Matthieu Chedid (born 21 December 1971), better known by his stage name -M-, is a French rock singer-songwriter and guitar player. Since 2018, he has been the most awarded artist at the

Victoires de la Musique Victoires de la Musique (; en, Victories of Music) is an annual French award ceremony where the Victoire accolade is delivered by the French Ministry of Culture to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry. The classical and jazz ...

Awards with 13 awards, tied with

Alain Bashung Alain Bashung (, born Alain Claude Baschung; 1 December 1947 – 14 March 2009) was a French singer, songwriter and actor. Credited with reviving the French chanson in "a time of French musical turmoil", he is often regarded in his home country a ...

Biography

Matthieu Chedid was born in

Boulogne-Billancourt Boulogne-Billancourt (; often colloquially called simply Boulogne, until 1924 Boulogne-sur-Seine, ) is a wealthy and prestigious Communes of France, commune in the Parisian area, located from its Kilometre zero, centre. It is a Subprefectures in ...

Hauts-de-Seine Hauts-de-Seine (; ) is a Departments of France, département in the Île-de-France Regions of France, region, Northern France. It covers Paris's western inner Banlieue, suburbs. It is bordered by Paris, Seine-Saint-Denis and Val-de-Marne to the e ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, the son of French singer

Louis Chedid Louis Chedid (born 1 January 1948, in Ismaïlia) is a French singer-songwriter of Lebanese and Egyptian origin. Biography Louis Chedid is the son of the writer Andrée Chedid and the father of Matthieu Chedid (better known as -M-). As a child ...

, and the grandson of the

Egyptian Egyptian describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of years of ...

-born French writer and poet of Lebanese descent

Andrée Chedid Andrée Chedid ( ar, أندريه شديد) (20 March 1920 – 6 February 2011), born Andrée Saab Khoury, was an Egyptian- French poet and novelist of Syrian/Lebanese descent. She is the recipient of numerous literar ...

who has written lyrics for him. His sisters are the music video and concert director Émilie Chedid (born in 1970) and French singer Anna Chedid (born in 1987), also known by her stage name of Nach. His brother Joseph Chedid (born in 1986), also known by his stage name of Selim, is also a French singer and a guitar and drums player. Chedid took an interest in music early on. In 1978, at the age of six, Chedid lent his voice to the chorus of his father's hit song ''T'as beau pas être beau'' alongside older sister, Émilie. During his teenage years and early twenties, Chedid formed a few short-lasting groups such as ''Tam Tam'' , ''Les Bébés fous'' (the crazy babies) and ''Les Poissons Rouges'' (the goldfishes) with

Mathieu Boogaerts Mathieu Boogaerts (born 1970 in Fontenay-sous-Bois), is a French singer-songwriter. Biography The son of a pharmacist mother and antiquarian father, Mathieu spent his early childhood in Fontenay sous Bois before acquainting himself with the pian ...

and with the sons of

Laurent Voulzy Lucien Voulzy (, born 18 December 1948), better known as Laurent Voulzy (), is a French singer-songwriter, composer and musician. Life and career Voulzy was born in Paris, France. He originally led the English-pop-influenced Le Temple de Vénus ...

and

Alain Souchon Alain Souchon (; born Alain Édouard Kienast ; 27 May 1944) is a French singer-songwriter and actor. He has released 15 albums and has played roles in seven films. Profile Alain Souchon was born in Casablanca, Morocco. His family on his mother ...

, Julien Voulzy and Pierre Souchon. He has collaborated with a number of artists, both on stage and in the recording studio. Early into his solo career, Chedid was the opening act for

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

concerts. He has recorded with NTM,

Sinclair Sinclair may refer to: Places * Lake Sinclair, near Milledgeville, Georgia * Sinclair, Iowa * Sinclair, West Virginia * Sinclair, Wyoming * Sinclair Mills, British Columbia * Sinclair Township, Minnesota * Sinclair, Manitoba People * ...

Billy Ze Kick Billy Ze Kick were a French rock and reggae band from Rennes formed in 1990. Formed as ''Billy Ze Kick Et Les Gamins En Folie'', they split in 1994 after only one album. The singer, Nathalie Cousin, continued with a solo album under the abbrevi ...

Brigitte Fontaine Brigitte Fontaine, (born 24 June 1939) is a singer of avant-garde music. She has employed numerous unusual musical styles, melding rock and roll, folk, jazz, electronica, spoken word poetry, and world. She has collaborated with Stereolab, Mich ...

Sean Lennon is an American–British musician, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist. He is the son of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, and half-brother to Julian Lennon. Over the course of his career, he has been a member of the bands Cibo Matto, The G ...

Vanessa Paradis Vanessa Chantal Paradis (; born 22 December 1972) is a French singer, model, and actress. Paradis became a child star at the age of 14 with the international success of her single "Joe le taxi" (1987). At age 18, she was awarded France's high ...

, and

Johnny Hallyday Jean-Philippe Léo Smet (; 15 June 1943 – 5 December 2017), better known by his stage name Johnny Hallyday, was a French rock and roll and pop singer and actor, credited for having brought rock and roll to France. During a career spanning 57 ...

. Until 2008, Chedid was in a relationship with French actress Audrey Tautou.

-M-

Chedid performs and records under the stage name ''-M-''. Chedid created ''-M-'' as means of overcoming his shyness on stage and also as a way of distancing his work from that of his father and grandmother. The pseudonym comes from Chedid's first initial but also refers to the similar-sounding French word

aime Aime (; frp, Éma) is a former commune in the Savoie ''département'' in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Aime-la-Plagne.Le Baptême''. During this time; he played mainly solo or with the cellist

Vincent Ségal Vincent Ségal (born 1967 in Reims, France) is a French cellist and bassist. He studied at the National Music Academy of Lyon and the Banff Centre for the Arts in Canada. He is mainly known for the variety of his collaborations and unusual proje ...

. The album received overall positive critical reception, but public recognition only came a few months later, with the release of the single "Machistador".

''Je dis aime''

In 1999, -M- published his second album, ''

Je dis aime ''Je dis aime'' (1999) is the second studio album by French singer-songwriter Matthieu Chedid, in his persona as -M-, described by reviewers as a "conceptual icon to rival Bowie's Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane". The album manages to take a ...

'' a title that puns 'aime' (like/love) with 'M'. A few months later, the album was 11th on the French Charts, with more than 500,000 albums sold, thanks to a number of successful songs ("Je dis aime", "Onde Sensuelle", "Monde Virtuel", "Le complexe du corn-flakes", "Mama Sam"). Live, -M- played with Cyril Atef, Vincent Segal and

DJ Shalom Catman (born David Taieb in 1971), son of Willy Lewis, famous French drummer, is a French musician and electronic music producer from Paris. He founded his own label Slackness Records in 2001, co-founded La Maison Magasin in 2008, and the record ...

for the samples on some songs. He still works with his sister Emilie Chedid for the realisation of the clips. His live performance largely contributed to his success, playing on his character of -M- to transform every concert into a show. He won his first

Victoire de la Musique Victoires de la Musique (; en, Victories of Music) is an annual French award ceremony where the Victoire accolade is delivered by the French Ministry of Culture to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry. The classical and jazz ...

awards for Male Artist of the Year and Concert of the Year.

"Belleville Rendez-vous" and ''Qui de nous deux''

-M- gained international exposure through his recording of the song "

Belleville Rendez-vous ''The Triplets of Belleville'' (french: Les Triplettes de Belleville) is a 2003 animated comedy film written and directed by Sylvain Chomet. It was released as ''Belleville Rendez-vous'' in the United Kingdom. The film is Chomet's first feature ...

" for the soundtrack of the 2003

Sylvain Chomet Sylvain Chomet (; born 10 November 1963) is a French comic writer, animator and film director. Early career Born in Maisons-Laffitte, Seine-et-Oise (now Yvelines), near Paris, he studied art at high school until he graduated in 1982. Chomet m ...

animated film ''

The Triplets of Belleville ''The Triplets of Belleville'' (french: Les Triplettes de Belleville) is a 2003 animated comedy film written and directed by Sylvain Chomet. It was released as ''Belleville Rendez-vous'' in the United Kingdom. The film is Chomet's first feature ...

'' in both French and English. The song, with lyrics by Chomet and music by Benoit Charest, was nominated for a 2003

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

. The music video for "Belleville Rendez-vous" uses both a live-action depiction of ''-M-'' and an animated depiction incorporated into footage from the film. In autumn 2003, he released his 3rd album ''

Qui de nous deux ''Qui de nous deux ?'' (2003) is an album by French singer-songwriter Matthieu Chedid in his persona as -M-. It is his third full studio album, or the fourth if including the instrumental work Labo M which he had released earlier the same year. ...

'' (Which one of us two) with the singles "Qui de nous deux", "La bonne étoile", "Mon ego". Softer, this album saw the birth of his first daughter, Billie, for whom an all-pink guitar was built by instrument-maker Cyril Guérin. A pink guitar can be seen in the video for "Qui de nous deux". In 2007, he worked once again with

on her album ''

Divinidylle ''Divinidylle'' is the fifth studio album by French singer Vanessa Paradis, released on 27 August 2007 by Barclay. It was recorded between November 2005 and June 2007. Critical reception was favourable, with AllMusic suggesting that it was "likel ...

'', released in September 2007.

''Mister Mystère''

Rumors circulated before the release of his 2009 studio album, ''

Mister Mystère ''Mister Mystère'', released in 2009, is the fourth studio album by French singer-songwriter Matthieu Chedid in his persona as -M- (or fifth if including the instrumental album, ''Labo M''). It was his first studio album after a six-year hiatus d ...

'', that Chedid had decided to drop the character ''-M-'' to record and perform under his given name. The album, however, was released under the name ''-M-'' but included photographs of the singer without the wild costumes and hair associated with the ''-M-'' character. The music video for the first single, "Le Roi des ombres", showed Chedid burning a tiny effigy of his alterego.

''Îl'', ''Lamomali'', and ''Lettre infinie''

In autumn 2012, he released the album, ''Îl'', played with Lawrence Clais and Brad Thomas Ackley. He worked with

Toumani Diabaté Toumani Diabaté ( ; born 10 August 1965) is a Malian kora player. In addition to performing the traditional music of Mali, he has also been involved in cross-cultural collaborations with flamenco, blues, jazz, and other international styles. ...

and Sidiki Diabaté on a collective album, ''Lamomali'', released in March 2017 The album also features

Philippe Jaroussky Philippe Jaroussky (born 13 February 1978) is a French countertenor. He began his musical career with the violin, winning an award at the Versailles conservatory, and then took up the piano before turning to singing. Unusually for a countertenor ...

as well as

Oxmo Puccino Abdoulaye Diarra (; born 3 August 1974), better known by his stage name Oxmo Puccino (, ), is a French-Malian rapper. Career A longtime hip hop fan, at age 21 Diarra began his collaboration with the fledgling rap collective Time Bomb, honing ...

lending a mesmeric world music flavour to it that celebrates cultural diversity and world peace. In 2019, he released the studio album, ''Lettre infinie'', featuring collaborations from

Thomas Bangalter Thomas Bangalter (; born 3 January 1975) is a French musician, record producer, singer, songwriter, DJ and composer. Son of French music composer and artist Daniel Vangarde. He is best known as one half of the former French house music duo Daft ...

and Phillipe Zdar. He announced new album, ''R Ê V A L I T É'', to be released in June of 2022.

Awards

Matthieu Chedid holds the gold place in number of

awards, with 13 awards

Discography

Albums

Studio albums Collaborations Live albums Soundtracks Rereleases

Singles

As main artist

Collaborations

Other hits

Charity

*2016: "Vole" (with

Nolwenn Leroy Nolwenn Le Magueresse (; born 28 September 1982), known by her stage name Nolwenn Leroy (), is a French singer-songwriter, musician and actress. Originally classically trained (violin and opera singing), she rose to fame after winning the second ...

...)

Bibliography

* ''Les Âmes de Mogador'' (2003), with Patrice Renson : tribute to

Essaouira Essaouira ( ; ar, الصويرة, aṣ-Ṣawīra; shi, ⵜⴰⵚⵚⵓⵔⵜ, Taṣṣort, formerly ''Amegdul''), known until the 1960s as Mogador, is a port city in the western Moroccan region of Marakesh-Safi, on the Atlantic coast. It ha ...

(

Maroc Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

). A CD of ten unreleased tracks is included. * ''-M-, qui de nous deux'' (2004), with Claude Gassian : book produced during the recording of the album ''Qui de nous deux'' * ''-M- de A à Z'' (2005), by Mathias Goudeau * ''Le monde de -M-'' (2005), with Marianne Chedid, Sonia Rachline and Sophie Laurent : insight on his career, with a lot of pictures * ''-M- le mot dit : esthétique d'un funkistador'' by Marc Borbon: analysis of M's world through a fan's own experience * ''Le Livre Extraordinaire de -M-'' by Lisa Roze: package of an archival photographs, unpublished shootings, a book, postcards, a pop-up, a new song (Si Si No No), etc.

References

External links

Official website (flash)
(French)
Myspace site, including links and concert dates
(French)
RFI Biography
(English)
Interview with ‑M-
(French)
-M- Chedid Online
(Spanish)

(English)
Reference website (2yeuxet1plume / Autour de Matthieu Chedid)
(French) {{DEFAULTSORT:Chedid, Mathieu 1971 births Living people People from Boulogne-Billancourt French singer-songwriters French people of Lebanese descent French rock guitarists French male guitarists 21st-century French singers 21st-century guitarists 21st-century French male singers French male singer-songwriters