Great French chanson singer Mireille Mathieu was born in Avignon, 22
July 1946 in the family of a poor mason. Mireille had a difficult childhood. She was the eldest child in a large family (in addition to Mireille, the family had 15 more children: 14 brothers and 1 sister). Frequent pregnancy and childbirth made her mother weak and incapacitated. From early childhood, Mireille had to take care of younger children. For a long time they lived in terrible conditions, and only by the birth of the eighth child the municipality provided them with an apartment. At school, Mathieu studied poorly. Being left-handed, she constantly met with the discontent of teachers who sought to fight her “bad habit”. Having barely reached the 7th grade, she dropped out of school and got a job at an
envelope factory
. Having never seen childhood, she entered adulthood: a girl who soon became famous around the world with the name Mireille Mathieu. The biography, written according to the memoirs of her relatives and friends, holds back all those ordeals and hardships that the girl had to experience in her early childhood.
First steps
Mireille began to sing since childhood. Her father possessed a wonderful tenor and sang in a church choir. Mireille also took part in these chants. She sang along with him, and they turned out a wonderful duet. When she was 16 years old, she decided to take part in the city vocal competition and took the second step of the pedestal, and after 3 years she became the winner of the same competition, and the organizers sent her to Paris on the TV show "Game of Fortune". From this moment, the biography of Mireille Mathieu changes dramatically. Fortune smiled at her: she meets Johnny Stark, who later becomes her producer for life.
The beginning of the creative path
November 21, 1966 can be considered a new stage in the life of the singer. The biography of Mireille Mathieu makes a sharp turn, which is favorable not only for herself, but also for her entire family. On this day, for the first time, French television shows the performance of a young unknown singer. Her song “Jezabel” causes a real sensation among music fans. It seems to them that in front of them stands the great Edith Piaf, who recently passed away. 20-year-old Mireille with her performance wins the sympathy of a multimillion-dollar French audience, and the next day, Johnny Spark signs a contract with her father.
Biography Mireille Mathieu marks the beginning of her professional career with this date: 11/21/1966. From this day Mireille embarks on the path of a professional singer. However, she did not have enough natural data to become a great singer and satisfy the high demands of the French public. For several years Mireille had to learn everything that was necessary for a professional singer to know and be able to: ranging from musical notation to simple rules of conduct in society, etiquette. Ahead of her was a real test - a Christmas performance on the stage of the most prestigious Olympia hall in France. Moreover, after the performance, the audience had to evaluate her performance and answer several questions of the questionnaire. According to the results of the survey, many viewers liked her, but almost everyone noted her similarity with Edith Piaf, which began to alarm her producer. And he came to the decision - to move away from this role, so as not to turn into the shadow of a great singer. However, after meeting with the father of the French chanson, the great Morits Chevalier, the career of the singer went uphill. Mireille Mathieu's biography includes many such fateful meetings, however this one gave her self-confidence and became a parting word for her whole life. Chevalier told her that, unlike Piaf, walking on the shadow side, "she will go on the sunny side of life." Of course, this inspired her. Mireille found herself, and the whole world of pop lovers admired her art. Soon her name became known throughout the world, she gathered thousands of halls on all continents, and also visited the Soviet Union. Mireille became the ambassador of French song around the globe.
Mireille Mathieu: biography, personal life
Today we can safely say that Mireille Mathieu is one of the most successful French singers. However, the singer’s personal life did not work out. Mireille, 67, was never married. Many are surprised by this fact, because there have always been so many famous men around her: Yves Montand, Charles Aznavour, Placido Domingo, and others. In the early 80s of the last century, rumors circulated in the press that she was marrying a major entrepreneur, but she had to refuse his offer, as the groom demanded that she leave the scene after the wedding. So Mireille lived her life, remaining faithful to the stage and her art.