61 Facts About Mireille Mathieu

Mireille Mathieu has recorded over 1200 songs in eleven languages, with more than 122 million records sold worldwide.

Mireille Mathieu was born on 22 July 1946 in Avignon, France, as the eldest daughter of a family of fourteen children; the youngest brother was born after she moved to Paris.

Mireille Mathieu arrived in Avignon in 1944 as a refugee from World War II after her grandmother had died, and her mother went missing.

The Mireille Mathieu family lived in poverty, with a huge improvement in their living conditions in 1954, when subsidized housing was built in the Malpeigne quarter near the cemetery.

Mireille Mathieu included her father's operatic voice on her 1968 Christmas album, where it was mixed in with the Minuit Chretiens song.

Mireille Mathieu's first paid performance before an audience, at age four, was rewarded with a lollipop when she sang on Christmas Eve 1950 during Midnight Mass.

Mireille Mathieu performed poorly in elementary school because of dyslexia, requiring an extra year to graduate.

Mireille Mathieu was born left-handed, and her teachers used a ruler to strike her hand each time she was caught writing with it.

Mireille Mathieu became right-handed, although her left hand remains quite animated while singing.

Mireille Mathieu has a fantastic memory, and never uses a prompter on stage.

Mireille Mathieu is Roman Catholic, and her adopted patron saint is Saint Rita, the Saint for the Impossible.

Mireille Mathieu began her career by participating in an annual singing contest in Avignon called On Chante dans mon Quartier.

Mireille Mathieu's private singing lessons were by Madame Laure Colliere, who was a piano teacher in Avignon.

Mireille Mathieu's win was rewarded with a free trip to Paris, and a pre-audition for the televised talent show Jeu de la Chance, where amateur singers competed for audience and telephone votes.

Mireille Mathieu and her father both thought he was an American based on his name and manner, and nicknamed him l'Americain.

Stark had worked with singers such as Yves Montand, and the relationship between him and Mireille Mathieu is often described as resembling that between Colonel Tom Parker and Elvis Presley.

Mireille Mathieu was invited to Paris by the impresario Regis Durcourt to sing on the Song Parade television programme, on 19 November 1965.

The truth has never been revealed how, but Mireille Mathieu was suddenly moved up to compete live on the Sunday 21 November 1965 episode of Jeu de la Chance, a talent segment of the popular French programme Tele-Dimanche.

Mireille Mathieu explained that Song Parade offered only one chance to sing, while "Jeu de la Chance" offered many chances to sing, but only if she won, and she intended to win.

Mireille Mathieu is surrounded by her sisters Monique and Christiane, with Stark hovering in the background as she is interviewed for the first time on camera.

Mireille Mathieu appears to be uncomfortable, staring at the floor during many of the questions, even looking dumbfounded at one point.

Mireille Mathieu was hailed in the press, in France and abroad, as the Piaf d'Avignon, in reference to Piaf's nickname "Sparrow of the Streets".

Mireille Mathieu had always prayed that she could get her family out of poverty, but the touring and singing were much more important at the time.

Mireille Mathieu arrived in Paris with two dresses and a change of underwear, and Stark set her up in style, sent for Mireille Mathieu's two eldest sisters, and let them go shopping for a week.

Mireille Mathieu then rented her a home and a maid in the smart district of Neuilly after she had won, and made sure she only had her singing to worry about.

Mireille Mathieu sang at the London Palladium during royal performances, once in 1967 with further performances in 1969 and 1981.

Mireille Mathieu toured Canada and the United States, where she appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show and the Danny Kaye Show.

Mireille Mathieu writes in her book, that they received a note which said "we will get you next time" but it was not proved to be anything but an accident.

In 1972, Mireille Mathieu toured Canada and produced a live album.

In 1974, Mireille Mathieu formed her own publishing company Abilene Music.

In 1985, Mireille Mathieu joined Placido Domingo in performing a children's show called The Tales of Cri-Cri.

In 1988, W Kordes' Sohne, a German rose-breeding company, introduced the Mireille Mathieu Rose to match her favorite lipstick color.

Mireille Mathieu wanted to be a singer, and he was tired of people who just wanted to be famous.

Mireille Mathieu writes that she was forbidden to read the press, and, having peeked at some of it, was content to follow that rule.

Mireille Mathieu writes that her mother was often surprised to read on the front page that she was engaged to someone famous, or was going to be in a movie by some famous director.

Mireille Mathieu's guiding principle was just to sing, and never have her family return to the tenements of Croix des Oiseaux.

Mireille Mathieu lived here with her aunt Irene, and brothers and sisters would often visit.

The pool was designed to be shallow all around, and deep in the center, as Mireille Mathieu has a fear of drowning, and never learned to swim.

In 1989, President Francois Mitterrand invited Mireille Mathieu to sing a tribute to General Charles de Gaulle.

Mireille Mathieu performed again in Palais des Congres in November and December 1990 with a special 2-hour concert without intermission, a new hair cut, like Louise Brooks and a very simple black dress created by French couturier Pierre Cardin.

Mireille Mathieu sold 100,000 copies of the French album which was available in the United States.

Mireille Mathieu adapted this album to the German In meinem Traum with 2 mini-CD.

In 1999, Mireille Mathieu released another German album, Alles nur ein Spiel, with some modern songs, with a techno sound.

In 2002, Mireille Mathieu released her thirty-seventh French album: De tes mains, followed by a series of concerts at the Paris Olympia in November and a tour in France, Belgium and Switzerland.

Reviews in the French press were quite good and the public gave Mireille Mathieu standing ovations every evening.

Mathieu celebrated the fortieth anniversary of her career at the Paris Olympia on 24 November 2005, and released her thirty-eighth French album: Mireille Mathieu, produced by Patrick Hampartzoumian who wrote the main title "Une place dans mon coeur".

In 2007, Mireille Mathieu supported presidential candidate Nicolas Sarkozy, the mayor of Neuilly.

In January 2011, Mireille Mathieu was promoted from Chevalier to Officier of the Legion d'honneur.

In November 2011, Mireille Mathieu cancelled her concert in Israel for the second time in 2011.

In October 2012, Mireille Mathieu announced on her web page that she is re-releasing her Chante Piaf, with two new recordings added, in celebration of her 50th year as a singer, and the 50th year of Piaf's death.

Mireille Mathieu had contracted these shows through a Yekaterinburg company called Mix Art, through her Malta agent Foresa Investment Ltd.

Mireille Mathieu performed the rescheduled concert in Ufa on 7 March 2013.

Mireille Mathieu had an active tour schedule for 2014, celebrating her 50th year in show business.

Mireille Mathieu performed her 50th Anniversary tour in Germany and Austria from 1 to 16 March 2015, singing at sold-out venues in twelve different cities.

On 26 May 2015, Mireille Mathieu sang at the "Culture Without Borders" project at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris.

Mireille Mathieu took part at a concert titled The Allies of the Great Victory: A Musical Story, with the participation of Jazz Band of Igor Butman ; other soloists include Allan Harris, Sanya Kroitor, Yakov Yavno, Igor Butman, Mikhail Gluz, Polina Zizak and other celebrities.

On 20 March 2016, Mireille Mathieu's mother died at the age of 94 from a pulmonary embolism.

Mireille Mathieu was entombed in the mausoleum Mathieu at the Saint-Veran cemetery in Avignon.

The war in Ukraine now makes it impossible for Mireille Mathieu to be in Russia, like any other French artist.

Mireille Mathieu strongly condemns the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and cries every day, said Isabelle Morini-Bosc, her friend journalist.

Mireille Mathieu is a devout Catholic and attends Catholic Mass with her family.