Mylène Farmer (born September 12, 1961) is a singer and songwriter from France (born in Canada).

She was born Mylène Gautier in Pierrefonds, Quebec, a suburb (now borough) of Montreal. Some sources, apparently incorrectly, give her birth name as Gauthier or even Marie-Hélène Gauthier. She chose her stage name in homage to Frances Farmer. She is very popular in France and other French-speaking countries, but almost unknown in other countries despite a collaboration with the British vocalist Seal in her song Les mots.

She made her professional recording debut in 1984 with the song Maman a tort, followed in 1986 by her first album, Cendres de Lune including the hit Libertine. She worked together extensively with Laurent Boutonnat, who not only wrote her music, but also directed the long videos for her songs and the 1994 movie Giorgino.

Mylène Farmer gained fame with songs featuring ambiguous or shocking lyrics, and somewhat explicit videos. Maman a tort was about the love of a young girl for her female nurse in hospital (with hints of masturbation). Pourvu qu'elles soient douces was about a man with an obsession for the buttocks of his lover, with hints of sodomy; the video, set in the 18th century, featured a caning. Que mon cœur lâche was about love with condoms in the age of AIDS; the video clip featured a rendition of God the Father and Jesus where God the Father would tell Jesus that he does not send him on a mission to Earth for last time was a disaster, as well as a sex scene.

After the disappointing reception of Giorgino, Farmer moved to the U.S.A. for a while. She returned in 1995 with a new, more rock-like sound for Anamorphosée. This, like her previous two albums, sold over 1 million copies in France and was followed up with the album and DVD Live à Bercy.

Mylène was not to return to the spotlight until 1999 with the album Innamoramento. This was a more subtle affair than the previous album and the lead single "L'Ame Stram Gram" accompagnied by a magnificent Chinese themed video went to number 1.

Some of her best-known songs include Désenchantée, L'âme-stram-gram, Pourvu qu'elles soient douces, and Sans contrefaçon.

In 2000, she and Laurent Boutonnat wrote the lyrics and music for starlet Alizée's album Gourmandises and Mes Courants Electriques.

Discography

• Cendres de Lune (86)
• Ainsi Soit Je... (1988)
• En Concert (1989, live recordings from Cendres de Lune and Ainsi Soit Je...)
• L'Autre (1991)
• Dance Remixes (1992, remixes from earlier albums)
• Anamorphosée (1995)
• Live à Bercy (1997, live recordings from the Anamorphosée tour)
• Innamoramento (1999)
• Mylenium Tour (2000, another live album)
• Les Mots (2001, "best of" album with few new songs)
• Remixes (2004)
• Avant Que L'Ombre (April 2005)

External link

• Mylene.net Unofficial but very informative and well-constructed fan-site
• Mylène Farmer Is Called The most complete and trustworthy French site
• Autopsie de Laurent Boutonnat French-language site devoted to Laurent Boutonnat; includes in-depth analyses of all of his work with Mylène, plus more
• M.F. International English-language forum devoted to Mylène Farmer and other French music