Marie-Mai
| Marie Mai | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Marie-Mai performing at the festivities for Canada Day in Ottawa July 1, 2009. | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Marie-Mai Bouchard |
| Also known as | Marie-Mai |
| Born | 7 July 1984 |
| Genres | Pop, Rock, Jazz |
| Years active | 2003-present |
| Labels |
Musicor Warner Music France |
| Associated acts | Simple Plan, David Usher |
Marie-Mai Bouchard (born 7 July 1984 in Varennes, Quebec), also known as her stage name Marie-Mai, is a French Canadian singer from Quebec. She was initially known as one of the top finalists of the first season of the Quebec reality show Star Académie.
Profile/Background
As her father was also a musician,[1] Marie-Mai began her interest in music in her early years when practicing piano lessons and also participated in musical theatre. Shortly, she began singing and her grandmother noticed her talent. In the following years, she would help Marie-Mai improve her singing abilities even further. At that time, her grandmother suggested to her that she audition for a new competition, Star Académie. Prior to this, in 2001, she would start to perform in shows at Montreal's Théâtre Musical in the Passion intense show. Marie-Mai is youngest of two.
She became a finalist in the 2003 edition, in which she was immediately noticed by her pop-rock style. She finished third behind Marie-Elaine Thibert, the runner-up of the competition and Wilfred Le Bouthillier, the eventual winner.
After the Star Académie tour that ended in 2004, she was part of the Montreal cast of Jonathan Larson's rock-opera musical Rent, performed at the Olympia Theatre.
On September 2011, she married her producer, Fred St-Gelais, in Hawaii. The couple were engaged since 2006.[2]
In December 2011, Marie-Mai participated in the campaign against bullying "It ends here," and made a video where she revealed that she had experienced bullying because of her attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
History
Inoxydable (2004-2005)
Her debut album Inoxydable, produced by Fred St-Gelais, was released on 28 September 2004. Over 120,000 albums were sold in Quebec alone while the album was released in France in 2006.[1][3] Several singles had reached high in the Quebec charts including the songs "Il faut que tu t'en ailles" and "Encore une nuit" which reached the top of the Radio Énergie charts. In 2005, she won the prize for best music video for French MuchMusic Video Awards with the video for her song "Il faut que tu t'en ailles". In support of her album, Marie-Mai played 87 shows and had released a video album of her concert, La Tournée Inoxydable.
Dangerous Attraction (2007-2009)
Her second album, Dangerous Attraction, was released on 28 August 2007 in Quebec, Canada. In August 2008, Marie-Mai was awarded a gold disc for selling over 50,000 copies of this album in Quebec.[4]
On 24 June 2009, Marie-Mai participated for the first time at the Quebec National Holiday celebrations in Montreal,[5] simulcast on the Radio-Canada Television and radio. She interprets notable success "Mentir"[6] and "Emmène-moi", a cover of the song "Lady Marmalade", and an excerpt of the national anthem of Quebec, "Gens du pays" by Gilles Vigneault.
On 1 July 2009, during the festivities of Canada Day in Ottawa broadcast on Radio-Canada chain and English CBC, the singer was invited to sing three songs. Originally, the English-language channel broadcast did not include her first song, "Mentir". CBC eventually reversed its decision following the rehearsals and instead decided to distribute all three songs.[7]
Version 3.0 (2009-2011)
On 26 September 2009, she released her third album, Version 3.0.[8] She received a third gold record on 7 December 2009 for having sold 40,000 copies of this album. Among her compositions present on the album are "Rebatir notre histoire" and "C'est moi".
On 28 February 2010, she sang "Emmène-moi" at the closing ceremony of 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. In the same year, she had been featured in David Usher's "Je repars". The song remained on the chart for over a month ahead of Top 100 Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems.
In 2011, her album Version 3.0 reached platinum disc with 80,000 copies sold. She also recorded a duet in the same year with Simple Plan for the song "Jet Lag". Later in the same year, she signed with Warner Music France to be her record label and distributor in Europe.
Miroir (2012-present)
Prior to her fourth album release, on 22 February 2012, she released the song "Sans cri ni haine", a cover of the song "Call Your Girlfriend" by Robyn, as a promotional single.
Marie-Mai's official website had undergone major upgrade prior to the album released by Motion in Design, an advertising agent based in Drummondville. A timer counting to the day of the releasing of the album was shown. The agency also designed a new logo and the album art of the fourth album.[9][10]
On 14 August 2012, the first official single of the album "C.O.B.R.A." was released to radio stations and a 22-seconds teaser of the music video have been released. As announced by her on the same date, the new album will be called "Miroir" and set the release date for the 17 September.
"Miroir" managed to sell 22,000 units during the first week after release. On 17 October 2012 only a month after the album was released, a press conference was held at the Olympia theatre in Montreal to announce that the album was certified gold for reaching the 40,000 copies sold mark. This press conference was also used to announce the first 2 dates at the Bell Centre of her brand new tour Tournee Miroir due to kickoff on January 18, 2013 in Grandby, QC.
In Late 2012 the second Canadian single "Jamais Ailleurs" was released to the radios, while a more acoustic version of the song "Je Cours" was chosen as the first single to promote the yet-to-be-released album in France.
To begin 2013 Marie-Mai is getting ready to kickoff her fourth concert tour "Tournee Miroir" on 18 January in Grandby,QC. The tour will see her perform in front of over 80,000 people across Quebec.
She performed C.O.B.R.A, Jamais Ailleurs and Heart Attack during the Canada Day celebrations in Ottawa on 1 July 2013 and on July 22, participated in the benefit concert for the victims in Lavaltrie Lake Megantic with 39 other artists.
She began filming for a new music video in mid-July. In August 2013, the trailer for the video, Différents, was released, and the full video was released on her YouTube page on 10 September 2013.
She will continue her tour, Tournee Miroir in September at the Québec Coliseum.
In popular culture
- In 2012, she took part in tribute album project dedicated to Jean-Jacques Goldman songs called Génération Goldman singing Goldman's "Là-bas" as a duo with French model and singer Baptiste Giabiconi.
- She was the voice actress of Smurfette in the French versions of The Smurfs 1 (2011) and 2 (2013).
- During the closing ceremony of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, she performed Emmène-moi.
- She is a coach on the Canadian version of The Voice (La Voix), alongside Ariane Moffatt, Marc Dupré and Jean-Pierre Ferland.
Discography
- Inoxydable (2004)
- Dangereuse Attraction (2007)
- Version 3.0 (2009)
- Miroir (2012)
Awards and nominations
- 2008 Rock Album of the Year
- 2010 Rock Album of the Year
- 2010 Best Female Artist of the Year
- 2011 Best Female Artist of the Year
- 2011 Tour of the Year (Singer-Songwriter)
- 2012 Popular Song of the Year « Sans cri, ni haine »
- 2013 Pop Album of the year
- 2013 Best Female Artist of the Year
- 2008 SOCAN award for Pop Song - Composer
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Québec Info Musique - MARIE-MAI".
- ↑ Harvey Claudy (4 September 2011). Marie-Mai et Fred St-Gelais : mariage aujourd'hui, Le Journal de Montréal.
- ↑ Un deuxième album pour Marie-Mai, TVA Nouvelles.
- ↑ Renault, Philippe (9 August 2008). "Le conte de fées de Marie-Mai". Le Journal de Montréal..
- ↑ Martineau, Alain (19 May 2009). "Éric Lapointe, Ariane Moffatt et Marie-Mai à la Fête nationale". La Presse Canadienne.
- ↑ Renaud, Philippe (25 June 2009). "Un air de renouveau au parc Maisonneuve". La Presse Montréal. ISSN 0317-9249.
- ↑ "Official website". http://www.marie-mai.com. Productions J. 30 June 2006.
- ↑ Marie-Mai lance son nouvel album, 23 September 2009.
- ↑ Maxime Rioux. "Marie-Mai s’associe à l’agence de publicité d’un Drummondvillois". Retrieved 16 August 2012.
- ↑ "Marie Mai Identité et site web". Retrieved 16 August 2012.
External links
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