Matthieu Chedid
| -M- | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Matthieu Chedid |
| Also known as | -M- |
| Born |
21 December 1971 Boulogne-Billancourt, France |
| Genres |
Chanson Rock Funk |
| Occupation(s) | French singer-songwriter |
| Instruments |
bass guitar guitar keyboards drums kazoo vocals |
| Years active | 1978–present |
| Labels | Barclay |
| Website | mistermystere.com |
Matthieu Chedid (born 21 December 1971, in Boulogne-Billancourt, Hauts-de-Seine, France), better known by his stage name ‑M- , is a French rock singer-songwriter and guitar player.
Biography
Matthieu Chedid is the son of French singer Louis Chedid, and the grandson of the Egyptian-born French writer and poetess of Lebanese descent Andrée Chedid who has written lyrics for him. His sister is the music video and concert director Émilie Chedid.
Chedid, a talented multi-instrumentalist, took an interest in music early on. In 1978, at the age of six, Chedid lent his voice to the chorus of his father's hit song T'as beau pas être beau alongside older sister, Émilie. During his teenage years and early twenties, Chedid formed a few short-lasting groups such as Mat Mat (Checkmate Checkmate), Les Bébés fous (The crazy babies) and Les Poissons rouges (The "red fish," a French expression equivalent to the English "goldfish") with Mathieu Boogaerts and with the sons of Laurent Voulzy and Alain Souchon, Julien Voulzy and Pierre Souchon. He has collaborated with a number of artists, both on stage and in the recording studio. Early into his solo career, Chedid was the opening act for Texas concerts. He has recorded with NTM, Sinclair, Billy Ze Kick, and more recently with Brigitte Fontaine, Sean Lennon, Vanessa Paradis, and Johnny Hallyday, with whom he recorded the come-back album Jamais Seul (2011).
-M-
Chedid performs and records under the stage name ‑M-. Chedid created ‑M- as means of overcoming his shyness on stage and also as a way of distancing his work from that of his father and grandmother. The pseudonym comes from Chedid's first initial but also refers to the similar sounding French word aime, meaning love. The character ‑M- is a superhero, noted for having a playful nature, and recognized for his flamboyant costumes (primarily monochrome suits with slim trousers and long jackets with upward pointed collars) and hair styled into the shape of an M.
In 1997, -M- released his first solo album Le Baptême. During this time; he played mainly solo or with the cellist Vincent Ségal. The album received overall positive critical reception, but public recognition only came a few months later, with the release of the single "Machistador".
Je dis aime
-M- published his second album, Je dis aime, in 1999. A few months later, the album was 11th on the French Charts, with more than 500,000 albums sold, thanks to a number of successful songs ("Je dis aime", "Onde Sensuelle", "Monde Virtuel", "Le complexe du corn-flakes", "Mama Sam").
Live, -M- played with Cyril Atef, Vincent Segal and DJ Shalom for the samples on some songs. He still works with his sister Emilie Chedid for the realisation of the clips. His live performance largely contributed to his success, playing on his character of -M- to transform every concert into a show. He won his first Victoire de la Musique awards for Male Artist of the Year and Concert of the Year.
"Belleville Rendez-vous" and Qui de nous deux
-M- gained international exposure through his recording of the song "Belleville Rendez-vous" for the soundtrack of the 2003 Sylvain Chomet animated film The Triplets of Belleville in both French and English. The song, with lyrics by Chomet and music by Benoit Charest, was nominated for a 2003 Academy Award. The music video for "Belleville Rendez-vous" uses both a live-action depiction of ‑M- and an animated depiction incorporated into footage from the film.
In autumn 2003, he released his 3rd album Qui de nous deux (Which one of us two) with the singles "Qui de nous deux", "La bonne étoile", "Mon ego". Softer, this album saw the birth of his first daughter, Billie, for whom an all-pink guitar was built by instrument-maker Cyril Guérin. A pink guitar can be seen in the video for "Qui de nous deux".
In 2007, he worked once again with Vanessa Paradis on her album Divinidylle, released in September 2007.
Mister Mystère
Rumors circulated before the release of his 2009 studio album, Mister Mystère, that Chedid had decided to drop the character ‑M- to record and perform under his given name.[1] The album, however, was released under the name ‑M- but included photographs of the singer without the wild costumes and hair associated with the ‑M- character. The music video for the first single, "Le Roi des ombres", showed Chedid burning a tiny effigy of his alterego.[2]
Awards
Matthieu Chedid holds the silver place in number of Victoires de la Musique awards, with 9 awards, behind Alain Bashung and tied with Alain Souchon.
- 2000: ‑M- won two Victoires de la musique awards for "Male artist of the year" and "Best concert"
- 2005: He won four Victoires de la musique awards for "Male artist of the year", "Pop album of the year" for Qui de nous deux, "Best tour" and finally "Best music DVD" for Les leçons de musique, directed by Émilie Chedid
- 2007: He won one Victoires de la musique award (and a César Award) for "Best original soundtrack" for Ne Le Dis À Personne, directed by Guillaume Canet
- 2011: He won one Victoires de la musique award for "Best concert"
Discography
Albums
- Studio albums
| Year | Album | Peak positions | Certifications | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FRA [3] |
BEL (Wa) [4] |
SWI [5] | |||
| 1997 | Le Baptême | 35 | – | – | |
| 1999 | Je dis aime | 11 | – | – | |
| 2003 | Labo M (instrumental) | 27 | – | – | |
| Qui de nous deux | 1 | 4 | 76 | ||
| 2009 | Mister Mystère | 1 | 3 | 16 | |
| 2012 | Îl | 4 | 9 | 39 | |
- Live albums
| Year | Album | Peak positions | Certifications | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FRA [3] |
BEL (Wa) [4] |
SWI [5] | |||
| 1997 | Le tour de -M- | 3 | – | – | |
| 2005 | -M- au Spectrum | – | – | – | |
| En tête à tête | 2 | 26 | 93 | ||
| 2010 | Les saisons de passage | 14 | 76 | – | |
| 2013 | Îl(s) | 27 | 145 | – | |
- Soundtracks
| Year | Album | Peak positions | Certifications | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FRA [3] |
BEL (Wa) [4] |
SWI [5] | |||
| 2007 | Ne le dis à personne (soundtrack) |
103 | – | – | |
| 2011 | Un monstre à Paris (soundtrack by Vanessa Paradis & -M- / Patrice Renson) |
7 | 10 | – | |
- Rereleases
| Year | Album | Peak positions |
|---|---|---|
| FRA [3] | ||
| 2002 | Le Baptême / Je dis aime | 127 |
| 2004 | Le Baptême / Je dis aime / Labo M | 166 |
| Le tour de M / Qui de nous deux | 130 | |
| 2005 | Qui de nous deux / Je dis aime / Le Baptême | 92 |
| 2008 | Je dis aime / Qui de nous deux | 78 |
Singles
| Year | Single | Peak positions | Album | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FRA [3] |
BEL (Fl) Ultratip [6] |
BEL (Wa) Ultratop [4] |
BEL (Wa) Ultratip [4] |
SWI [5] | |||
| 1997 | "Le baptême" / "La grosse bombe" (limited release) | – | – | – | – | – | |
| 1998 | "Machistador" | 83 | – | – | – | – | |
| "Au suivant" | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 2000 | "Onde sensuelle" / "Je dis aime" | 46 | – | – | – | – | |
| "Le complexe du corn flakes" | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 2001 | "Y'a des zazous" (Brigitte Fontaine & -M-) |
50 | – | – | – | – | |
| 2004 | "Qui de nous deux" | 40 | – | – | 3 | 83 | |
| "À tes souhaits" | 78 | – | – | 16 | – | ||
| "Ma mélodie" | 67 | – | – | 12 | – | ||
| 2005 | La bonne étoile | 50 | – | – | – | – | |
| 2007 | "L'éclipse" (Sean Lennon & -M-) |
– | – | – | 8 | – | |
| 2009 | "Mister Mystère" | – | – | – | – | – | |
| "Le roi des ombres" | – | – | 28 | – | – | ||
| "Est-ce que c'est ça?" | – | – | – | 20 | – | ||
| 2010 | "Amssétou" | – | – | – | 20 | – | |
| "Tu peux compter sur moi" (Louis Chedid & Matthieu Chedid) |
– | – | 8 | – | – | ||
| 2011 | "La Seine" (Vanessa Paradis & -M-) |
9 | 37 | 3 | – | – | |
| 2012 | "Mojo" | 27 | – | 27 | – | – | |
| "Baïa" | 137 | – | – | 31 | – | ||
| 2013 | "Océan" | – | – | – | 16 | – | |
Bibliography
- Les Âmes de Mogador (2003), with Patrice Renson : tribute to Essaouira (Maroc). A CD of ten unreleased tracks is included.
- -M-, qui de nous deux (2004), with Claude Gassian : book produced during the recording of the album Qui de nous deux
- -M- de A à Z (2005), by Mathias Goudeau
- Le monde de -M- (2005), with Marianne Chedid, Sonia Rachline and Sophie Laurent : insight on his career, with a lot of pictures
- -M- le mot dit : esthétique d'un funkistador by Marc Borbon: analysis of M's world through a fan's own experience
- Le Livre Extraordinaire de -M- by Lisa Roze: package of an archival photographs, unpublished shootings, a book, postcards, a pop-up, a new song (Si Si No No), etc.
References
- ↑ 7sur7 Article "Mathieu Chédid range le gel et tue ‑M-" (French)
- ↑ Review on 2yeuxet1plume / Autour de Matthieu Chedid (French)
- 1 2 3 4 5 LesCharts.com: M [FR] discography
- 1 2 3 4 5 Ultratop 50 (Wallonia): M [FR] discography
- 1 2 3 4 HitParade.ch: M [FR] discography
- ↑ Ultratop 50 (Flanders): M [FR] discography
External links
- Official website (flash) (French)
- Reference website (2yeuxet1plume / Autour de Matthieu Chedid) (French)
- Myspace site, including links and concert dates (French)
- RFI Biography (English)
- Interview with ‑M- (French)
- -M- Chedid Online (Spanish)
- Review of 'Mister Mystère' (English)
| Preceded by Alain Bashung |
Victoires de la Musique Male artist of the year 2000 |
Succeeded by Henri Salvador |
| Preceded by Calogero |
Victoires de la Musique Male group or artist of the year 2005 |
Succeeded by Raphaël |
|