Mylene Farmer

In her teenage years Mylne was passionate about horses and she would devote all her free time and energy to riding going on to pass her riding instructor exam at the famous equestrian centre in Saumur. But 17-year-old Mylne's other great passion in life was acting and she would eventually abandon the stables to take a three-year course at the Cours Florent, a prestigious drama school in Paris. Changing her name to Mylne Farmer after her favourite American actress Frances Farmer, Mylne began to earn a living as a model and even went on to star in several TV ads.

It was around this time that Mylne met Laurent Boutonnat, a young man who had also trained as an actor. This encounter was to change the course of Mylnes life, for Laurent not only became her partner but also a kind of Pygmalion figure, helping her get her career off the ground. Laurent, whose ambition was to become a film director, was also the driving force behind Mylnes amazing videos.

Laurent Boutonnat teamed up with the young songwriter, Jrme Dahan, and the pair went on to write Mylnes first hit, "Maman a tort" - a single which rocketed straight to the top of the French charts as soon as it was released in March 1984. The video which accompanied the single release, cost the modest sum of 5,000 francs, but it would cause a veritable stir in the music world. Boutonnat cast Mylne as a kind of provocative Lolita figure, and the singer would deliberately cultivate this image in the early days of her career, especially on her dbut album, "Cendres de lune". This album, released in January 1986, proved to be an immense success, selling over 1 million copies.

"Libertine", the first single released from the album in March 86, set the tone for the whole Mylne Farmer style. Mylnes sensual, romantic lyrics which she wrote herself were very much inspired by the great figures of 19th century literature and set to sophisticated melodies written by Boutonnat. Boutonnat also took charge of directing Mylnes videos, imposing his distinctive style on them. The video which accompanied "Libertine", for instance, is heavily charged with 18th century eroticism conjuring up images of the film "Barry Lyndon" and the novels of the Marquis de Sade. Mylne, lit only in the glow of soft candlelight, is shrouded in an aura of mystery and sexual ambiguity. This mysterious erotic ambience would continue to be the singers trademark throughout the rest of her career, infusing the following videos "Tristana" and "Sans contrefaon".

Mylnes second album, "Ainsi soit-je", smashed all her previous sales records, soaring to the top of the album charts immediately after its release in March 1988. This album, infused with the same dark, erotic atmosphere as the singers previous work, featured songs inspired by Mylnes favourite authors, the French romantic poet Baudelaire and the American horror writer Edgar Allan Poe. The album also featured a particularly erotic version of Juliette Grcos hit "Dshabillez-moi".

In spite of all her drama courses Mylne still found it difficult to overcome her natural shyness and perform in front of an audience. It was only after much hesitation that the singer finally agreed to do a live concert in 1989. After singing at a small venue in St Etienne, as a kind of test run, Mylne finally arrived in Paris to perform at the Palais des Sports where fans packed the auditorium out for a whole week in May. Mylne wasted no time in overcoming her stage fright and even appeared to enjoy performing on stage, for she followed the Paris concerts with an extensive tour which included 52 dates throughout France and Europe. Her 1989 tour would result in a special live album released in December.

Mylne's spectacular stage shows together with her wacky appearance and piercing vocals, soon began to attract an increasing number of fans. Meanwhile Mylne continued to surround herself with an air of mystery, refusing to give interviews or to appear in the media - but this only served to excite fans' curiosity about the reclusive star.

Mylne devoted almost the whole of 1990 to her work in the studio, recording 10 new songs for her album "L'autre", which was finally released in April 91. Boutonnat recreated his special magic once again in the spectacular videos accompanying "Dsenchante", "Regrets" a duet with Jean Louis Murat, "Je t'aime mlancolie" and "Beyond My Control". The video for the latter was banned from French TV screens, however, censors deeming it too violent and shocking for viewers. Mylne followed the album with a hugely successful tour, which attracted tens of thousands of fans. Encouraged by this success, Mylne released a special compilation album in November 1992, featuring dance remixes of her greatest hits .

In the winter of 9293 Mylne Farmer set off for Slovakia with Laurent Boutonnat to star in his first feature film "Giorgino". The pair spent five long hard months, trudging through the snow and working under extremely difficult conditions, Mylne throwing herself body and soul into her role as a young autist.

Accustomed as she was to pulling off phenomenal record sales with the greatest of ease and performing sell-out tours across France, Mylne was totally unprepared for her first failure. When "Giorgino" hit the cinema screens on October 4 1994, Boutonnats film proved to be a spectacular flop. The film, which had involved a huge budget of over 80 million francs, recovered a paltry 1 and a half million francs at the box office. Fans who had flocked to see Mylne Farmer in concert were definitely not queuing to see their music idol at the cinema, and, owing to an almost total lack of interest, the film was taken off Paris screens after only a three-week run.

Devastated by this cinematic failure, Mylne left France and moved to Los Angeles for a while and she would eventually decide to record her next album, "Anamorphose", in the States. The album, which was released in France on October 17 1995, revealed a new-style Mylne Farmer. The singers new material was definitely more rock-oriented, featuring a much more energetic, electric guitar sound. The cover of the new album showed that Mylnes image had also undergone a radical transformation. The portrait on the album cover, taken by the famous American photographer Herb Ritts, showed a new-look Mylne who had left the ambiguous Lolita image of her old days behind and gone for a more mature leather look. Mylnes videos had also undergone a radical transformation. After the spectacular flop of "Giorgione", Mylnes new videos were no longer placed under the artistic direction of Laurent Boutonnat. They were shot instead by top American film directors such as Abel Ferrara renowned for his films "Bad Lieutenant" and "Snake Eyes" who made the video for "California".

After the release of her new album, Mylne then returned to her touring activities, performing three spectacular shows at the massive Bercy Stadium May 28 and 29 and June 1. She then set off upon an extensive tour of France. But the tour was cut short after an accident in Lyon on June 15, when the singer skidded off stage at the end of a concert, fell into the orchestra pit and broke her wrist. Mylne bounded back on stage in November, however, continuing her hectic schedule right up until another series of hugely popular shows at Bercy in the spring of 97.

Mylne was back in the music news in 1999 with a new album entitled "Innamoramento". The album - for which Mylne penned practically all the lyrics herself and wrote the music for 5 of the 13 tracks - remained true to the singer's successful hit-making formula. The first two single releases, "l'Ame stram gram" and "Souviens-toi du jour", rocketed straight to the top of the French charts, boosting sales of "Innamoramento" which went on to sell almost a million copies.

Later that year Mylne set off on her famous "Mylenium Tour", performing a series of lavish over-the-top stage shows up and down the country. The concerts attracted thousands of committed Mylne fans who turned out in force to see their idol dressed in sexyfuturist stage garb, emerging from the head of a giant Sphinx and breaking into a superbly-choreographed work-outs! One of the highlights of the "Mylenium Tour" was Mylne's run at Bercy Stadium in Paris, where in September 1999, she brought the house down four nights in a row.

Mylne rocketed back into the music news in January 2000, scooping three of the top prizes at the NRJ Music Awards in Cannes. Greeted by rapturous applause from the largely teenage audience, the singer sobbed her way through her acceptance speech amidst a flash of camera bulbs.

At the end of 2000, after long months spent on the road for the sake of her "Mylenium Tour", she released a live album featuring highlights from this gigantic show. One of the biggest ever produced in France this show was as triumphal as Farmers tours usually are and the album was released in several formats video, DVD, collectors CD and LP.

By the end of 2001 "Mylenium Tour had gone double platinum selling over 600,000 copies. Following this success, Mylne's record label went on to release the singer's first "Greatest Hits" album entitled "Les Mots". This double album - featuring no less than 29 tracks! - proved to be the next instalment of the Mylne success story, shooting straight to no.1 in the album charts shortly after its release. The title track, a duet with UK singer Seal, was chosen as the first single release from the album.

On 19 January 2002 Mylne went on to triumph at the NRJ Music Awards, carrying off the trophy for Best Female Francophone Artist of the Year.

Shortly afterwards French daily Figaro Entreprises published a report on 14 February 2002, naming Mylne Farmer as the French artist who had made the most revenue from copyright in 2001, earning 10.4 million euros as a singer, songwriter, composer and producer of young French talent Alize.

That same year she received the "Platinum Europe award" at the Europe Awards for her million-selling Best Of. And the following year, she was named Best Francophone Artist of the year at the NRJ Music Awards.

But it wasn't until March 2005 that she released "Fuck them all", the first single from her latest studio album. The album itself, "Avant que l'ombre", came out a month later. All her key themes are to be found here: death, spirituality but also love and sex. Mylne Farmer wrote all the lyrics, to music by the ever faithful Laurent Boutonnat. Although always discreet yet effective when it comes to promoting her album, Mylne Farmer announced 13 concert dates in January 2006 at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy, all of which were quickly booked up.

On the whole, Mylne Farmer remains as mysterious a figure as ever, shunning interviews and media appearances. The singer has nevertheless built up an extensive following of fans and her albums and concerts continue to cause a huge stir on the French music scene.