Biography

 Mika - The best singer

Birth name      Michael Holbrook Penniman, Jr.

Also known as  Mica Penniman, Mika Penniman

Artistic name       Mika

Born        18 August 1983 (age 28)
                             Beirut (Lebanon)

Origine  London, England (UK)

Genres  Pop, rock, pop rock, power pop, glam rock

Occupations  Musician, Singer and songwriter

Instruments Vocals, keyboards, Piano       

Mika was born in Beirut, the third of five children born to a Lebanese mother and an American father. When he was a year old his family was forced to leave war-torn Lebanon and moved to Paris. The family moved to London when he was nine years old. There, he attended the Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle, where he experienced severe bullying. He also had problems with dyslexia. In response to these experiences Mika was home-schooled by his mother at the age of 12, for six to eight months. He then attended St Philip's School in Kensington, where he was the head of the Schola Cantorum (the St. Philip's Choir). Later he attended Westminster School and the Royal College of Music, which he left to record his first album at Casablanca Records. He has also slightly altered his given name, Mica, changing the "c" to a "k" because he was frustrated by how often people would mispronounce it.

As a child Mika was trained by Alla Ardakov (Ablaberdyeva), a Russian opera professional, and later attended the Royal College of Music in London.

Mika speaks French and Spanish fluently; in an interview on 28 September 2009 with The Chris Moyles Show on BBC Radio 1 he commented that he had taken Mandarin Chinese for 9 years but did not speak it very well; he also mentioned that his three sisters did all speak it fluently.


In March 2010 Mika was named in France a Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters for services to music. He is the youngest person to receive the award.