Marie-Mai

Marie Mai

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 (1984-07-07) 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), known mononymously as Marie-Mai, is a 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

Bouchard was born in Varennes, Quebec. 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.

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 ended in 2004, she was part of the Montreal cast of Jonathan Larson's rock-opera musical Rent, performed at the Olympia Theatre.

In September 2011, she married her producer, Fred St-Gelais, in Hawaii. The couple were engaged since 2006.[2] The pair ended the relationship in early 2016. [3]

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 of Marie-Mai

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 (platinum certification) alone while the album was released in France in 2006.[1][4] Several singles climbed 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 Francophone music video at the MuchMusic Video Awards with "Il faut que tu t'en ailles". In support of her album, Marie-Mai played 87 shows and released a DVD of her concert, La Tournée Inoxydable.

Dangereuse attraction (2007-2009)

Her second album, Dangereuse attraction, was released on August 28, 2007. In August 2008, Marie-Mai was awarded a gold certification for selling over 50,000 copies of this album in Canada.[5] The record was eventually certified platinum.

On 24 June 2009, Marie-Mai featured for the first time in the Quebec National Holiday celebrations in Montreal,[6] simulcast on the Radio-Canada Television and radio. She performed her hits "Mentir"[7] and "Emmène-moi", a cover of the song "Lady Marmalade", and an excerpt of the unofficial national anthem of Quebec, "Gens du pays" by Gilles Vigneault.

On July 1, 2009, during the festivities of Canada Day in Ottawa broadcast on the Radio-Canada and CBC networks, 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 broadcast all three songs.[8]

Version 3.0 (2009-2011)

On September 26, 2009, she released her third album, Version 3.0.[9] She received a third gold record on December 7, 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 February 28, 2010, she sang "Emmène-moi" at the closing ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. In the same year, she featured in David Usher's "Je repars". The song stayed in the best positions of the Top 100 Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems chart for over a month.

In 2011, her album Version 3.0 was certified platinum, 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 European label and distributor Warner Music France.

Miroir (2012-2014)

Prior to her fourth album release, on February 22, 2012, she released the song "Sans cri ni haine", a French cover of "Call Your Girlfriend" by Robyn, as a promotional single.

Marie-Mai's official website had undergone major upgrade prior to the album. A countdown to the day of the release of the album was shown. A new logo and the album art of the fourth album were also revealed.[10][11]

On August 14, 2012, the first official single of the album "C.O.B.R.A." was released to radio stations, along with a 22-second teaser of the music video. As announced by herself on the same date, the new album was to be called "Miroir" and the release date was set to be September 17.

"Miroir" managed to sell 22,000 units during its first week. On October 17, 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 selling 40,000 copies. 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 Granby, Quebec.

In late 2012, the second single "Jamais ailleurs" was released to Canadian radio stations, 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.

Marie-Mai begins 2013 by launching her fourth tour "Tournee Miroir" on January 18 in Granby,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 July 1, 2013. On July 22, she featured in the benefit concert for the victims of Lac-Mégantic in Lavaltrie, along with 39 other artists.

She began filming a new music video in mid-July. In August 2013, the trailer for the video Différents was released, and the full video was available on her YouTube page on September 10, 2013.

She continued her Tournee Miroir tour in September at the Québec Coliseum.

On May 2 and 3, she gave 2 concerts at the Bell Centre and closed her Miroir tour after 100 shows.

M (2014-2015)

In January 2014, Marie-Mai released "Jamais trop tard", a duet with Jonas, as the first single of her 5th album. The song reached #1 in the radio charts. The recalls of her Bell Centre shows (May 2 and 3) were used to unveil three songs of M: "Conscience", "Tourner", and "À bout portant". On May 12, 2014, M was released with some fireworks around it: 3 new music videos were revealed in the same day: "Conscience", "Tourner", and "Indivisible". Within 2 months, the record received a gold certification for 40,000 copies sold. In July 2014, Marie-Mai's Miroir tour show at the Bell Centre premiered in Quebec cinemas. "Marie-Mai live au Centre Bell : Traverser le Miroir" attracted immediate interest from her fans and was featured in 50 theatres across Quebec. In November 2014, the DVD of the show was launched, and was certified triple platinum for 30,000 copies sold.[12]

The first half of 2015 was a well deserved holiday for Marie-Mai. She went on a road trip with her husband in the United States.

In popular culture

Discography

Main article: Marie-Mai Discography

Dubbing

Year Film Role Notes
2011 The Smurfs Smurfette French Quebec voice-dub
2013 The Smurfs 2 Smurfette French Quebec voice-dub

Awards and nominations

Félix Award
SOCAN Awards

References

  1. 1 2 "Québec Info Musique - MARIE-MAI".
  2. ↑ Harvey Claudy (4 September 2011). Marie-Mai et Fred St-Gelais : mariage aujourd'hui, Le Journal de Montréal.
  3. ↑ http://www.tvanouvelles.ca/2016/01/07/fred-st-gelais-cest-le-catalyseur-de-marie-mai «Fred St-Gelais, c’est le catalyseur de Marie-Mai», TVA Nouvelles]
  4. ↑ Un deuxième album pour Marie-Mai, TVA Nouvelles.
  5. ↑ Renault, Philippe (9 August 2008). "Le conte de fées de Marie-Mai". Le Journal de Montréal..
  6. ↑ Martineau, Alain (19 May 2009). "Éric Lapointe, Ariane Moffatt et Marie-Mai à la Fête nationale". La Presse Canadienne.
  7. ↑ Renaud, Philippe (25 June 2009). "Un air de renouveau au parc Maisonneuve". La Presse Montréal. ISSN 0317-9249.
  8. ↑ "Official website". http://www.marie-mai.com. Productions J. 30 June 2006. External link in |work= (help)
  9. ↑ Marie-Mai lance son nouvel album, 23 September 2009.
  10. ↑ Maxime Rioux. "Marie-Mai s’associe à l’agence de publicité d’un Drummondvillois". Retrieved 16 August 2012.
  11. ↑ "Marie Mai Identité et site web". Retrieved 16 August 2012.
  12. ↑ http://fr.canoe.ca/divertissement/musique/nouvelles/archives/2014/12/20141223-142442.html

External links

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