Christine And The Queens

[Jennifer Downey]

HloseAdlade Letissier was born on 1 June 1988 in Nantes.[9] His father, Georges Letissier, taught English literature at the University of Nantes and specialises in Victorian era literature.[10] His mother, Martine Letissier, taught both French and Latin at a local middle school.[11] Martine died suddenly from a heart infection in April 2019, in the week between Letissier's two scheduled Coachella performances on 13 and 20 April; the latter was cancelled because Letissier travelled back to France to be with her.[12]

Letissier began learning to play the piano at the age of four, learned classical dance at five, and then modern jazz.[13] His parents recommended to him writers such as Sarah Waters and Judith Butler, whose works served both as inspiration and reference in Letissier's youth.[11] He attended Lyce Clemenceau learning theatre and then Lyce Fnelon secondary school in Paris learning literature.[14] He later studied at the Department of Arts of cole normale suprieure de Lyon (ENS Lyon) and also studied drama at the Lyon Regional Conservatory.[14][15]

Letissier gave his first recital as Christine and the Queens at a small Lyon club in 2010. In 2010, Letissier had to leave the theater conservatory, as he was depressed after a romantic break-up.[16] He made a trip to London and was inspired by the work of local drag queen musicians, including Russella, at the Soho nightclub Madame Jojo's.[17] The queens then became 'the Queens' in his stage name as a tribute.[18] As soon as he returned to France, he left the ENSL grande cole in the middle of the second year to devote himself fully to the musical project now called "Christine and the Queens".[19] He dedicated many of his creations to them, and to all transgender individuals, describing his genre as "freakpop".[19]

He released his debut extended play, Misricorde, in 2011, with Marc Lumbroso (Jean-Jacques Goldman's producer).[16] His second EP, titled Mac Abbey, followed in 2012, with minor hits "Narcissus Is Back" and "Cripple". The same year, he was the opening act for Lykke Li, the D, and Woodkid. Letissier won the Best Discovered Act award, known as "Dcouverte", at the Printemps de Bourges music festival and also won the "Premire Francos" award at the Les Francofolies de La Rochelle festival. Then he signed with the independent label Because Music.[20][21][16]

In 2013, Letissier was the opening act for Lilly Wood and the Prick and Gatan Roussel. On 3 June, he released the single, and also an EP of the same name, titled "Nuit 17 52", which garnered him his first charting on the official French SNEP albums chart. The song was the first single of his forthcoming studio album.

Christine and the Queens' debut studio album, Chaleur humaine, was first released in France on 2 June 2014.[11] He was almost the sole writer and producer; the track "Paradis perdus" is a cover of a 1973 French song by Christophe. Besides "Nuit 17 52", three singles were released: "Saint Claude", "Christine", and "Paradis Perdus". "Christine" is the French version of "Cripple" earlier released in 2012. After the album reached number 2 on the French chart and was certified diamond there,[22] Letissier toured France.[13]

For his second studio album, Letissier had early sessions with both Mark Ronson and Damon Albarn, but eventually decided to work alone, with Cole M.G.N. as co-producer on some tracks.[3] "Confident in [his] decision to go it alone, [he] cut [his] hair short and started again as Chris. 'I wanted to risk it all,' [he] said, smiling."[3] In April 2018, he announced a tour across North America and Europe, planned for the autumn.[39] In July, Christine also announced details of an upcoming studio album titled Chris.[40][41] It was preceded by the release of two singles, each in an English and French version: "Girlfriend"/"Damn, dis-moi" on 17 May, and "Doesn't Matter"/"Doesn't Matter (Voleur de soleil)" on 5 July. He also released the English-language "5 Dollars" single on 16 August, which was followed by the French-language single "La marcheuse" on 23 August. Chris was released on 21 September 2018 and received universal critical acclaim.[42] AllMusic editors summarised: "the singer/songwriter's triumphant second album borrows from '80s R&B and questions gender roles, engaging minds, hearts, and bodies along the way."[43] Robert Steiner of The Boston Globe called the album "a refreshing, empowering record" and complimented its "stellar production and contagiously danceable jams", as well as Letissier's "engrossing lyricism". Although he felt that the album "loses steam" in its second half, Steiner named "The Walker" as a highlight for its "poignant" portrayal of a victim of domestic violence.[44] Chris peaked at number 2 on the French and at No. 3 on the UK chart. The record featured at the top of many year-end best-of lists, ranked number one by Clash, The Guardian, and The Independent, and placed in the top-five of five other lists, for a total of 12 positions in top-ten. "Girlfriend" was named song of the year by Time.[45] In the 'top pop albums of the 2010s' listings, Chris was ranked No. 15 by Consequence, ahead of Rihanna's Anti and Ariana Grande's Thank U, Next, and No. 24 by Paste, ahead of Lady Gaga's Born This Way and Adele's 25.

In May 2019, Letissier performed during the season finale for the eleventh season of RuPaul's Drag Race held at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles.[46] The same month, he headlined the All Points East festival in London, marking his first UK headline festival appearance.[47] His performance was well received; The Independent gave the concert five stars, calling it "a tiny tour de force".[48] On 17 July, Charli XCX released the single "Gone" alongside the music video, a joint effort with Letissier, which they debuted earlier together at the end of May during the Primavera Sound festival.[49] The track was shortlisted by BBC Radio 1 DJ Annie Mac for the Hottest Record of the Year, voted for by the public, and finished in third position.[50] Pitchfork listed the song at number four on its list of 2019's 100 best songs and at number 145 for the 200 best songs of the 2010s.[51][29] In September, the duo performed the song again at the Electric Picnic festival, on The Jonathan Ross Show to promote the release of Charli XCX's studio album Charli, and on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.[52]

On 26 September 2021, Letissier released the two-track EP Joseph, containing a cover version of the Wham! song "Freedom", and the French classic song "Comme l'oiseau".[64] On 4 November 2021, Charli XCX released "New Shapes" featuring Letissier and Caroline Polachek as the second single from her studio album Crash (2022).[65]

Letissier first mentioned work on a third studio album in April 2020, saying that he was "looking for something very vast and hopeful" for the project.[66] In May 2022, he collaborated with American rapper 070 Shake on "Body", a single from the latter's second studio album You Can't Kill Me.[67] On 24 June 2022, Letissier released the lead single from his third studio album, "Je te vois enfin". The track is sung entirely in French and sees Letissier embody a "suave and sophisticated" alter ego named Redcar.[68] His third studio album, Redcar les adorables toiles (prologue), was released on 11 November 2022.[69]

On 8 March 2023, Letissier released the song "To Be Honest" as the lead single from his fourth studio album Paranoia, Angels, True Love.[70][71] Returning to the name Christine and the Queens for the album, he described it as "the second part of an operatic gesture that also encompassed 2022's Redcar les adorables toiles".[70] Primarily in English, Paranoa, Angels, True Love was co-produced by Mike Dean.[70] Released on 9 June 2023, it features collaborations with Madonna and 070 Shake.[72]

In 2024, Amazon licensed the song "Full of Life" from Paranoia, Angels, True Love for a 60-second ad called "Concrete Jungle". It was released in 30-second and full minute versions.[74] On 20 February, MGMT released the single "Dancing in Babylon" featuring Christine and the Queens ahead of their fifth studio album Loss of Life. It is the first MGMT song to feature a guest vocalist.[75] On 26 April, Letissier released the French-language song "Rentrer chez moi".[76] It was followed by the English-language "That's Us/Wild Combination", an Arthur Russell cover, on 8 June; the song was released under the two stage names Christine and the Queens and Rahim C Redcar, the latter of which was also added to the credits of Redcar les adorables toiles (prologue) that month.[2]

In July 2024, Lettisier, expressing frustration with both his record label and not being invited to perform during the 2024 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, leaked his fifth studio album, Hopecore, by sharing a WeTransfer link on his official social media accounts.[77]

Letissier prefers lyrics that are not immediately understandable. He explained that he enjoys "authors with difficult lyrics", such as Alain Bashung.[78] His music has been labelled by music critics as pop,[79] synth-pop,[41] electropop,[79] indie pop, experimental pop,[19] and art pop,[80] while he described his own work as "freakpop".[19]

Letissier emphasized the importance of his experience with Madame Jojo's drag club in London: "These drag artists have become my friends, they've inspired my creativity. They gave me the idea of creating a character, inventing another silhouette, another way of being in this world. Before it was a musical project, Christine was for me the answer to how to live properly. The Queens in Christine and the Queens is my tribute to them. Without the queens, I wouldn't be here".[81]

He also said, "[he] does not want to choose between French music and English pop music" and takes influence from both.[82] In a November 2013 interview with Brain Magazine [fr], he cited artists such as Christophe, David Bowie (especially his Ziggy Stardust character),[83] Kanye West, Kendrick Lamar, Philip Glass, T. Rex as well as the Soul Train soundtracks as his musical influences. He also named Michael Jackson as his favourite male singer and "either Patti Smith or Kate Bush" as his favourite female singer.[84] Other influences include Bjrk,[17] Beyonc, Daniel Balavoine, Fever Ray, Frank Ocean,[83] Janet Jackson, Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis,[85] Mylne Farmer,[86] Joe Jackson, Lou Reed, Serge Gainsbourg,[87] and Madonna.[88]

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