Christine and the Queens
| Christine and the Queens | |
|---|---|
 Christine and the Queens performing at Festival des Vieilles Charrues in 2014 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Héloïse Letissier |
| Born |
1 June 1988 Nantes, France[1] |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) |
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| Instruments |
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| Years active | 2010–present |
| Labels |
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| Associated acts | |
| Website |
christineandthequeens |
Héloïse Letissier (born 1 June 1988), known by her stage name Christine and the Queens, is a French singer, songwriter and producer. She was born in Nantes and has been signed to the independent record label Because Music since 2012. Her work combines music, performance, art videos, drawings and photography.[6]
Early life
Letissier was born 1 June 1988. Her father, Georges Letissier, teaches English at The University of Nantes and specializes in Victorian era literature.[7] Her mother teaches both French and Latin at a local middle school.[8]
Her parents recommended writers such as Sarah Waters and Judith Butler, whose works served both as inspiration and reference in Letissier's youth.[8]
Career
Letissier studied theatre at École normale supérieure de Lyon (ENS Lyon), moving to Paris in 2010, where she concluded her studies. When she visited London in 2010, she was inspired by the work of local drag queen musicians, including Russella,[9][10] who accompanied her in one of her early concerts. They then became her "Queens" as a backing band. She dedicated many of her creations to them and to all transgender individuals, describing her genre as "freakpop".[5]
She adopted the name Christine and the Queens releasing her debut EP Miséricorde independently followed by another EP in 2012 called Mac Abbey with the minor hits "Narcissus is Back" and "Cripple". In 2012, she was the opening act for Lykke Li, The Dø and Woodkid as well as for Lilly Wood and the Prick in 2013. Her third release was an EP titled Nuit 17 à 52 which garnered her first charting on the official French Albums Chart SNEP with the help of its title track.
In 2012, Christine and the Queens won the Best Discovered Act known as Découverte du Printemps de Bourges and also the Adami Premières Francos 2012 award.
The single "Tilted", translated from "Christine", was released in February 2015 in the United States as an introduction to her first English EP Saint Claude. Edited by Neon Gold Records, the band toured North America with Marina and the Diamonds as promotion for the release. The song was released in the UK in 2016 and charted on the UK Singles Chart. In 2016, Christine and the Queens put together a cover of Beyoncé's "Sorry" in the BBC Live Lounge, the cover was named as one of the "6 Best New Songs of the Week."[11]
She appeared on Jools' Annual Hootenanny on 31 December 2016-1 January 2017
"iT" was used as the soundtrack for the closing scenes and credits on the episode "Old Loves" during season 5 of Girls shown on 13 March 2016.
In 2016, she was chosen as one of BBC's 100 Women[12]
Personal life
In 2014, Letissier identified herself as pansexual.[13]
In the acknowledgements for the album Chaleur humaine, Letissier wrote "Océane, my beautiful wife. The flowers are for you" (in reference to the album art). This is generally assumed to be a dedication to French comedian and feminist Océane Rose Marie.[14]
Discography
Studio albums
| Title | Details | Peak chart positions | Certifications | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FRA [15] |
AUS [16] |
BEL [17] |
NL [18] |
NZ [19] |
SWI [20] |
UK [21] | |||
| Chaleur Humaine (US title: Christine and the Queens) |
|
2 | 8 | 1 | 25 | 8 | 7 | 2 | |
Extended plays
| Title | Details | Peak chart positions | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FRA [15] | |||||||||||||||||||
| Miséricorde[25] |
|
— | |||||||||||||||||
| Mac Abbey[26] |
|
— | |||||||||||||||||
| Nuit 17 à 52[27] |
|
130 | |||||||||||||||||
| iTunes Session (limited edition)[28] |
|
39 | |||||||||||||||||
| Saint Claude[29] |
|
— | |||||||||||||||||
| Intranquillité[30] |
|
— | |||||||||||||||||
| Christine and the Queens (UK only/promotional) |
|
— | |||||||||||||||||
| "—" denotes an album that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | |||||||||||||||||||
Singles
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FRA [15] |
AUS [16] |
BEL [17] |
NLD [18] |
UK [21] | |||||||||||||||
| 2013 | "Nuit 17 à 52" | 75 | — | 61 | — | — | Chaleur humaine | ||||||||||||
| 2014 | "Saint Claude" | 4 | — | 8 | — | — | |||||||||||||
| "Christine" | 3 | — | 1 | 41 | — |
| |||||||||||||
| 2015 | "Paradis perdus" | 19 | — | 39 | — | — | |||||||||||||
| "No Harm Is Done" (featuring Tunji Ige) |
118 | — | — | — | — | Christine and the Queens | |||||||||||||
| "Jonathan" (featuring Perfume Genius) |
120 | — | 76 | — | — | ||||||||||||||
| 2016 | "Tilted" | — | 54 | — | — | 20 |
| ||||||||||||
| "—" denotes a single that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | |||||||||||||||||||
Other charted songs
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FRA [15] | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2015 | "Chaleur humaine" | 186 | Chaleur humaine | ||||||||||||||||
| "Intranquillité" | 54 | Intranquillité | |||||||||||||||||
| "Amazoniaque" | 178 | ||||||||||||||||||
| "Safe and Holy" | 188 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2016 | "Here" (featuring Booba) |
52 | Non-album single | ||||||||||||||||
| "—" denotes a song that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | |||||||||||||||||||
Guest appearances
| Title | Year | Other artist(s) | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Second 2 None" | 2017 | Mura Masa | Mura Masa |
Awards and nominations
| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | MTV Europe Music Awards | Best French Act | Herself | Nominated |
| 2015 | NRJ Awards | Francophone Female Artist of the Year | Nominated | |
| Francophone Song of the Year | "Tilted" | Nominated | ||
| Globes de Cristal Award | Best Female Singer | Herself | Nominated | |
| MTV Europe Music Awards | Best French Act | Nominated | ||
| Victoires de la musique | Female Artist of the Year | Won | ||
| Original Song of the Year | "Saint Claude" | Nominated | ||
| Music Video of the Year | Won | |||
| Album of the Year | "Chaleur Humaine" | Nominated | ||
| Musical Show, Tour or Concert of the Year | At La Gaîté lyrique, La Cigale and on tour | Nominated | ||
| 2016 | BBC Music Awards | Radio 1 Live Lounge Performance of the Year | "Sorry" | Nominated |
| Victoires de la musique | Musical Show, Tour or Concert of the Year | Tour of the Le Zénith | Won | |
| Music Video of the Year | "Tilted" | Won | ||
| Q Awards | Best Breakthrough Act | Herself | Nominated | |
| Best Album | "Chaleur Humaine" | Nominated | ||
| 2017 | IMPALA | Album of the Year | Nominated | |
| Globes de Cristal Award | Best Female Singer | Herself | Nominated | |
| Brit Awards | International Female Solo Artist | Nominated | ||
| NME Awards | Best International Female | Won | ||
| Best New Artist | Nominated | |||
| Best Live Band | Nominated | |||
| Best Track | "Tilted" | Won |
See also
References
- ↑ Kourles, Gia Christine, a Pop Star Who Sings With Her Muscles New York Times. October 7, 2016
- 1 2 Collar, Matt. "Christine and the Queens Bio". AllMusic. Retrieved June 25, 2017.
- ↑ "Christine and the Queens". AllMusic.
- ↑ Snapes, Laura. "Christine and the Queens Can’t Stop Googling Weird Diseases". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
- 1 2 Le Monde: Christine & the Queens: "amener un peu de fantaisie ou de bizarre" dans le genre populaire (in French)
- ↑ François Alvarez. "Christine and the Queens biographie" (in French). music story. Archived from the original on 2014-10-28.
- ↑ LETISSIER, Georges. "Université de Nantes – UFR Langue et Cultures Étrangères – LETISSIER Georges". www.flce.univ-nantes.fr (in French). Retrieved 2016-12-08.
- 1 2 Snapes, Laura (2016-09-04). "Christine and the Queens: 'I just want to shatter everything'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2016-12-08.
- ↑ Van Renterghem, Marion (23 Nov 2016). "Les confessions de Christine and the Queens". Vanity Fair.
- ↑ Medioni, Par Gilles (13 Feb 2015). "VIDEOS. La voix royale de Christine and the Queens". L'Express.
- ↑ "6 Best New Songs of the Week". Vulture.com. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
- ↑ 2016, BBC, Retrieved 24 November 2016
- ↑ Laurent Ruquier with Natacha Polony & Aymeric Caron (14 June 2014). Christine and the Queens est pansexuelle – On n'est pas couché (in French). fr:Studio Gabriel, Paris: ONPC, France Télévisions.
Christine and the Queens is pansexual
- ↑ ""My love life would have been way better": Christine and the Queens on gender fluidity and drag". www.newstatesman.com. Retrieved 2016-12-08.
- 1 2 3 4 "Discographie Christine and the Queens". French Charts Portal. Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 June 2014.
- 1 2 Peak positions in Australia:
- For all except noted: "Discography Christine and the Queens". Australian Charts Portal. Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 August 2016.
- For "Tilted": "CHART WATCH #377". auspOp. 16 July 2016. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
- 1 2 "Discografie Christine and the Queens". Belgium (Flanders) Charts Portal. Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 November 2014.
- 1 2 "Discografie Christine and the Queens". Dutch Charts Portal. Hung Medien. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
- ↑ "Discography Christine and the Queens". New Zealand Charts Portal. Hung Medien. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
- ↑ "Discographie Christine and the Queens". Swiss Charts Portal. Hung Medien. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
- 1 2 "Christine and the Queens". Officialcharts.com/. Official Charts Company. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
- ↑ "Bilan 2015 Du Marché de la Musiqye Enregistrée" (PDF). SNEP. Retrieved 21 August 2016.
- ↑ "Ultratop − Goud en Platina – 2015". Ultratop & Hung Medien / hitparade.ch. Retrieved August 21, 2016.
- 1 2 "British certifications – Christine and the Queens – Chaleur Humaine". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 26 August 2016. Enter Chaleur Humaine in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Click Search
- ↑ "Christine And The Queens – Miséricorde". Retrieved 11 December 2016.
- ↑ "Christine And The Queens – Mac Abbey". Retrieved 11 December 2016.
- ↑ "Christine And The Queens – Nuit 17 À 52". Retrieved 11 December 2016.
- ↑ "Christine And The Queens – iTunes Session". Retrieved 11 December 2016.
- ↑ "Christine And The Queens – Saint Claude". Retrieved 11 December 2016.
- ↑ "Christine And The Queens – Intranquillité". Retrieved 11 December 2016.
- ↑ "Ultratop − Goud en Platina – 2016". Ultratop & Hung Medien / hitparade.ch. Retrieved August 21, 2016.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Héloïse Letissier. |