Russell Craig Mael (born October 5, 1948) is an American singer best known as the lead singer for the band Sparks which he formed in 1971 with his elder brother

Ron Mael Ronald David Mael (born August 12, 1945) is an American musician, songwriter, composer and record producer. He is the keyboard player and principal songwriter in the band Sparks which he founded with vocalist, occasional songwriter and younger ...

. Mael is known for his wide

vocal range Vocal range is the range of pitches that a human voice can phonate. A common application is within the context of singing, where it is used as a defining characteristic for classifying singing voices into voice types. It is also a topic of stud ...

, in particular his far-reaching

falsetto ''Falsetto'' (, ; Italian diminutive of , "false") is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ligamentous ed ...

. He has a flamboyant and hyperactive stage presence which contrasts sharply with Ron Mael's deadpan scowling. The band released an album with British rock band

Franz Ferdinand Archduke Franz Ferdinand Carl Ludwig Joseph Maria of Austria, (18 December 1863 – 28 June 1914) was the heir presumptive to the throne of Austria-Hungary. His assassination in Sarajevo was the most immediate cause of World War I. Fr ...

, as the supergroup FFS, titled '' FFS'', released in 2015. The Mael brothers are the founders of Lil' Beethoven Records.

Early life

Russell Craig Mael was born on October 5, 1948, in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. The Mael brothers grew up in Pacific Palisades – a relatively affluent suburb of Los Angeles – with their father Meyer, who was a graphic designer and caricaturist for the ''Hollywood Citizen-News'', and their mother, Miriam (''née'' Moskowitz), a librarian. Both Meyer and Miriam were the children of

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

immigrants, Meyer of

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...

and

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

descent and Miriam

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

; despite this, a source affiliated with the brothers' 2021 documentary stated that they "weren't raised, nor do they identify as Jewish", and the documentary does not mention their Jewish heritage. Much of the Mael brother's inspiration came from their father taking them to the cinema as children, where they developed an interest in film, visual arts and narrative. Meyer died when Mael was 8. After being educated at Palisades High School, both brothers enrolled at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

; Ron began a course in cinema and graphic arts in 1963 while Russell studied theatre arts and filmmaking during 1966–1968.

Sparks

Mael is known for his wide

, and his most notable vocal trait is a far-reaching

. An ''NME'' review described Russell's falsetto as a "stratospheric blend of

Marc Bolan Marc Bolan ( ; born Mark Feld; 30 September 1947 – 16 September 1977) was an English guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was a pioneer of the glam rock movement in the early 1970s with his band T. Rex. Bolan was posthumously inducted int ...

and Tiny Tim". He is also known for his flamboyant and hyperactive stage presence which contrasted sharply with Ron's deadpan scowling. He has recorded 24 albums with his band, Sparks. The band has a

cult following A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...

around the world and are best known for the song "

This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us "This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us" is a song by American pop band Sparks. Written by Ron Mael, it is the opening track on their third studio album ''Kimono My House'' (1974), and was the lead single from the album. Although it did not ...

", which reached No. 2 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. The pair appeared as themselves in the 1977 disaster film ''

Rollercoaster A roller coaster, or rollercoaster, is a type of amusement ride that employs a form of elevated railroad track designed with tight turns, steep slopes, and sometimes inversions. Passengers ride along the track in open cars, and the rides are o ...

'', performing live. They also appeared in episode 22 of season 6 of ''

Gilmore Girls ''Gilmore Girls'' is an American comedy-drama television series created by Amy Sherman-Palladino and starring Lauren Graham (Lorelai Gilmore) and Alexis Bledel (Rory Gilmore). The show debuted on October 5, 2000, on The WB and became a flagshi ...

''. Mael appeared in a cameo as a gallows singer in the 2018 Western ''

Damsel Mademoiselle () is a French courtesy title, abbreviated Mlle, traditionally given to an unmarried woman. The equivalent in English is "Miss". The courtesy title " Madame" is accorded women where their marital status is unknown. From around 1970 o ...

'', and both he and Ron appear as themselves in ''

Annette Annette may refer to: Film and television * '' Walt Disney Presents: Annette'', 1950s television series * ''Annette'' (film), a 2021 musical film Other * Annette (given name), list of people with the name * Annette Island, Alaska * Tropical Stor ...

'', a musical film directed by

Leos Carax Alex Christophe Dupont (born 22 November 1960), best known as Leos Carax (), is a French film director, critic and writer. Carax is noted for his poetic style and his tortured depictions of love. His first major work was ''Boy Meets Girl (1984 f ...

that they wrote and composed. In June 2018,

Edgar Wright Edgar Howard Wright (born 18 April 1974) is an English filmmaker. He is known for his fast-paced and kinetic, satirical genre films, which feature extensive utilisation of expressive popular music, Steadicam tracking shots, dolly zooms and a ...

announced he would be making a documentary on Sparks. He had covered the band's concert in London in May at O2 Forum Kentish Town. This concert would also be a part of the documentary. The film, ''

The Sparks Brothers ''The Sparks Brothers'' is a 2021 British-American documentary film about Ron and Russell Mael, members of the pop and rock duo Sparks. The film, directed by Edgar Wright, and produced by Wright, Nira Park, George Hencken and Laura Richards ...

'', had its world premiere at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival on January 30, 2021.

Personal life

In 2017, a reviewer noted that while the brothers' biographies recount a Los Angeles childhood in which they surfed and were both models for mail order catalogues, their private lives are otherwise almost entirely unknown. "Well, we're in good company with

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

", was their reported response. "We feel the less you do know, it keeps the mythology and the image in a better position." Even to the question of whether they have partners or spouses, they refused to give an indication, insisting that "the vagueness is more interesting than the reality." It was, however, mentioned in

's 2021 documentary ''

'' that Russell dated Miss Christine of

The GTOs ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

, and had a brief fling with

the Go-Go's The Go-Go's are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1978. Except for short periods when other musicians joined briefly, the band has had a relatively stable lineup consisting of Charlotte Caffey on lead guitar and keyboards, Belind ...

member

Jane Wiedlin Jane Marie Genevieve Wiedlin (born May 20, 1958) is an American musician and singer, best known as the co-founder, rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist of the new wave music, new wave band The The Go-Go's, Go-Go's. She has also had a successful ...

, who was an additional vocalist on the Sparks track " Cool Places".

Discography

With Sparks With FFS

References

External links

Official Sparks website
* * *
Interview: Russell Mael "Two Hands, One Mouth, All Genius" Rockerzine.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mael, Russell 20th-century American singers 21st-century American singers American male songwriters American male pop singers Record producers from California Countertenors Living people Male new wave singers Musicians from Santa Monica, California Songwriters from California Sparks (band) members Synth-pop singers UCLA Film School alumni 1948 births 20th-century American male singers 21st-century American male singers FFS (band) members American expatriates in the United Kingdom American expatriates in France