Pop magpie
Mika's bright, kaleidoscopic music has drawn comparisons to everyone from
Queen and
Elton John to
the Scissor Sisters and
Rufus Wainwright. Born
Michael Holbrook Penniman in Beirut to a Lebanese mother and American father,
Mika and his parents moved to Paris while he was still a very young child, and eventually London by the time he was nine years old. The frequent moves, incidents like his father being taken hostage at Kuwait's American Embassy, and bullying at school affected young
Mika to the point where he stopped talking and was taken out of school for six months. At this point, music became
Mika's lifeline, and he soon began formal musical training, which included voice lessons. Along with studies at the Royal College of Music, in his teens and early twenties
Mika also recorded with
the Royal Opera House and created a jingle for Orbit chewing gum. He dropped out of school to concentrate on his take on pop music, inspired by freewheeling songwriters like
Prince and
Harry Nilsson. His debut single, "Relax, Take It Easy," appeared in fall 2006, but it was its follow-up, "Grace Kelly," that broke
Mika in the U.K. Released in January 2007, the song hit number one on the singles chart thanks to heavy downloading, following in the footsteps of
Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy."
Mika's full-length debut,
Life in Cartoon Motion, did just as well when it was released that February, and was topping the U.K. charts around the time it was released in the U.S. that March. The album sold over five million copies worldwide, and
Mika earned a 2008 Grammy nomination for Best Dance Record for "Live Today" as well as that year's
Ivor Novello Award for Songwriter of the Year, among other accolades.
Mika collaborated with producer
Greg Wells,
Imogen Heap, and
Final Fantasy's
Owen Pallett on his second album. Initially named
We Are Golden after its lead single, the album's title was changed to
The Boy Who Knew Too Much for its fall 2009 release. ~ Heather Phares, All Music Guide