Collingwood and Wasaga Beach, Ontario, signed to Remedy Records for North America and to Universal Publishing for the world outside. They debuted with ''Holes'' in 2008, followed by ''Par ...

and Creature and continued through February with a stop in Los Angeles for the

50th Annual Grammy Awards The 50th Annual Grammy Awards took place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, on February 10, 2008. It honored musical achievement of 2007 in which albums were released between October 1, 2006, through September 30, 2007. The primary ceremonie ...

, where he was nominated for "Best Dance Recording" for his song "Love Today". On 20 February 2008, Mika opened the

2008 Brit Awards Brit Awards 2008 was the 28th edition of the Brit Awards, an annual music awards ceremony in the United Kingdom. It was organised by the British Phonographic Industry and took place on 20 February 2008 at the Earls Court Exhibition Centre, Ear ...

with a live performance of " Love Today", "

", and a duet, "

Standing in the Way of Control ''Standing in the Way of Control'' is the third studio album by American indie rock band Gossip, which was released on January 24, 2006. The album was produced by Guy Picciotto and Ryan Hadlock It reached number 1 on the UK indie chart and also ...

", with

Beth Ditto Mary Beth Patterson (born February 19, 1981), known by her stage name Beth Ditto, is an American singer and songwriter most notable for her work with the indie rock band Gossip. Her voice has been compared to Etta James, Janis Joplin and Tina ...

Gossip Gossip is idle talk or rumor, especially about the personal or private affairs of others; the act is also known as dishing or tattling. Etymology The word is from Old English ''godsibb'', from ''god (word), god'' and ''sibb'', the term for the ...

. He was awarded the BRIT Award for Best British Breakthrough Artist later that night.

2009–2010: ''The Boy Who Knew Too Much''

Prior to the release of his second studio album, Mika released a limited-edition

extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

titled '' Songs for Sorrow'' on 8 June 2009. The EP includes 4 tracks and a 68-page book featuring lyrics and exclusive illustrated interpretations of each song by some of Mika's favourite artists and designers, among them

Jim Woodring James William Woodring (born October 11, 1952) is an American cartoonist, fine artist, writer and toy designer. He is best known for the dream-based comics he published in his magazine '' Jim'', and as the creator of the anthropomorphic cartoo ...

Sophie Blackall Sophie Jocasta Blackall is an Australian artist, author, and illustrator of children's books based in Brooklyn, New York. She is a two time Caldecott Medalist. Early life and education Blackall was born in Melbourne, Australia in 1970. In ...

Alber Elbaz Alber Elbaz (; 12 June 1961 – 24 April 2021) was an Israeli fashion designer. He was the creative director of Lanvin in Paris from 2001 until 2015, after having done stints at a number of other fashion houses, including Geoffrey Beene, Guy La ...

, and his own sister, DaWack. The song ''"

Blue Eyes Eye color is a polygenic phenotypic trait determined by two factors: the pigmentation of the eye's iris and the frequency-dependence of the scattering of light by the turbid medium in the stroma of the iris. In humans, the pigmentation o ...

"'' was used to promote the EP, and was A-listed on the

playlist. Mika's second studio album '' The Boy Who Knew Too Much'' was released on 21 September 2009. Mika recorded the majority of the album in Los Angeles with producer and musician

Greg Wells William Gregory Wells (born 1968) is a Canadian record producer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and mix engineer. He has worked with Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Quincy Jones, J*Davey, Burt Bacharach, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Missy Elliott, ...

, who also produced his debut album ''Life in Cartoon Motion''. The album has been described as Mika dealing with his adolescent teenage years and "in a sense is kind of part two" of his first album. The album was originally titled ''We Are Golden'' after the first single from the album, "

We Are Golden "We Are Golden" is the first single from English singer Mika's second studio album, '' The Boy Who Knew Too Much''. The song was produced and mixed by Greg Wells and features the gospel choir of Andraé Crouch. Release The single made its rad ...

". On 20 July 2009 in an on-air interview with DJ

Jo Whiley Johanne Whiley-Morton (born 4 July 1965), better known professionally as Jo Whiley, is an English radio DJ and television presenter. She was the host of the long-running '' Jo Whiley Show'' on BBC Radio 1 and has since been presenting her weekd ...

, Mika revealed he was considering renaming the album, because he wanted "something a little more ridiculous". On 6 August 2009 it was confirmed that the album's title would change to ''The Boy Who Knew Too Much''. The first single from the album, "We Are Golden", made its radio debut in the United Kingdom on 20 July 2009, on

and was released for download on 6 September 2009, with the physical release following on 7 September 2009. The single debuted at number 4 on the UK Singles Chart on 13 September 2009. Mika's promotional tour of the single included live performances at the iTunes Festival 2009 at

The Roundhouse The Roundhouse is a performing arts and concert venue at the Grade II* listed former railway engine shed in Chalk Farm, London, England. The building was erected in 1846–1847 by the London & North Western Railway as a roundhouse, a circ ...

in Camden, London and on ''

Friday Night with Jonathan Ross ''Friday Night with Jonathan Ross'' is a British chat show presented by Jonathan Ross and broadcast on BBC One between 2001 and 2010. The programme featured Ross' take on current topics of conversation, guest interviews (usually three per show ...

'' in September 2009. It was reported that Mika spent £25,000 on drinks after inviting fans to join him at his local pub via Twitter on 7 September 2009 to celebrate the release of his single. " Blame It on the Girls" was released as the second single in the United States and Japan. This was alongside "

Rain Rain is a form of precipitation where water drop (liquid), droplets that have condensation, condensed from Water vapor#In Earth's atmosphere, atmospheric water vapor fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is res ...

" being the second single in the United Kingdom, which was released on 23 November. "Blame It on the Girls" was released as a single in the United Kingdom on 15 February 2010. His American promotional tour consisted of live performances on ''

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'', often abbreviated as ''GMA'', is an American breakfast television, morning television program that is broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends wit ...

'' in New York City on 25 September 2009 and the ''

Late Show with David Letterman ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by Letterman's production com ...

'' on 14 October 2009. In November 2009 Mika performed "Rain" and "We Are Golden" live at the

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue Performing arts center, performing arts centre in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive b ...

for the

Australian Idol ''Australian Idol'' is an Australian singing competition, which began its first season in July 2003 and ended its initial run in November 2009. As part of the ''Idol'' franchise, Australian Idol originated from the reality program '' Pop Id ...

Grand Final. He also performed on

Sunrise Sunrise (or sunup) is the moment when the upper rim of the Sun appears on the horizon in the morning, at the start of the Sun path. The term can also refer to the entire process of the solar disk crossing the horizon. Terminology Although the S ...

on the

Seven Network Seven Network (stylised 7Network, and commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is an Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, ...

in Australia. On 30 November 2009, Mika performed "

Let It Snow "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!", also known as simply "Let It Snow", is a song written by lyricist Sammy Cahn and composer Jule Styne in July 1945 in Hollywood, California, during a heatwave as Cahn and Styne imagined cooler conditions. ...

" in a duet with Japanese pop star

Hikaru Utada , also known mononymously as Utada, is a Japanese and American singer, songwriter, and producer. She is considered to be one of the most influential and best-selling musical artists in Japan. She is best known by international audiences for w ...

. At Blackpool's Opera House in December 2009 Mika had the opportunity to perform in the

Royal Variety Performance The ''Royal Variety Performance'' is a televised variety show held annually in the United Kingdom to raise money for the Royal Variety Charity (of which King Charles III is life-patron). It is attended by senior members of the British royal ...

in front of

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

and her husband

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 19219 April 2021), was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he was the consort of the British monarch from h ...

. The Royal Variety Performance is an annual gala evening, which, ever since it was established in 1912, is traditionally attended by members of the British Royal Family. Mika sang his single, "Rain," during the evening, which included performances by Lady Gaga, Michael Bublé, Miley Cyrus, Bette Midler, and Whoopi Goldberg, and later had the chance to meet Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip. On 21 March 2010 Mika performed a song he had written, "

Gave It All Away "Gave It All Away" is a song performed by Irish boyband Boyzone, released as the lead single from their fourth studio album, ''Brother'', on 1 March 2010. It was their first single released following the death of member Stephen Gately, whose v ...

", with

Boyzone Boyzone were an Irish boy band created in 1993 by the talent manager Louis Walsh. Before even recording any material, Boyzone made an appearance on RTÉ's ''The Late Late Show (Ireland), The Late Late Show''. Its most successful line-up was co ...

ITV1 ITV1 (formerly known as ITV) is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the British media company ITV plc. It provides the ITV (TV network), Channel 3 ...

for ''Boyzone: A Tribute To

Stephen Gately Stephen Patrick David Gately (17 March 197610 October 2009) was an Irish singer who, with Ronan Keating, was co-lead singer of the pop group Boyzone. All of Boyzone's studio albums during Gately's lifetime hit number one in the United Kingdom, ...

''. In May 2010 Mika released the single "

Kick Ass (We Are Young) "Kick Ass (We Are Young)" is a song by English singer Mika and Moroccan-Swedish record producer RedOne released as a single from the soundtrack to the film '' Kick-Ass''. It was released on 2 May 2010. Background At the European premiere of '' ...

", the title track to the 2010 film ''Kick-Ass''. The song played during the film's closing credits.

2010–2014: ''The Origin of Love'', ''X Factor Italy'' and ''Songbook Vol.1''

Before the release of his third album, Mika stated in numerous interviews that it would be more simplistic and less layered than the previous one. Mika announced the title of the album, ''

The Origin of Love ''The Origin of Love'' is the third studio album released by British singer-songwriter Mika. The album was released in France on 17 September 2012, and in the United Kingdom on 8 October 2012, via Casablanca Records and Barclay Records res ...

'' in a French interview on 17 June. Mika said he would include a number of French tracks on the album, and that the musical style would include elements of

Daft Punk Daft Punk were a French electronic music duo formed in 1993 in Paris by Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo. They achieved popularity in the late 1990s as part of the French house movement, combining house music, funk, disco, tech ...

and

Fleetwood Mac Fleetwood Mac are a British-American Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1967 by the singer and guitarist Peter Green (musician), Peter Green. Green named the band by combining the surnames of the drummer, Mick Fleetwood, and the bassis ...

. He described the album as less childlike and more serious. The first single released from the album was '','' Mika's first French track. It was released online on 1 July 2011. The video for the song was released 16 August and featured the French actress

Fanny Ardant Fanny Marguerite Judith Ardant (born 22 March 1949) is a French actress and film director. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including two César Awards and a Lumière Award. Early life Ardant was born on 22 March 1949, in Saumur, ...

, along with a number of other well-known French actors and personalities. Mika collaborated with a number of artists on various tracks of this album, including

Nick Littlemore Nicholas George Littlemore (born 6 May 1978) is an Australian musician, record producer, singer, songwriter and tour manager. As a musician, he is the frontman of the electronic project Pnau, an ex-member of the art-rock band Teenager and one p ...

of Empire of the Sun, Paul Steel, frYars, ,

Priscilla Renea Priscilla Renea Hamilton (born September 14, 1988), known professionally as Muni Long (pronounced "money long”; formerly known as Priscilla Renea), is an American singer and songwriter from Gifford, Florida. Under her birth name, she signed wi ...

, Billboard,

Hillary Lindsey Hillary Lee Lindsey (born August 11, 1977) is an American singer-songwriter. She has written songs with or for a number of artists including Michelle Branch, Faith Hill, Martina McBride, Shakira, Lady A, Gary Allan, Sara Evans, Carrie Unde ...

Pharrell Williams Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (; born April 5, 1973), also known mononymously as Pharrell, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer, and fashion designer. He first became known as one half of the music production duo ...

Benny Benassi Marco "Benny" Benassi (; born 13 July 1967) is an Italian DJ and music producer. He is widely seen as a pioneer of electro house, a genre brought into the mainstream by his 2002 summer club hit " Satisfaction". He started his career as DJ alon ...

and

Klas Åhlund Klas Frans Åhlund (born 11 April 1972) is a Swedish songwriter and producer. He is also a member of the band Teddybears along with Patrik Arve and his brother Joakim Åhlund. He is the brother of musician Joakim Åhlund who is a member of the Sw ...

was again involved in the production of the album. At the time he was working on his own album, MIKA also contributed his vocals to the production of

The All-American Rejects The All-American Rejects (often abbreviated as AAR) are an American rock band formed in Stillwater, Oklahoma, in 1999.Kids in the Street''. Around this time Mika also collaborated with the singer

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...

, and the resulting song, ''

Gang Bang A gang bang is a sexual activity in which one person is the central focus of the sexual activity of several people, usually more than three, sequentially or simultaneously. The term generally refers to a woman being the focus; one man with ...

,'' can be found on her album '' MDNA.'' On 8 June 2012, the video for "Make You Happy" was released on

Vimeo Vimeo ( ) is an American Online video platform, video hosting, sharing, and services provider founded in 2004 and headquartered in New York City. Vimeo focuses on the delivery of high-definition video across a range of devices and operates on a ...

. The song served as a

buzz single A promotional recording, promo, or plug copy is an audio or video recording distributed free, usually in order to promote a recording that is or soon will be commercially available. Promos are normally sent directly to broadcasters, such as mus ...

for the album. On 14 June 2012, " Celebrate", which features

, was announced as the album's lead single. The album was released internationally on 17 September 2012 and in the UK on 8 October 2012. Included on this album was "Popular Song", which Mika co-wrote and performed on the album with songwriter

(who now goes by the professional name

Muni Long Priscilla Renea Hamilton (born September 14, 1988), known professionally as Muni Long (pronounced "money long”; formerly known as Priscilla Renea), is an American singer and songwriter from Gifford, Florida. Under her birth name, she signed wi ...

). The song, which borrowed a well-known melody from the musical "Wicked" by

Stephen Schwartz Stephen Lawrence Schwartz (born March 6, 1948) is an American musical theatre composer and lyricist. In a career spanning over five decades, Schwartz has written hit musicals such as ''Godspell'' (1971), ''Pippin (musical), Pippin'' (1972), and ...

, was later remixed and released as a duet in 2013 with

Ariana Grande Ariana Grande-Butera ( ; born June 26, 1993) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Regarded as a pop icon and an influential figure in popular music, Grande is known for her four-octave vocal range, which extends into the whistle re ...

before she reached "superstar" status. The

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

took place in London from 25 July to 12 August 2012, and before the gold medal beach volleyball game on 8 August, Mika performed "Grace Kelly" and "Celebrate" on the sand court. The same day he also did a Q&A with fans and performed a short set for Rock The Games, which live-streamed on the YouTube channel of the London 2012 games. On 23 April 2013, Mika was revealed to be the new judge on the seventh season of '' The X Factor Italy''. He was the first international mentor on the Italian edition of the show. Mika returned to the panel for the eighth and ninth series of the show before leaving to focus on other projects. Mika released a compilation album, on 18 November 2013, in Italy titled ''

Songbook Vol. 1 ''Songbook Vol. 1'' (full title ''Songbook Vol. 1 – I più grandi successi'') is the first greatest hits compilation released by British singer-songwriter Mika. The album was released on 18 November 2013 in Italy, following Mika's appointment a ...

,'' including 20 songs from his three previous albums, plus a few re-worked tracks. On 17 January 2014, Mika took part in the Italian television show on

La7 La7 is an Italian free-to-air television channel owned by Cairo Communication. Cairo Communication acquired it from Telecom Italia Media, itself owned by Telecom Italia, in 2013. La7 features a generalist programming schedule, primarily ...

, and performed a duet with the

Nobel Prize in Literature The Nobel Prize in Literature, here meaning ''for'' Literature (), is a Swedish literature prize that is awarded annually, since 1901, to an author from any country who has, in the words of the will of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, "in ...

recipient

Dario Fo Dario Luigi Angelo Fo (; 24 March 1926 – 13 October 2016) was an Italian playwright, actor, theatre director, stage designer, songwriter, political campaigner for the Italian left wing and the recipient of the 1997 Nobel Prize in Literature. ...

of the song "", written by Fo and played by

Enzo Jannacci Vincenzo "Enzo" Jannacci (; 3 June 1935 – 29 March 2013) was an Italian singer-songwriter, pianist, actor and comedian. He is regarded as one of the most important artists in the post-war Italian music scene. Jannacci is widely considered as ...

. That same evening, Mika was presented with a platinum disc for the album ''Songbook Vol. 1.'' Mika joined (the French version of the television show The Voice) as a judge/mentor in 2014. One of his contestants,

Kendji Girac Kendji "Girac" Jason Maillié (; born 3 July 1996), also known mononymously as Kendji, is a French singer. He is the winner of season 3 of the music competition '' The Voice: la plus belle voix'' as part of Team Mika. He has released six studi ...

, won the competition that year. Mika released another French single on 11 June 2014, ''

Boum Boum Boum "Boum Boum Boum" is a song by British singer Mika, written by himself alongside Doriand, while produced by Mika, Klas Ahlund and Tim Van Der Kuil. The song was released as a single on 11 June 2014 and was later included on the French as well as o ...

''. The video (which came out 7 July) was filmed entirely in Spain on the set of the famous western ''The Good, The Bad and the Ugly,'' and features Mika in a variety of guises—from cowboy to James Bond-like spy.

2015–2018: ''No Place in Heaven''

In February 2015, Mika performed a series of three concerts with the

Montreal Symphony Orchestra The Montreal Symphony Orchestra () is a Canadian symphony orchestra based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The orchestra’s home is the Montreal Symphony House at Place des Arts. History Several orchestras were precursor ensembles to the curren ...

, under the direction of conductor Simon Leclerc. The concerts featured a selection of Mika's songs scored for a full orchestra by Mika and Leclerc. The concerts met with glowing reviews, with some calling the presentations "memorable" and "a beautiful collaboration between the artist and the orchestra." Mika and Leclerc followed up the Montreal concerts with a similar performance in October 2015 at the Teatro Sociale in Como, Italy. The concert, performed in conjunction with L'Orchestra Sinfonica and Coro Affinis Consort, was televised and a DVD featuring the recording was issued under the title "Sinfonia Pop". Mika's next album was preceded by the single '' Talk About You'', which previewed on 25 March 2015, with the official video on YouTube a few days later. Mika began a tour to support the upcoming album on 3 May 2015 in Brooklyn, New York, and subsequently toured in major cities around the world. On 25 May 2015 the official video for the next single, ''Good Guys'', was released. Mika's fourth album, ''

No Place in Heaven ''No Place in Heaven'' is the fourth studio album by British singer-songwriter Mika, released on 15 June 2015 via Republic Records (Casablanca). Background and recording After his first two records were described as campy affairs, Mika's third r ...

'', was released on 15 June 2015. He described the album as "direct, low-down, open, candid, playful, yet a mature pop album which takes its inspiration from '60s pop music". On 13 November 2015 the album was re-released in the form of a double-disc deluxe edition, containing a number of bonus tracks on Disc 1 as well as a full-length orchestral bonus disc, which includes a performance by Mika with L'Orchestre Symphonique De Montreal. The following year, Mika began filming for his own television show, called , in Italy. The variety show featured a number of Italian actors, musicians and other cultural icons, as well as performers from around the world, including

Kylie Minogue Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter, and actress. Frequently referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Princess of Pop", she has achieved recognition in both the music industry and fas ...

Sting Stimulator of interferon genes (STING), also known as transmembrane protein 173 (TMEM173) and MPYS/MITA/ERIS is a regulator protein that in humans is encoded by the STING1 gene. STING plays an important role in innate immunity. STING induces typ ...

, LP and Dita Von Teese. In addition to music, the show had comedy sketches and serious looks at life around Italy. The show won the 2017 Rose d'Or as Best Entertainment Series. Starting 1 January 2016 and periodically through January 2019, Mika hosted a series of episodes (11 in total) of ''Mika: The Art Of Song'' on

. In the programs, he discussed musical influences and focused on a variety of artists, including

Joni Mitchell Roberta Joan Mitchell (née Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and painter. As one of the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitch ...

and

Carole King Carole King Klein (born Carol Joan Klein; February 9, 1942) is an American singer-songwriter and musician renowned for her extensive contributions to popular music. She wrote or co-wrote 118 songs that charted on the Billboard Hot 100, ''Billbo ...

. In early 2016, ''Hurts'', a song from the ''No Place in Heaven'' album, was remixed and released as an uptempo single. The song was included on the soundtrack of the Italian film ''Un Bacio (A Kiss)'', directed by Ivan Cotroneo. A video for the single was directed by Cotroneo as well, and featured clips from the movie and Mika alongside the film's three principal actors. The theme of the film and video was fighting against homophobia and bullying. At the time, Mika was quoted as saying, "It was extraordinary to find out how the words of my song were perfect for the film. So the collaboration with Ivan was born naturally." Mika reunited with conductor Simon Leclerc at the end of 2016 to perform two concerts at the Teatro dell'Opera di Firenze in collaboration with the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. The concerts were performed 30 and 31 December with the orchestra and choir of Maggio Musicale, under the direction of Leclerc, who had previously conducted Mika's symphonic performances in Montreal and Como. In February 2017, Mika performed a medley of his own songs at the

Sanremo Festival The Sanremo Music Festival ( ), officially the Italian Song Festival (), is the most popular Italian song contest and awards ceremony, held annually in the city of Sanremo, Liguria, organized and broadcast by (RAI). It is the longest-running ...

, as well as a tribute to the late

George Michael George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer-songwriter and record producer. Regarded as a pop culture icon, he is one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling rec ...

. Mika released a single, "It's My House", which also served as the theme song for the second series of his show Stasera Casa Mika in October 2017. The following month (November 2017), Mika featured on the album ''Dalida by Ibrahim Malouf'', a tribute album to the late Egyptian-Italian-French singer. Mika performed a cover of the Egyptian song "Salma Ya Salama", which Dalida had sung in both Arabic and French in 1977. In 2018, Mika featured on ''Adam to Eve no Ringo'', a tribute album to Japanese musician

Ringo Sheena , known by her stage name , is a Japanese singer, songwriter and musician. She is also the founder and lead vocalist of the band Tokyo Jihen. She describes herself as "". She was ranked number 36 in a list of Japan's top 100 musicians compiled ...

, covering Sheena's song "Sid to Hakuchūmu" from her debut album ''

Muzai Moratorium , also known as ''Innocence Moratorium'', is the debut studio album by Japanese singer and songwriter Ringo Sheena, released on February 24, 1999, by Toshiba EMI. The album debuted at #2 and has sold over 1,433,000 copies. The album was certified ...

'' (1999). Mika collaborated with the French singers Doriand and

Philippe Katerine Philippe Blanchard (; born 8 December 1968), known professionally as Philippe Katerine, is a French singer-songwriter, actor, artist, director and writer who began his career in 1991. Some of his popular singles include "Mon cœur balance", "Je ...

on a single called ''"Danser Entre Hommes"'' in late 2018. It was released by Doriand on 30 August 2019. All three men appear in the song's music video.

2019–2020: ''My Name Is Michael Holbrook''

In May 2019, Mika released the single "Ice Cream" and announced his fifth studio album, ''

'', for release on 4 October 2019. The album, described as "intensely personal" by a number of reviewers, also contains elements of "disco-tinged exuberance" and "joyous pop" with "anthemic choruses and vocal harmonies". Mika collaborated with singer

Jack Savoretti Giovanni Edgar Charles Galletto-Savoretti (born 10 October 1983), known professionally as Jack Savoretti, is an English-Italian acoustic singer, songwriter, and musician. He has released eight studio albums to date: ''Between the Minds'' (2007), ...

on single ''"Youth And Love''", which was released on 28 June 2019. The original version of the song appeared on Savoretti's March 2019 album ''Singing To Strangers''. The new duet was produced by

Cam Blackwood Cameron "Cam" Blackwood is a British record producer, songwriter and musician. He has previously been employed in various London recording studios including Roundhouse Studios in Farringdon, Miloco Studios, and Townhouse Studios in Chiswick ...

, with Mika's vocals recorded at his home studio in Florence. It received a worldwide exclusive play from

Zoe Ball Zoe Louise Ball (born 23 November 1970) is a British broadcaster and presenter. She was the first female host of the Radio 1 and Radio 2 breakfast shows for the BBC, and in 2024 was confirmed as the second-highest paid BBC presenter after G ...

on her

Breakfast Show, first airing on 19 June 2019 and was subsequently added to BBC Radio 2's New Music Playlist (A list). (A special edition of Savoretti's album was released on 6 December 2019 including "Youth And Love" with Mika as the 20th track.) Savoretti subsequently appeared on a track on Mika's new album, "Ready to Call This Love". Mika was a guest at singer

Andrea Bocelli Andrea Bocelli (; born 22 September 1958) is an Italian tenor. He rose to fame in 1994 after winning the newcomers' section of the 44th Sanremo Music Festival performing " Il mare calmo della sera". Since 1994, Bocelli has recorded 15 solo st ...

's charity orchestral concert at

Teatro del Silenzio The Teatro del Silenzio (English: Theater of Silence) is an open air amphitheater located in the city of Lajatico – the hometown of Andrea Bocelli – in the Tuscany region of Italy. In 2006, Bocelli convinced the municipality of Lajatico to b ...

in Lajatico, Italy on 25 July 2019, and duetted with him on the song "Ali Di Libertà". Mika also sang his own "Happy Ending" and "Tiny Love", accompanied by the orchestra, a troupe of dancers, Ida Falk-Winland, and Max Taylor, and was interviewed onstage by the host. The concert was broadcast on Italian television network RAI1 on 14 September 2019. Several singles and accompanying videos were released in the months leading up to the debut of the ''

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

: "Tiny Love", "Dear Jealousy", "Tomorrow", and "Sanremo". The album was promoted in September 2019 with the seven-date Tiny Love Tiny Tour at small venues in New York, Montreal, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Mexico City. In addition, Mika appeared on the American TV show ''

Late Night with Seth Meyers ''Late Night with Seth Meyers'' is an American late-night news and political satire variety talk show hosted by Seth Meyers on NBC. The show premiered on February 24, 2014, and is produced by Broadway Video and Universal Television. Airing w ...

'' on 11 September 2019, performing new song "Tiny Love", along with "Big Girl" from his first album. In October 2019, Mika was honored with the Music Award at the 2019 Virgin Atlantic Attitude Awards hosted in London by the UK's ''Attitude'' magazine. The award acknowledged that "after staring down

homophobia Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who identify or are perceived as being lesbian, Gay men, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred, or ant ...

at the start of his pop career, Mika is now making unapologetically queer music that also processes his past pain." In a related article in Attitude, Mika noted, "If I didn't have music, I would not have been able to understand or deal with my sexuality in the same way. It's always been at the centre of my writing." Mika launched a worldwide tour, known as the Revelation Tour, in London on 10 November 2019. The 2019 leg of the tour included dates in Spain, France, Italy, Switzerland and Belgium. It continued in 2020 with stops in Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, and Italy then went on to several dates in New Zealand and Australia. Due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Mika announced in February 2020 the cancellation of the Asian leg of the tour in Japan, China and South Korea. Subsequently, the North and South American leg of the tour were cancelled, including a performance at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. In between concert stops, Mika made several television appearances, including: a live episode of X Factor Italia (24 October 2019); the finale of France's The Voice Kids (October 2019); and the live finale of Danse Avec les Stars (23 November 2019). Mika also performed on top of the

Eiffel Tower The Eiffel Tower ( ; ) is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower from 1887 to 1889. Locally nicknamed "''La dame de fe ...

in Paris as part of its 130th anniversary celebration in October 2019. In January 2020, Mika released the album "MIKA Live at Brooklyn Steel", for digital download/streaming only. It is a recording of his 13 September 2019 concert at the venue Brooklyn Steel in New York. With touring on hold due to the pandemic, Mika returned to Italian television and ''X Factor Italia'' as a judge in the summer/fall of 2020. After the devastating explosion that hit Beirut in August 2020, Mika was moved to honor his Lebanese heritage and organized a streaming concert in aid of the citizens of that city. The resulting concert film, titled "I Love Beirut", featured a number of international performers, including

Danna Paola Danna Paola Rivera Munguía (born June 23, 1995), known mononymously as Danna and formerly as Danna Paola, is a Mexican singer and actress. She gained popularity as a child actress and singer, starring in dozens of television projects throughout ...

, Louane,

Salma Hayek Salma Valgarma Hayek Pinault ( , ; ; born September 2, 1966) is a Mexican and American actress and film producer. She began her career in Mexico with starring roles in the telenovela ''Teresa (1989 TV series), Teresa'' (1989–1991) as well a ...

and

Rufus Wainwright Rufus McGarrigle Wainwright (born July 22, 1973) is a Canadian and American singer, songwriter, and composer. He has recorded eleven studio albums and numerous tracks on compilations and film soundtracks. He has also written two classical opera ...

. It was viewed in 106 countries around the globe and raised more than €1 million. The summer of 2020 also saw Mika release a number of collaborations. In August, he released ''Le Coeur Holiday'' with the French rapper

Soprano A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...

, with whom he had worked on ''The Voice France''. The video for this song was an animated short that featured cartoon versions of the singers in a touching tale of friendship. Also in August, Mika duetted with Italian singer

Michele Bravi Michele Bravi (born 19 December 1994) is an Italian singer, songwriter, and actor. He rose to fame after winning the X Factor (Italian season 7), seventh season of the X Factor (Italian TV series), Italian ''X Factor''. His coronation song, "La v ...

on an updated version of '' Bella d'estate,'' originally recorded in 1987 by the singer

Mango A mango is an edible stone fruit produced by the tropical tree '' Mangifera indica''. It originated from the region between northwestern Myanmar, Bangladesh, and northeastern India. ''M. indica'' has been cultivated in South and Southeast As ...

. Rounding out the summer of international collaborations, on 11 September 2020, Mika appeared along with Mexican singer and actress

on her single titled ''Me, Myself''. Mika sang vocals on one more single around this time, this for the Canadian singer-songwriter Pierre Lapointe. The song, "Six Heures d'Avion Nous Séparent", appears on Lapointe's 2020 album ''Chansons Hivernales.'' Just before Christmas 2020, Mika hosted "Do Re MIKA Sol", a concert to benefit the charity Imagine for Margo, held in the pediatric department of the French ''Institut Curie''. The concert was broadcast live on Facebook. Mika performed a set of Christmas carols for patients and their families, and hospital staff, accompanied by members of the 100 Voices of Gospel. Mika closed out 2020 by performing several times at the

Palace of Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...

near Paris. In mid-December he performed an intimate live concert with the Royal Opera of Versailles with a variety of classical and other musicians. An album of the concert, ''Mika a l'Opéra Royal de Versailles'', was later released in early 2021. Mika also performed at the New Year's Eve celebration, La Grande Soirée, filmed at Versailles, which aired on France 2, where he performed an 8-minute opening medley of some of his biggest hits. He also ended the program with a medley of his songs, with an array of fireworks and pyrotechnics as backdrop to ring in the new year.

2021–2022: Other ventures during the COVID-19 pandemic

Mika at the Philharmonie de Paris October 2021

Touring and most live performances continued to be on hold in 2021 due to the

, so Mika turned to a number of other projects. In March 2021, Mika launched a project that was billed as an open-air exhibition to give colours back to Paris. Collaborating with a number of artists and his sister Yasmine, Mika created a series of posters that were displayed on the Morris columns and other advertising boards around the city. Mika quarantined in Canada for two weeks in Spring 2021 so that he could then work on the Canadian version of the talent show ''

Star Académie ''Star Académie'' is a Canadian reality television series that started in 2003, aimed primarily at the Quebec television audience, featuring an array of young women and men under the age of 30 competing for the title of the next solo singing sens ...

''. He served as artistic director for two episodes, during which he coached the young contestants and performed with them, as well. In addition to singing a number of his most popular songs, Mika joined in on covers of David Bowie's ''Heroes'' and Leonard Cohen's ''Hallelujah.'' For Pride Month in June, Mika partnered with job-search platform

Indeed Indeed, Inc. is an American worldwide employment website for job listings launched in November 2004. It is an independent subsidiary of multinational company Recruit Holdings. It is headquartered in Austin, Texas, and Stamford, Connecticut, w ...

for an initiative called "Soundtrack of Empathy". The initiative encouraged workers to share their music playlists with colleagues, in an effort to create a more empathetic workplace. Along with the "Soundtrack of Empathy", Mika performed a live-streamed benefit concert, which raised $40,000 for Lady Gaga's

Born This Way Foundation Born This Way Foundation (sometimes abbreviated as BTWF) is a non-profit organization founded in 2012 by American artist and activist Lady Gaga and her mother, Cynthia Germanotta. Named after the singer's 2011 album '' Born This Way'', and the so ...

. There was also an influencer roundtable featuring artists selected by Mika, who spoke about the shared language of music and how it naturally encourages empathy and sparks vulnerability. Mika performed at two private concerts hosted by jeweler

Chopard Le Petit-Fils de L.-U. Chopard & Cie S.A., commonly known as Chopard (), is a Swiss manufacturer and retailer of luxury watches, jewellery and accessories. Founded in 1860 by Louis-Ulysse Chopard in Sonvilier, Switzerland, Chopard has been owned ...

during the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

in July. While attending these events, he was followed by Italian filmmaker Pif, who filmed a special episode on a day in Mika's life, which was broadcast in the fall on Italian television show Il Testimone (The Witness). Mika continued his work as a judge on ''X Factor Italia'' in 2021, alongside co-judges singer

Emma Marrone Emmanuela "Emma" Marrone (; born 25 May 1984), known professionally as simply Emma, is an Italian singer-songwriter and actress. After working with several bands, she won the Italian talent show ''Amici di Maria De Filippi'' in March 2010, and ...

, Italian rapper and producer

Hell Raton Manuel Zappadu (born 14 May 1990), known as Hell Raton, is an Italian rapper d record producer. He is best known for his project Machete Empire Records and his crew Machete Crew, founded in 2010 with Salmo, Slait and En?gma (the latter having exi ...

, and Manuel Agnelli, of the Italian band Afterhours. He also rejoined The Voice in France, for a special "All-Stars" 10th anniversary edition. September 2021 marked Mika's return to larger performances, as he headlined a private event hosted by

American Express American Express Company or Amex is an American bank holding company and multinational financial services corporation that specializes in payment card industry, payment cards. It is headquartered at 200 Vesey Street, also known as American Expr ...

for its premium cardholders. The concert was held at

Salle Pleyel The Salle Pleyel (, meaning "Pleyel Hall") is a concert hall in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France, designed by the acoustician Gustave Lyon together with the architect Jacques Marcel Auburtin, who died in 1926, and the work was completed i ...

in Paris for about 2000 attendees. Reuniting once again with composer and conductor Simon Leclerc, Mika performed orchestral versions of many of his hits during two sold-out concerts in October at the

Philharmonie de Paris The Philharmonie de Paris () () is a complex of concert halls in Paris, France. The buildings also house exhibition spaces and rehearsal rooms. The main buildings are all located in the Parc de la Villette at the northeastern edge of Paris in the ...

. The concerts were performed with the National Orchestra de France and the Choeur Stella Maris on 23 and 24 October. The 23 October concert was filmed and subsequently broadcast on TV in both France and Italy. It was later also broadcast on several PBS stations in the United States. In early December 2021, Mika announced that he would be continuing his partnership with Indeed, which would sponsor a short North American tour in spring 2022. With stops in New York City (Brooklyn),

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, Montreal and

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, the "For the Rite of Spring Tour" was scheduled to span three weeks in April. Additional dates were added to the For the Rite of Spring Tour, including two dates at the

Coachella festival Coachella (officially called the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and sometimes known as Coachella Festival) is an annual music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Coachella Valley in the Colorad ...

in California. Unfortunately, Mika became ill and needed to cancel the Boston date, and reschedule the others, but eventually the tour took place. After concluding the "For the Rite of Spring Tour", Mika jetted to Turin (Torino), Italy, to serve as co-host for the

Eurovision Song Contest 2022 The Eurovision Song Contest 2022 was the 66th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Turin, Italy, following the country's victory at the with the song "" by Måneskin. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and h ...

alongside Italian singer

and TV presenter

. The show was broadcast live globally, with audience figures reaching 161 million viewers. On 13 May, Mika released the single "Yo Yo". The lyric video for the single was released at the same time. Mika performed "Yo Yo" for the first time as part of the interval act at the grand final of the Eurovision contest on 14 May 2022. The video for Yo Yo was directed by Mika and was released on 14 June. The summer following Mika's Eurovision stint was one of his busiest ever. He kicked off the season with a performance at Disneyland Paris Pride, an appearance that was postponed from two years earlier due to the pandemic. Immediately afterward, Mika flew to New York to participate in ''Take Pride Live!'', an hour-long YouTube Pride Month special sponsored by Indeed, and hosted by Terrell Grice. During the program, Mika debuted a new song, ''Who's Gonna Love Me Now?'' The ballad is featured in the directorial debut of Emmy, Tony, and Grammy Award winner Billy Porter called '' Anything's Possible''. Mika then returned to London after a more than two-year absence for a sold-out concert at the famous Roundhouse in Camden on 3 July 2022. He followed that with an array of festival shows throughout July, August, and into early September, with stops in France, Switzerland, Belgium, Spain and Sardinia. Due to insurmountable technical and logistical problems, however, a planned "Magic Piano Tour" covering 10 dates in Italy in September and October was indefinitely postponed. In between the festival shows, Mika found time to record and release a single, "Bolero", with Italian singer BabyK. The single came out 17 June, with the video featuring both singers releasing on 14 July. Mika promoted the single by performing it with BabyK at the TIM Summer Hits show in Italy. In addition, Mika retained one Italian concert date—at the famed

Arena di Verona The Verona Arena is a Roman amphitheatre located in the historic center of Verona, an iconic symbol of the Venetian city alongside the figures of Romeo and Juliet. It stands as one of the grand structures that defined Roman architecture and i ...

on 19 September. There, nearly 20,000 fans were entertained for almost two hours, with confetti, balloons, bubbles, fan actions and more in an explosive end-of-summer celebration. In October, Mika performed in Monte Carlo, at a charity event organised by the Venetian Arts Foundation to benefit the

Prince Albert II Albert II (Albert Alexandre Louis Pierre Grimaldi; born 14 March 1958) is Prince of Monaco, reigning since 2005. Born at the Prince's Palace of Monaco, Albert is the second child and only son of Prince Rainier III and Princess Grace. He attend ...

Foundation, and its coastal resilience and marine protection projects.

2023 and related projects

On 18 January 2023, Mika released a new single, "Keep It Simple", with French singer-songwriter Vianney. Later in January, he hosted "Le Gala des Pieces Jaunes", a charity show in support of Paris' Hospital Foundation, which works to better the daily lives of hospitalized children and their families. In addition to acting as presenter, Mika performed a medley of his songs, as well as "Keep It Simple" with Vianney. Also performing at the gala were South Korean girl group

Blackpink Blackpink (, stylized in all caps or as BLɅϽKPIИK) is a South Korean girl group formed by YG Entertainment. The group is composed of four members: Jisoo, Jennie (singer), Jennie, Rosé (singer), Rosé, and Lisa (rapper), Lisa. Regarded by ...

Pascal Obispo Pascal Michel Obispo (; born 8 January 1965) is a French pop and rock singer, music producer and songwriter. Early life Pascal Obispo, son of Max Obispo (a former Bordeaux Girondins football player of Basque origin) and Nicole Guérin (origin ...

Kid Cudi Scott Ramon Seguro Mescudi (born January 30, 1984), also known by his stage name Kid Cudi ( ; formerly stylized as KiD CuDi), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, and fashion designer. Born and raised in Clevelan ...

Gautier Capuçon Gautier Capuçon (born 3 September 1981) is a French cellist. He is the younger brother of violinist Renaud Capuçon. Biography Gautier Capuçon was born in Chambéry, Savoie, the youngest of three siblings. His brother is the violinist Rena ...

Khatia Buniatishvili Khatia Buniatishvili ( ka, ხატია ბუნიათიშვილი, ; born 21 June 1987) is a Georgian and French concert pianist. Early life and education Born in 1987 in Tbilisi, Georgia, Khatia Buniatishvili began studying pian ...

and Daniel Lozakovich. During the evening, appeals for donations were launched by the artists. The show was broadcast on French television on 28 January. The soundtrack for Mika's first film score, for the French-language film ''Princes of the Desert'' (Zodi et ''Tehu, Freres du desert'') directed by

Éric Barbier Éric Barbier (born 29 June 1960 in Aix-en-Provence) is a French film director and screenwriter. Filmography Actor * 1994: ''Le Péril jeune'' by Cédric Klapisch Awards and nominations References Bibliography * External links

* * ...

and starring Alexandra Lamy, Youssef Hajdi, and Nadia Benzakour, was released on 3 February 2023. (The film hit French theaters on 8 February 2023.) To create the score, Mika worked with 160 musicians from around the world, including celebrated South African artist Nomfundo Moh and classical Berber musicians from Morocco. A new UK television program called ''

The Piano ''The Piano'' is a 1993 historical romance film written and directed by New Zealand filmmaker Jane Campion. It stars Holly Hunter, Harvey Keitel, Sam Neill, and Anna Paquin (in her first major acting role). The film focuses on a mute Sc ...

'', featuring Mika as a judge, was broadcast on UK's

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

starting 15 February 2023. The series, produced by

Love Productions Love Productions Limited is a UK-based television production company. Its cooking competition series ''The Great British Bake Off'' is among the most watched shows in the UK of its era. History Richard McKerrow and Anna Beattie formed Love Prod ...

(also responsible for ''

The Great British Bake Off ''The Great British Bake Off'' (often abbreviated to ''Bake Off'' or ''GBBO'') is a British television baking competition, produced by Love Productions, in which a group of amateur bakers compete against each other in a series of rounds, atte ...

''), followed a number of musicians on a journey from playing in public train stations around the UK to the

Royal Festival Hall The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,700-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London, England. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a G ...

stage. Hosted by

Claudia Winkleman Claudia Anne Irena Winkleman (born 15 January 1972) is an English broadcaster and writer. She has been nominated three times for the British Academy Television Award for Best Entertainment Performance for co-presenting the BBC One dancing compet ...

, the show also featured Chinese concert pianist

Lang Lang Lang Lang (; born 14 June 1982) is a Chinese pianist who has performed with major orchestras around the world and appeared at many leading concert halls. Active since the 1990s, he was the first Chinese pianist to be engaged by the Berlin Phi ...

as judge alongside Mika. Mika was the featured performer at the 2023 Rose Ball (Bal de la Rose), an annual charity gala that benefits the Princess Grace Foundation. Held in Monaco on 25 March, the 67th edition of the Rose Ball had the theme of "Bollywood" and was designed by French designer

Christian Louboutin Christian Louboutin (; born 7 January 1964) is a French fashion designer. His stiletto footwear incorporates shiny, red-lacquered soles that have become his signature. Initially a freelance designer for fashion houses, he started his shoe salo ...

. Members of Monaco's royal family hosted the event, held at the Salle des Étoiles at Sporting Monte-Carlo, which was attended by celebrities and socialites from around the world. Mika's youngest sister Zuleika accompanied him to this event. Mika played two dates in Japan in May—Osaka on 23 May and Tokyo on 24 May. Continuing on from Japan, MIKA performed in South Korea for the

Seoul Jazz Festival The Seoul Jazz Festival () is an annual jazz festival which takes place in the city of Seoul, South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korea ...

on 26 May. Mika returned to the UK festival scene in 2023, and performed on 26 April at the

Cheltenham Jazz Festival Cheltenham Jazz Festival is one of the UK's leading jazz festivals, and is part of Cheltenham Festivals' annual festival season, also including the Science, Music and Literature Festivals in Cheltenham Spa. Introduction and history The Chelten ...

, the

Isle of Wight Festival The Isle of Wight Festival is a British music festival which takes place annually in Newport, Isle of Wight, Newport on the Isle of Wight, England. It was originally a Counterculture of the 1960s, counterculture event held from 1968 to 1970. Th ...

on 18 June, and on 21 June for the Bristol Sounds Music Festival. He performed at more than a dozen other European cities over the summer, as well as Casablanca (Morocco) in June, Athens (Greece) in July, and Monte Carlo (Monaco) in August. Mika ended his summer touring schedule with an appearance at Brava Madrid in Spain in September. Mika worked on two new albums throughout 2023, one completely in the French language, the other in English. A single from the French-language album, titled ''C'est la vie'', was performed for the first time at the Francofolies de Spa in Belgium, in July. The performance was filmed and subsequently used as the music video when the single was officially released on 1 September 2023. In mid-October, Mika finally announced the title of the album as ''Que ta tete fleurisse toujours'' (May Your Head Always Bloom). '' Que ta tete fleurisse toujours'' was released on 1 December 2023. No release date has been announced for the English album as yet. ''Apocalypse Calypso'', another single from the French-language album, was released on 20 October 2023. The lyric video for the song was posted a few days later and an official music video was posted on 3 November 2023. On 8 September, Mika announced a new tour to support his new album, the Apocalypse Calypso Tour, starting in March 2024. The tour visited 16 cities in France, with additional stops in Luxembourg, Geneva, Amsterdam, Brussels and Berlin. Mika then took the tour to the UK and Ireland, with stops in Brighton, Manchester, Wolverhampton, London and Dublin. Mika also worked with the Mêlée des Chœurs on an initiative that combined music and rugby. Students were selected to sing the national anthems of countries participating in the

2023 Rugby World Cup The 2023 Rugby World Cup () was the tenth men's Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national rugby union teams. It took place in France from 8 September to 28 October 2023 in nine venues across the country. The opening game ...

, which started in September, and received guidance from Mika, deemed the "godfather" of the operation. Mika performed alongside a group of children at the final of the Rugby World Cup at the

Stade de France Stade de France (, ) is the national stadium of France, located just north of Paris in the commune of Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, Saint-Denis. Its seating capacity of 80,698 makes it the List of football stadiums in France, largest stadium i ...

on 28 October. In early October, Mika announced that he would be rejoining The Voice in France for its 2024 season, season 13, as a judge alongside Vianney,

Zazie Isabelle Marie Anne de Truchis de Varennes (born 18 April 1964), better known by her stage name Zazie, is a French pop singer and songwriter. Her greatest hits include " Je suis un homme", " À ma place" and "Speed". She co-produces all her alb ...

, and BigFlo and Oli. The year closed out with Mika's appearance on a Christmas special of

, which reunited him with co-judge Lang Lang and host Claudia Winkleman, as well as a number of the performers showcased in the original series. In addition, English comedians

Tom Allen Thomas Allen may refer to: Clergy * Thomas Allen (nonconformist) (1608–1673), Anglican/nonconformist priest in England and New England *Thomas Allen (dean of Chester) (died 1732) *Thomas Allen (scholar) (1681–1755), Anglican priest in England ...

and

Jo Brand Josephine Grace Brand (born 23 July 1957) is an English actress, comedian, presenter and writer. Starting her entertainment career with a move from psychiatric nursing to the alternative comedy stand-up scene and early performances on '' Satur ...

appeared on the program, which also featured a performance by Grammy-winning singer

Gregory Porter Gregory Porter (born November 4, 1971) is an American singer, songwriter and musician. He has twice won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album: first in 2014 for '' Liquid Spirit'' and then again in 2017 for '' Take Me to the Alley''. Ear ...

2024–present: ''Que ta tête fleurisse toujours'' and ''The Voice Spain''

Mika began 2024 doing promo for the new album, with interviews at various radio shows and publications, as well as filming for two TV series: ''The Voice France'' and The Piano in the UK. The Voice France began airing on 10 February 2024. Mika also ushered in 2024 by picking up several awards: his French-language album ''

Que ta tête fleurisse toujours ''Que ta tête fleurisse toujours'' () is the sixth studio album by British singer-songwriter Mika, released on 1 December 2023 through Island Def Jam and Universal Music France Universal Music Group (UMG) owns, or has a joint share in, many ...

'' was named "French-language album of the Year" by Pure Charts Awards (voted on by the public); and the TV program The Piano was named "Best Original Programme" at the 2024 Broadcast Awards. In addition, Mika was nominated as "Breakthrough Composer of the Year" by the International Film Music Critics Association (IFMCA) for making "the difficult jump from pop music to film music with his excellent score for the action/adventure ''(Zodi and Tehu) Princes of the Desert."'' The Apocalypse Calypso Tour, in support of Mika's French album ''Que ta tête fleurisse toujours'', began in Clermont-Ferrand in France on 26 February, and continued into April. The French leg of the tour culminated on 25 March with Mika's performance at L'Accor Arena (aka Bercy). The show was filmed and subsequently broadcast on French TV. Mika spent Summer 2024 appearing at a number of festivals around Europe, with stops in France, Belgium, Spain, Germany, Greece, the UK and Italy. He dubbed the summer festival run as "Club Apocalypso Summer Nights." Mika hosted Telethon 2024 in France the weekend of 29–30 November, to raise funds for research to cure rare childhood diseases. On May 22, 2025, it was announced that Mika will debut as a coach on '' The Voice Spain'' (''La Voz'') later in the year.

Personal life

Mika's legal name is Michael Holbrook Penniman Jr., but he was given the nickname Mica by his mother. As he grew older, he changed the 'c' to a 'k'. Mika has one younger brother and one younger sister along with two older sisters. His oldest sister Yasmine, who works as an artist under the ''

nom de plume A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

'' DaWack, painted the cartoon art for his two albums ''

'' and '' The Boy Who Knew Too Much''. Mika was raised as a Melkite Catholic, and in a 2013 interview he described himself as "still a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

". He also acknowledged how the church and its ceremonies influenced his musical training and later work. In addition to English, Mika speaks French, Spanish and Italian fluently; in an interview on 28 September 2009 with ''

The Chris Moyles Show ''The Chris Moyles Show'' is the title given to two differing versions of a radio programme hosted by Chris Moyles, originally broadcast as '' Radio 1 Breakfast'' from 5 January 2004 to 14 September 2012, before transferring three years later ...

'' on

, he commented that he had taken

Mandarin Chinese Mandarin ( ; zh, s=, t=, p=Guānhuà, l=Mandarin (bureaucrat), officials' speech) is the largest branch of the Sinitic languages. Mandarin varieties are spoken by 70 percent of all Chinese speakers over a large geographical area that stretch ...

lessons for nine years but does not speak it very well; he also mentioned that his three sisters speak it fluently. He also speaks a little Arabic, in a Lebanese dialect. Mika holds dual UK and US citizenship. In August 2010, Mika acquired a golden retriever puppy, which he named Melachi (the Witch). Her nickname is Mel or Moo. Several years later, in the spring of 2015, he added a second golden retriever puppy, which he named Amira. Early in his career, many questions about Mika's sexual orientation arose, but he declined to label himself. 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 Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior toward both males and females. It may also be defined as the attraction to more than one gender, to people of both the same and different gender, or the attraction t ...

, if you need a term for me ..." In a March 2010 interview with the ''

London Evening Standard The ''London Standard'', formerly the ''Evening Standard'' (1904–2024) and originally ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), is a long-established regional newspaper published weekly and distributed free of charge in London, England. It is print ...

'', he stated: "I consider myself label-less because I could fall in love with anybody – literally – any type, any body. I'm not picky." In an August 2012 interview with the magazine ''

Instinct Instinct is the inherent inclination of a living organism towards a particular complex behaviour, containing innate (inborn) elements. The simplest example of an instinctive behaviour is a fixed action pattern (FAP), in which a very short to me ...

'', the singer

came out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBTQ people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. This is often framed and debated as a privacy issue, ...

as gay. In recent years, Mika has been more open about his family life and his personal relationship with film-maker Andreas Dermanis, with whom he has been involved for more than 15 years. In July 2015, posters advertising Mika's upcoming concert in Florence, Italy, were defaced and marked with a homophobic slur. In response to this, Mika and his team launched a campaign against homophobia and the discrimination of the LGBTQ+ community in Italy, posting on social media with the slogan and hashtag #rompiamoilsilenzio (Let's Break the Silence). Mika also wrote about the experience for Italian publications, speaking out against not only homophobia, but bullying in general. Mika practices transcendental meditation. Since 2013, he has spent a lot of time in Italy, where he has a house and a studio in

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of 3,660,834 inhabitants as of 2025. The capital city is Florence. Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its in ...

in the province of Florence. Mika also owns a home in Miami, Florida, a 1920s Spanish-style home that he has restored and in which he has built a recording studio.

Side projects and endorsements

Mika has often 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." One such song, "Ci Parliamo da Grandi", was recorded and made famous by Italian singer Eros Ramazotti. Mika served as a model for fashion designer Paul Smith's spring/summer 2007 global ad campaign. In 2012 and 2013, Mika served as the face of Lozza sunglasses in advertising campaigns. He also designed a line of sunglasses for the Italian eyewear company. Also in 2013, Mika designed a line of clothing for Belgian retailer JBC. The collection included items for men, women and children. At the time of the line's release, Mika told journalists, "For the menswear collection I took inspiration from my own wardrobe. I like easy to wear, stylish clothing that you can put on quickly in the morning and still look stylish." For the children's and women's collections, Mika took inspiration from his youth. "I grew up in a house with three sisters and was always made to tag along on all kinds of shopping trips." Mika and his sister Yasmine designed two watches for Swiss watchmaker

in 2013, in honor of the company's 30th anniversary. The watches were unveiled in November 2013 at the Venice Biennale. The regular edition "Kukulakuku" has a large watch face dominated by blue and comes in a plastic box, while the strictly limited edition "Kukulakuki" has a smaller face dominated by white and comes in a special tin and box. Mika lent his song "Live Your Life" to the advertising campaign for Spanish beer San Miguel in 2013, appearing in a commercial that doubled as the song's music video. He also appeared in print ads for the brand. Belgian telecommunications company Mobistar featured Mika in an online film in 2014, with him singing "Grace Kelly" in front of a crowd at the Antwerp train station to promote the company's "Have a Nice Day" campaign. The film was accompanied by an in-store poster campaign. Mika did a signing session at the Mobistar concept store in Liege, then performed a concert in Brussels for invitation-only/Mobistar competition winners on 18 September 2014. Mika is the narrator and voice of the main character, Mustafa, in the 84-minute French-language version of the animated film ''The Prophet (2014 film), The Prophet''. The film was produced by

and is based on a book of poetry by world-renowned Lebanese-American writer, poet and visual artist Kahlil Gibran. At the

in 2014, Mika joined Hayek, her husband and her daughter (who also voices a character in the French version), and actress Julie Gayet on the red carpet to celebrate the film's launch. The French version was released in theaters in France on 2 December 2015 and on DVD/Blu-ray in August 2016. To promote its theatrical release Hayek and Mika appeared together on the French TV shows C à Vous on 1 December 2015 and Le Grand 8 on 2 December 2015. In Trieste, Italy, on 11–12 July 2014, Mika and his sister Yasmine were two of the judges for the International Talent Support Contest (ITS). They judged 10 pieces in the Swatch-sponsored "ITS ARTWORK" category. Mika covered the song "Je Chante" by Charles Trenet for TGV's advertising campaign in 2015, and appeared in a related video/commercial. The song is on Mika's November 2015 reissue of ''No Place in Heaven'' as the 15th track on the French edition of the album. In May 2016, Mika and Yasmine unveiled another Swatch watch that they had designed. This Swatch was named Mumu-Cucurrucucu. It has an engraved golden dial with a bright-colored geometric design dominated by white and green, and comes in a box also designed by Mika and his sister. Mika was part of an advertising campaign for the Peugeot 108 automobile in March 2017. At the time he said, "The new campaign is a fun collision of my world and that of the 108." Also, at the end of 2017, Mika began a collaboration with Pilot pens. He and his sister Yasmine designed a collection of 24 different pens to help celebrate Pilot's 100th anniversary. As part of the promotion for this collaboration, a newly remixed (by Ryan Riback) version of Mika's song "Celebrate" was released and used in advertisements. Mika became an Opel brand ambassador in Italy in autumn 2020 and starred in a commercial for the Corsa-e in September 2020, one for the 100% electric Mokka-e in October 2020, and one for Opel Grandland X Plug-in-Hybrid in February 2021. All three commercials prominently featured his song "Domani". At the International Talent Support (ITS) Contest in October 2020, Mika and his sister Yasmine were on the international jury, helping to decide the winners of the ITS Responsible Fashion Award and the ITS Responsible Accessories Award. Due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, the jury met virtually and no in-person event was held. The results were live-streamed on 23 October 2020, but Mika and Yasmine only appeared as photos while the host introduced the jurors. In October 2021, Mika announced that he had invested in a French company called Divie, which produces products made with CBD oil. Mika noted that he had used CBD for some time, especially on tour, and believed in its benefits.

Philanthropy

Mika participated in "Children in Need Rocks", a charity event organized by singer Gary Barlow and held at London's Royal Albert Hall ahead of the annual "Children in Need" appeal in 2009. Among those also performing that evening were Sir Paul McCartney, Dame Shirley Bassey, Leona Lewis, members of Take That, Paolo Nutini, Lily Allen, and Muse (band), Muse. The concert was held 12 November and was broadcast on BBC1 and Radio 2. Also in November 2009, Mika performed an acoustic concert at London's Union Chapel as part of the "Little Noise Sessions" organised by the charity Mencap. Singing alongside Mika during this concert was the a cappella group The King's Singers. Mika and his sister Yasmine worked on a special project for Coca-Cola in early 2010, designing an artistic, limited edition aluminium Coke bottle that also benefited charity. The "Happiness Bottle" was, according to Mika, inspired by Japanese psychedelic posters from the 1960s. It has a red background and features a bright yellow sun along with some tribal figures and other symbols. There was also a collector's version of the bottle that was packaged in a decorated box that opened to show a 3D scene. Mika talked about the project at the time, saying, "When I said yes to Coca-Cola for this project, one of the conditions that I had, and I was very clear about this since the beginning, was that I wanted to have a charity side attached to it. So I said: OK, I'll draw this bottle, but all the money that they would pay me will go to a charity. So I chose Hôpitaux de France and Hôpitaux de Paris, and particularly their 'Maison des adolescents' project. This charity side for me was the most important of all." Mika teamed up with some of the biggest names in pop to record a cover version of R.E.M., REM's 'Everybody Hurts' in support of charities helping relief efforts after an earthquake hit the island of Haiti in early 2010. Mika played piano and shared vocals with the likes of Mariah Carey, Kylie Minogue, Jon Bon Jovi, Rod Stewart, Michael Buble and Susan Boyle. The track was organised by Simon Cowell and The Sun newspaper. Mika also donated various pieces of memorabilia for auction to raise additional funds for Haiti, including a milk carton prop used in his video for the single "Rain", as well as the t-shirt he wore in the Haiti video, plus an autographed CD single of "Everybody Hurts". At the time, Mika said on his website, "I was hugely honoured to be asked by The Sun to be part of this single. I am really pleased with how it turned out, it sounds fantastic, and I hope the public will support it to raise money for this worthy cause." He also donated a signed poster to the charity Oxfam UK to help raise funds for its work in Haiti. In 2012, Mika offered tickets and flights to one of his shows anywhere in the world to raise money for the UK charity London's Air Ambulance, in conjunction with members of the Mika Fan Club (MFC). The resulting raffle raised more than £6,600. In both 2012 and 2013, Mika contributed some of his doodles to the UK charity Epilepsy Action's National Doodle Day auction. His doodles raised more than £1000 for the organization. Mika participated in the televised January 2013 Les Enfoirés, a yearly charity show, at Bercy Arena in France. In that show he was featured on Psy's "Gangnam Style" (with Lorie, Zazie and Amel Bent), Niagara's "J'ai vu" (with Michael Jones, Lorie and Zaz), and Les Enfoirés' "La Chanson des Restos" (with 38 of the other Enfoirés). The songs on which Mika accompanied (in the choir or on stage dancing) were Laurent Voulzy's "Jeanne", Johnny Hallyday's "Fils de personne", Michel Telo's "Ai Se Eu Te Pego", Shy'm's "Et alors", children's song "A la pêche aux moules", Patrick Bruel's "Place des Grands Hommes", Téléphone's "New-York avec toi", Joe Dassin's "L'Amérique", and Les Enfoirés's "Attention au départ". Several of these songs appear on the Les Enfoirés 2-disc CD La Boîte À Musique Des Enfoirés released September 2013 and the single disc DVD released in March 2013. During a non-televised scene change Mika and Shy'm sang "Elle me dit" together; and at the end he picked her up and carried her off. For Christmas 2014, Mika contributed a design to a collection of Christmas cards sold in Italy, the proceeds of which went to the European Association for Research in Surgical Oncology. The original design was also auctioned off for charity, raising €1,075. Over the years, Mika has supported the French charitable organisation Imagine for Margo/Children without Cancer. In 2014 and 2015, Mika and the late photographer Peter Lindbergh worked together on an advertising campaign for the charity. Mika's image continues to be used in ads for the organisation and in December 2020 Mika performed a concert to benefit the charity at the pediatric department of the French Institut Curie that was broadcast live on Facebook. In December 2015, Mika visited Lebanon with UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and spent time with refugees who had been forced to flee their homes during the ongoing conflict in Syria. Since then, he has made several video messages in support of this organisation and in November 2017 was a special guest at a UNHCR charity event held in Milan. Mika hosted the charity show Le Gala des Pieces Jaunes at the Zénith in Paris in support of the Hospital Foundation in late January 2023. In addition to presenting, Mika performed a medley of his songs, along with a new single, 'Keep It Simple' ft. Vianney. Also performing at the gala were South Korean girl group

and Daniel Lozakovich. During the evening, appeals for donations were launched by the artists: the contributions of each one making it possible to change the daily life of hospitalized children and their families. The show was later broadcast on French TV channel France2.

Discography

* ''

'' (2007) * '' The Boy Who Knew Too Much'' (2009) * ''

'' (2012) * ''

'' (2015) * ''

'' (2019) * ' (soundtrack) (2023) * ''

'' (2023)

Filmography

* ''Live in Cartoon Motion'' (2007) * ''Live Parc des Princes Paris'' (2008) * ''Cadences obstinées'' (2014), as Lucio * ''The Prophet (2014 film), The Prophet'' (2015), voice of Mustafa for the French version * ''Mika Love Paris – Live a Bercy'' (2016) * ''Sinfonia Pop'' (2016)

Tours

* Dodgy Holiday Tour (2007–2008) * Songs for Sorrow Acoustic Tour (2009) * 1955 Tour (2009) * Imaginarium Tour (2010) * The Origin of Love Tour (2012) * An Intimate Evening (2013) * No Place in Heaven Tour (2015–2016) * Tiny Love Tiny Tour (2019) * Revelation Tour (2019–2020) * For the Rite of Spring (2022) * Apocalypse Calypso Tour (2024)

Awards and nominations

In March 2010, Mika became the youngest person ever to be honored with the French Order of Arts and Letters (Chevalier [Knight]) for services to music. In recognition of his efforts for aiding Lebanon via the "I Love Beirut" concert, Mika received the Order of Merit (Lebanon) in January 2021. Mika has also been nominated for and won many other awards and honors in the music industry: {, class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" , - ! scope="col" , Award ! scope="col" , Year ! scope="col" , Category ! scope="col" , Nominee(s) ! scope="col" , Result ! scope="col" class="unsortable", , - ! scope="row", Amadeus Austrian Music Awards , 2008 , Best International Single , "

" , , , - ! scope="row", Attitude (magazine), Attitude Awards , 2019 , The Music Award , Mika , , , - ! scope="row", BBC Sound of... , 2007 , Sound of 2007 , Mika , , , - ! scope="row", BT Digital Music Awards , 2007 , Best Pop Artist , rowspan=2, Mika , , , - !scope="row", Bravo Otto Awards (Hungary) , 2007 , Newcomer of the Year , , , - ! scope="row" rowspan=5, Brit Awards , rowspan=4, 2008 , Brit Award for British Single of the Year, British Single of the Year , "

" , , rowspan=4, , - , Brit Award for British Album of the Year, British Album of the Year , ''

'' , , - , Brit Award for British Breakthrough Act, British Breakthrough Act , rowspan=5, Mika , , - , rowspan=2, Brit Award for British Male Solo Artist, British Male Solo Artist , , - , 2010 , , , - !scope="row", British LGBT Awards , 2023 , Music Artist , , , - ! scope="row" rowspan=2, Capital London, Capital FM's Awards , rowspan=2, 2008 , Favorite UK Male Artist , , rowspan=2, , - , Favorite UK Album , ''

'' , , - ! scope="row" rowspan=2, Coca-Cola Onstage Awards , 2017 , Best International Pop Show , rowspan=2, Mika , , , - , 2020 , Best International Artist , , , - ! scope="row", Danish Music Awards , 2008 , Foreign Newcomer of the Year , Mika , , , - ! scope="row" rowspan=2, ECHO Awards , rowspan=2, 2008 , Best International Newcomer , rowspan=2, Mika , , rowspan=2, , - , Best International Male , , - ! scope="row", Flaiano Prizes , , Best Television Programm , ' , , , - !scope="row" rowspan=2, Gaffa (magazine), Denmark Gaffa Awards , rowspan=2, 2020 , Best Foreign Solo Act , Mika , , rowspan=2, , - , Best Foreign Album , rowspan=2, ''

'' , , - ! scope="row, GLAAD Media Award , 31st GLAAD Media Awards, 2020 , GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Music Artist, Outstanding Music Artist , , , - ! scope="row", Gay Music Chart Awards , 2015 , Best British Music Video , "No Place in Heaven, Good Guys" , , , - ! scope="row", Grammy Awards , 50th Grammy Awards, 2008 , Best Dance Recording , " Love Today" , , , - ! scope="row", IFMCA Awards , 2023 , Breakthrough Composer of the Year , ''Zodi and Tehu, Princes of the Desert soundtrack'' , , , - ! scope="row", IFPI Hong Kong Top Sales Music Awards , 2007 , Top 10 Best Selling Foreign Albums , ''

'' , , , - ! scope="row" rowspan=2, Ivor Novello Awards , rowspan=2, 2008 , Songwriter of the Year , Mika , , rowspan=2, , - , Best Selling British Song , "

" , , - ! scope="row" rowspan=2, Los Premios 40 Principales 2007, Los Premios 40 Principales , rowspan=2, 2007 , Premios 40 Principales for Best International Song, Best International Song , "

" , , rowspan=2, , - , Premios 40 Principales for Best International Artist, Best International Artist , rowspan=1, Mika , , - ! scope="row", MTV Asia Awards , MTV Asia Awards 2008, 2008 , MTV Asia Award for Favorite Breakthrough Artist, Favorite Breakthrough Artist , Mika , , , - ! scope="row", MTV Australia Awards , MTV Australia Awards 2008, 2008 , Video of the Year , "Happy Ending (Mika song), Happy Ending" , , , - ! scope="row" rowspan=3, MTV Europe Music Awards , rowspan=2, 2007 MTV Europe Music Awards, 2007 , MTV Europe Music Award for Best Song, Most Addictive Track , "

" , , rowspan=2, , - , MTV Europe Music Award for Best Act, Best Solo Act , rowspan=2, Mika , , - , 2009 MTV Europe Music Awards, 2009 , MTV Europe Music Award for Best Male, Best Male , , , - ! scope="row" rowspan=4 , MTV Italian Music Awards , 2008 , rowspan=2, Man of the Year , rowspan=4, Mika , , , - , 2010 , , , - , 2011 , Too Much Award , , , - , 2015 , #MTVAwardsStar , , , - ! scope="row" , MTV Video Music Awards Japan , 2008 MTV Video Music Awards Japan, 2008 , MTV Video Music Award Japan for Best New Artist, Best New Artist in a Video , "

" , , , - ! scope="row" rowspan=2, NME Awards , rowspan=2, 2008 , Worst Dressed , Mika , , rowspan=2, , - , Worst Album , ''

'' , , - ! scope="row" rowspan=8, NRJ Music Awards , rowspan=4, 2008 , International Song of the Year , rowspan=2, "

" , , rowspan=4, , - , Music Video of the Year , , - , International Album of the Year , ''

'' , , - , International Revelation of the Year , rowspan=3, Mika , , - , 2010 , rowspan=2, International Male Artist of the Year , , , - , rowspan=3, 2012 , , rowspan=3, , - , International Song of the Year , rowspan=2, "Elle me dit" , , - , Music Video of the Year , , - ! scope="row", Nickelodeon Australian Kids' Choice Awards , Nickelodeon Australian Kids' Choice Awards 2007, 2007 , Fave International Singer , Mika , , , - ! scope="row" rowspan=3, Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards, Nickelodeon UK Kids' Choice Awards , rowspan=2, Nickelodeon UK Kids' Choice Awards 2007, 2007 , Best Music Video , "

" , , rowspan=2, , - , Best Male Singer , rowspan=2, Mika , , - , Nickelodeon UK Kids' Choice Awards 2008, 2008 , Best Singer , , , - ! scope="row" rowspan=2, Q Awards , 2007 , Best Breakthrough Act , Mika , , , - , 2009 , Best Video , "

" , , , - ! scope="row" , Radio Disney Music Awards , 2014 Radio Disney Music Awards, 2014 , Best Musical Collaboration , "Popular Song (Mika song), Popular Song" , , , - ! scope="row" , Rose d'Or , 2017 , Best Entertainment Series , ' , , , - ! scope="row" , Silver Palm - Order of Merit , 2021 , Lebanese National Award , Mika , , , - ! scope="row" , Swiss Music Awards , 2008 , Best International Newcomer , ''Mika'' , , , - ! scope="row" rowspan=3, TMF Awards , rowspan=3, 2008 , Best International Pop , rowspan=3, Mika , , - , Best International Male , , - , Best International New , , - ! scope="row" , Teen Choice Awards , 2007 Teen Choice Awards, 2007 , Teen Choice Award for Choice Music – Breakout Artist, Choice Male Breakout Artist , Mika , , , - ! scope="row" , The Record of the Year , 2007 , Record of the Year , "

" , , , - ! scope="row" , UK Festival Awards , 2007 , Best Festival Pop Act , Mika , , , - ! scope="row" , UK Music Video Awards , 2009 , Best Art Direction in a Video , "

" , , , - ! scope="row", Victoires de la Musique , 2012 , Original Song of the Year , "Elle me dit" , , , - ! scope="row" rowspan=3, Virgin Media, Virgin Media Music Awards , rowspan=3, 2007 , Best UK Act , rowspan=2, Mika , , rowspan=3, , - , Most Fanciable Male , , - , Best Track , "

" , , - ! scope="row", Vodafone, Vodafone Live Music Awards , 2007 , Best Live Male , Mika , , , - ! scope="row" rowspan=12, World Music Awards , rowspan=3, 2007 World Music Awards, 2007 , World's Best Selling New Artist , rowspan=6, Mika , , rowspan=3, , - , World's Best Selling Pop/Rock Male Artist , , - , World's Best Selling British Artist , , - , rowspan="9", 2014 World Music Awards, 2014 , World's Best Live Act , , rowspan=9, , - , World's Best Male Act , , - , World's Best Entertainer , , - , World's Best Song , rowspan="2", "Popular Song (Mika song), Popular Song" , , - , rowspan=2, World's Best Video , , - , rowspan="2", "Underwater (Mika song), Underwater" , , - , World's Best Song , , - , rowspan=2, World's Best Album , ''

'' , , - , ''

'' , , - !scope="row" rowspan=5, Žebřík Music Awards , rowspan=2, 2007 , rowspan=3, Himself , Best International Discovery , , rowspan=4, , - , rowspan=2, Best International Male , , - , rowspan=2, 2009 , , - , "

" , Best International Song , , - , 2014 , "

" , Best International Video , ,

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mika Mika (singer), 1983 births 21st-century English LGBTQ people 21st-century English male singers Alumni of the Royal College of Music Brit Award winners Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres English gay musicians English LGBTQ singers English LGBTQ songwriters English male songwriters English people of American descent English people of Lebanese descent English people of Syrian descent English Roman Catholics Gay singer-songwriters Ivor Novello Award winners Lebanese emigrants to the United Kingdom Lebanese gay men Lebanese people of American descent Lebanese people of Syrian descent Lebanese Roman Catholics LGBTQ Roman Catholics Living people Musicians with dyslexia Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom People educated at Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle People educated at Westminster School, London Singers from London Universal Records artists Wonky pop musicians World Music Awards winners