Mica "Mika" Penniman
Background information
Birth name	Mica Penniman
Born	August 18, 1983 (1983-08-18) (age 23) Beirut, Lebanon
Origin	London
Genre(s)	Pop, Rock, Power Pop, Dance Pop, Glam Rock
Occupation(s)	Musician, songwriter
Instrument(s)	Vocals, Piano
Years active	2006–present
Label(s)	Casablanca Records Island Records
Website	Mikasounds.com

Mica Penniman (born 18 August 1983), known as Mika (IPA [ˈmikə]), is a Lebanese-born, London-based singer who has a recording contract with Casablanca Records and Universal Music, and rose to fame around the end of 2006 and the start of 2007. Some sources note his birth name as Michael Holbrook Penniman.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Musical career 3 Personal life 4 Discography 4.1 Albums 4.2 Singles 5 References 6 External links

Early life

Mika was born in Beirut, Lebanon, the third of five children born to a Lebanese mother and an American father. When he was one year old his family was forced to leave war-torn Lebanon and moved to Paris. After listening to Nirvana's "Heart Shaped Box" he wrote his first song, which he describes as an "awful" piano instrumental called "Angry". The family moved to London when he was nine years old. In London he then attended the Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle where he experienced more severe bullying at school and had problems with dyslexia, so he was home-schooled by his mother for six to eight months.. He then attended St Philips School in Kensington. He then attended Westminster School and the Royal College of Music, which he later left to record his first album.

Musical career

He was trained by Alla Ardakov (Ablaberdyeva) a Russian opera professional and his public performances and jobs have varied from classical performances in the Royal Opera House, writing in-flight music for British Airways and creating an Orbit chewing gum jingle. His debut radio appearance was on Dermot O'Leary's BBC Radio 2 show in September 2006, Later with Jools Holland and on The Friday Night Project on 19 January 2007. While he is rumoured to have a vocal range of five octaves, he actually claims that it is closer to three and a half octaves.

He slightly altered his given name, Mica, changing the "c" to a "k," because he was frustrated by how often people would mispronounce it.

In January 2007, he was at the top of BBC News's Sound of 2007 poll.

His first single was a limited 7"/download release called "Grace Kelly" (2006). It was play listed by BBC Radio 1 in the United Kingdom, and was also made Record of the Week by DJ Scott Mills. The Dodgy Holiday EP is also available for download. His song "Billy Brown" was available for free download for a week from the iTunes Store.

Universal Music released his single "Grace Kelly" by digital download on 8 January 2007, and it reached number one on the UK Singles Chart on 21 January 2007. The CD, 12", and limited-edition 7" versions were released on 29 January 2007. The release features remixes by Tom Neville, Bimbo Jones, Linus Loves, and Pull Tiger Tail.

Produced and mixed by Greg Wells in Los Angeles, with two songs co-produced by Jodi Marr and John Merchant, Mika's début album Life in Cartoon Motion was released on 5 February 2007, and has brought comparison with artists such as Freddie Mercury, Scissor Sisters, Elton John, Robbie Williams and David Bowie.

He was the musical act for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, on 26 March 2007 and for Jimmy Kimmel Live on 27 March 2007.

His band consists of Martin Waugh (guitars, backing vocals), Michael Choi (bass, backing vocals), Cherisse Ofosu-Osei (formerly of The Faders, drums), Vinnie Potestivo (mtv, backing vocals), and Luke Juby (keyboards, guitar, backing vocals).

It has been reported that he is involved in the new Madonna album to be released at the end of 2007

Personal life

Mika comes from a family of three girls and two boys. He has one younger brother and one younger sister along with two older sisters. His sister Yasmine, who works as an artist under the nom de plume Dawack, painted the cartoon art for his album Life in Cartoon Motion.

Although his "camp" performances have led to speculation that he might be gay, Mika keeps his sexuality private. In response to media speculation he has been quoted as saying, "I never talk about anything to do with my sexuality. I just don't think I need to. People ask me all the time. But I just don't see the point." The quote continues, "In order to survive I've kind of shut up different parts of my life, and that's one of them, especially this early in my career."

He has brushed aside suggestions that he is steering clear of sexual taboos in order to appeal to the American market, pointing to the song "Billy Brown", which is about a man who has a homosexual affair. He is quoted as saying, "If I was worried about sexual taboos I certainly wouldn't have made the record I made. It has nothing to do with that. It has more to do with self-respect."

Discography

Albums

Life in Cartoon Motion

• Released: 5 February 2007
• Chart positions: #1 European Top 100, #1 UK, #1 France, #1 Norway, #2 Belgium, #2 Switzerland, #2 Ireland, #2 Canada, #29 US, #2 UWC, #11 Spain

  See also Life in Cartoon Motion world charts.

• UK sales: 629,400 (25 weeks) 2×platinum
• France sales: 531,781 (25 weeks) 2×platinum
• U.S. sales: 170,000 (18 weeks)
• Worldwide sales: 2,801,450 (25 weeks)
• BPI certification: 2x Platinum
• Singles: "Relax, Take It Easy", "Grace Kelly", "Lollipop", "Love Today", "Big Girl (You Are Beautiful)".

Singles

Year	Title	Chart positions														Sales/Points	Album
		UWC	Euro Hot 100	U.K.	France	U.S.	IRE	Belgium	Norway	CH	GER	ITA	NL	CAN	AUS
2006	"Relax, Take It Easy"	14	2	67	1 (2)	-	-	1 (2)	2	2	4	2	4	27	-	797,000	Life in Cartoon Motion
2007	"Grace Kelly"	4	2	1 (5)	2	57	1 (7)	2	1 (9)	2	4	1 (1)	4	3	2	4,607,000
	"Lollipop"	-	-	59	41	-	-	-	19	58	-	-	-	-	-	-
	"Love Today"	-	18	6	4	78	13	-	-	51	-	-	-	3	6	-
	"Big Girl (You Are Beautiful)"	-	28	9	-	-	16	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
	"Stuck in the Middle"	-	-	174	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

References