Christophe Martichon (; born 16 October 1975), better known by his stage name Christophe Maé (), is a French pop singer.

Career

Maé learned to play the violin at age five, and later began playing the guitar and harmonica at age 16 after he was immobilised from chronic

polyarthritis Polyarthritis is any type of arthritis that involves 5 or more joints simultaneously. It is usually associated with autoimmune conditions and may be experienced at any age and is not sex specific. Causes Polyarthritis is most often caused by an au ...

. He has stated that this was the time when he discovered Stevie Wonder's music which inspired him to take up playing the harmonica. He also discovered

Bob Marley Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981; baptised in 1980 as Berhane Selassie) was a Jamaican singer, musician, and songwriter. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, his musical career was marked by fusing elements o ...

's music to whom, years later, he dedicates a song: "Mon père spirituel". It is at the same period that he started playing the

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

. In 2005 he rose to fame by playing the role of Monsieur, brother of King

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Ver ...

in the musical " Le Roi Soleil", for which he won the

NRJ Music Award An NRJ Music Award (commonly abbreviated as an NMA) is an award presented by the French radio station NRJ to honor the best in the French and worldwide music industry. The awards ceremony, created in 2000 by NRJ in partnership with the televisio ...

for revelation of the year 2006.

Releases

Maé's first album was entitled ''Sa Danse Donne'', and released in 2002–2003. This album is not considered his first studio album. He released his first studio album, '' Mon paradis'' (My Paradise) on 19 March 2007, with the singles "On s'attache", "Parce qu'on sait jamais" and "Ça fait mal". His fourth single is "Belle Demoiselle". ''Mon Paradis'' was France's second best-selling album of 2007 after ''

Life in Cartoon Motion ''Life in Cartoon Motion'' is the debut album released by British recording artist Mika. The album was produced by Greg Wells, mixed by Wells, with co-production on two songs by Jodi Marr and John Merchant. The album was released via Casablanc ...

'' by Mika, selling more than 1 600 000 albums to date. In 2010, Maé's second studio album, ''On trace la route'', was released. It has sold more than 600,000 units to date. In 2013, Maé's third studio album "Je veux du bonheur ", was released. It ranked number one of the top French album during its first week of release with 103,680 copies to date. The album was sold more than 500,000 units to date in July 2014. In 2016, Maé's fourth studio album "L'attrape-rêves ", was released. It ranked number one of the top French album for 5 weeks. Until the end of 2016, it has sold 300,000 units to date.

Musical style

Maé's music is largely acoustic. He has cited

Ben Harper Benjamin Chase Harper (born October 28, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Harper plays an eclectic mix of blues, folk, soul, reggae, and rock music and is known for his guitar-playing skills, vocals, live perfo ...

Tracy Chapman Tracy Chapman (born March 30, 1964) is an American singer-songwriter. Chapman is best known for her hit singles "Fast Car" and "Give Me One Reason". Chapman was signed to Elektra Records by Bob Krasnow in 1987. The following year she released ...

, and Jack Johnson as well as French singer-songwriters

Francis Cabrel Francis Christian Cabrel (; born 23 November 1953) is a French singer-songwriter, composer and guitarist. Considered one of the most influential French musical artists of all time, he has released a number of albums falling mostly within the real ...

and

Gérald De Palmas Gérald Gardrinier (; born 14 October 1967 in Saint-Denis, Réunion), better known by his stage name Gérald de Palmas, is a French singer-songwriter. Biography Early life Gérald de Palmas was born in France. His father was a land surveyor ...

as musical influences. He allegedly began to learn harmonica as a tribute to Stevie Wonder, who is commonly cited as his biggest influence musically.

Personal life

Christophe Maé has two sons, Jules (born March 2008) and Marcel (born August 2013), with his then-longtime girlfriend Nadège Sarron. Sarron operates a dance school which she founded in Aix-en-Provence, where she lives with her sons. Maé works half the week in Paris, and reunited with his family the rest of the time in the South. He finally proposed to Nadège in 2016 through his song "Ballerine", and the couple married in

Porto-Vecchio Porto-Vecchio (, ; it, Porto Vecchio or ; co, Portivechju or ) is a commune in the French department of Corse-du-Sud, on the island of Corsica. Porto-Vecchio is a medium-sized port city placed on a good harbor, the southernmost of the mars ...

on 29 June 2017.

Philanthropy

Maé has been a member of the

Les Enfoirés Les Enfoirés (, 'The Tossers' or 'The Bastards') is the name given to the singers and performers in the yearly charity concert for the Restaurants du Cœur The Restaurants du Cœur (literally ''Restaurants of the Heart'' but meaning ''Restau ...

charity ensemble since 2008."Christophe Maé"
(in French). ''Enfoires.com''. Retrieved 23 February 2017.

Discography

Music albums

Live album

Singles

Awards

** 2007: French revelation of the year ** 2008: French male artist of the year ** 2008: French song of the year for "

On s'attache "On s'attache" is a 2007 song recorded by French singer Christophe Maé. It was his debut single of his solo career, from his second album ''Mon paradis''. Released in May 2007, the song was successful in France and Belgium (Wallonia), and hit a ...

" ** 2009: French male artist of the year ** 2009: French song of the year for "Belle demoiselle" ** 2013: NRJ Award of Honor ** 2016: Video of the year for "Il est où le bonheur" *

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 ...

** 2008: Public revelation of the year *

World Music Awards The World Music Awards is an international award show founded in 1989 under the patronage of Albert II, Prince of Monaco and co-founder/executive producer John Martinotti. The event is based in Monte Carlo. Awards are presented to the world' ...

** 2008: French artist of the year *Others ** 2008: Winner of song of the year on TF1 ** 2014: Winner of song of the year on TF1

References

External links

Official Website

Official Myspace
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mae, Christophe 1975 births Living people People from Carpentras French-language singers French pop singers World Music Awards winners Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres 21st-century French singers 21st-century French male singers