"Leave your troubles outside. Here, life is beautiful, everyone is beautiful, the girls are beautiful, the boys are beautiful," a line from 'Cabaret.' It is on such philosophy that MIKA has built an unshakable career and catalogue.
Throughout his career, MIKA has crafted a world of gritty romance amidst the joy and playfulness of technicolored alternative pop. He's a renaissance artist of impeccable intention who's name has rightfully found its way alongside legendary acts such as Elton John, Freddie Mercury and Prince.
MIKA opened his pop career in 2007 with the defining single Grace Kelly, which went on to sell over 3 million copies worldwide and was the second British single ever to top the chart on downloads alone. It was #1 in the UK for 5 weeks and topped the charts in 6 other countries also. His debut album, Life In Cartoon Motion, has over 2.8 billion streams to date, selling over 8.3 million albums and racking up 12.8 million digital track sales. The album went straight to #1 in the UK and 11 other countries.
His second album The Boy Who Knew Too Much released in 2009 continued the trend, making it into the top ten in over 10 countries worldwide and containing the hits We Are Golden, Blame It On The Girls and Rain. In 2011 MIKA released the French language single Elle Me Dit which topped the French charts for 8 weeks in 2011 clocking up over 300,000 sales and becoming the second best selling single of the year in the process. The video featured legendary French actress Fanny Ardant and has over 75.5 million plays.
His third album The Origin of Love, was released to international acclaim in 2012 and includes the huge single Celebrate, featuring Pharrell Williams, and US smash Popular Song, which was later reworked as a duet with pop superstar Ariana Grande. The Popular Song duet video currently has over 205 million views.
MIKA then conquered the hearts of TV audiences across Europe, appearing as a judge on the X Factor Italy, a coach on The Voice France, both of which he is still involved with, and topping the charts in France with the release of "Boum Boum Boum".
2015 saw the release of Mika's 4th studio album, No Place In Heaven, to critical acclaim, created with long-time collaborator and Grammy nominated producer Gregg Wells and featured hit singles "Talk About You" , "Staring at the Sun" and the iconic video for "Last Party" shot by Peter Lindbergh.
His 2019 record, My Name Is Michael Holbrook, was a sort of turning point for MIKA, a healing process. "I had a sense of urgency to transform pain into something beautiful and more hopeful," says MIKA. After writing the album in home studios in Miami and Tuscany over the course of two years, MIKA went to Brussels to record with producers Marc Crew and Dan Priddy. Together they crafted soundscapes spanning different decades of pop tracking the entire album live using vintage synths and enlisting all star players from around the world.
In 2019 and 2020 he took to the road once more, bringing the magic across the UK, US, Europe and beyond. He was part-way through his eastern leg when the pandemic struck and the world changed. But he still managed to keep busy during lockdown. Heartbroken by the devastating explosion in Beirut, Lebanon in MIKA decided to honour his Lebanese heritage by organising an online charity concert in support of the people of Lebanon and the victims of the blast. But this was no ordinary online concert. 'I Love Beirut' featured guest performances from around the world including Kylie Minogue in London, Rufus Wainwright in LA, Mashrou Leila in NYC, Laura Pausini in Rome and Dana Paola in Mexico City, as well as sending a small crew to Beirut itself to meet people on the ground. The result was a truly breathtaking film with moments of joy and sadness, hope and resilience. Fans tuned in from a record-breaking 106 countries around the globe and the concert raised an impressive total of over €1m for Save The Children Lebanon and The Lebanese Red Cross.
After the strangest 18+ months in living memory, MIKA looks forward to being back on the stage in 2022. Through the attitude, energy and movement of MIKA's studied pop performance he provokes this sense of magic. "It's the sort of dangerous energy where anything is possible," he says.
MIKA has also worked with world renowned composer and conductor Simon Leclerc to perform orchestral versions of his many hits, first with L'Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal in Quebec, followed by a special televised performance at the Teatro Sociale in Como, Italy and most recently with two sold out shows in October 2021 at the Philharmonie de Paris in France.
MIKA has been nominated for and won awards from the Brits, the Grammys, the Ivor Novellos, Capital Radio, Q magazine, The NRJs, The World Music Awards, BT and Vodaphone, Virgin Media and MTV's Europe, Asia, Australia and Japan, amongst others. He is also the recipient of the prestigious French award "Chevalier dans l'ordre des Arts et des Lettres". MIKA has now sold over 10 million albums globally and has Gold or Platinum awards in an impressive 32 countries worldwide.
"We don't need perfection. We need character, we need emotion. To feel free to express yourself," says MIKA. "Express yourself, you won't be judged here."
