Michael Holbrook Penniman Jr. (born 18 August 1983), known professionally as Mika ( MEE-kə, stylised in all caps), is a Lebanese-British singer-songwriter based in Paris and London. Mika rose to prominence after the release of his first extended play, Dodgy Holiday (2006), which contained his debut single "Relax, Take It Easy". The track was released in October 2006, and topped the charts throughout Europe. His first full-length studio album, Life in Cartoon Motion (2007), released on Island Records, was led by the single "Grace Kelly" which topped the UK Singles Chart for five weeks starting in January 2007. The album reached number one on the UK Albums Chart, and sold more than 8 million copies worldwide. Life in Cartoon Motion helped Mika win a Brit Award in 2008 for Best British Breakthrough act, while its single "Love Today" was nominated for a Grammy Award.
Mika's second studio album, The Boy Who Knew Too Much (2009), reached number four on the UK Albums Chart, and spawned the UK top-five single "We Are Golden". His third studio album, The Origin of Love (2012), reached number one on the French albums chart and produced the French number-one single "Elle me dit". He subsequently released the albums No Place in Heaven (2015), My Name Is Michael Holbrook (2019), and the French-language album Que ta tête fleurisse toujours (2023), all of which achieved commercial success in Europe. Additionally, he served as judge and mentor on both the French and Spanish versions of The Voice, and the Italian version of X Factor. After a brief music hiatus, Mika released his seventh studio album, Hyperlove (2026), which became his highest charting album in the United Kingdom since The Boy Who Knew Too Much.
In addition to his music career, Mika starred for two seasons in his own television variety show in Italy, Stasera Casa Mika, which won the 2017 Rose d'Or Award for Entertainment, and has hosted his own BBC Radio 2 show, The Art of Song. In 2022, he co-hosted the Eurovision Song Contest alongside Italian singer Laura Pausini and Italian television presenter Alessandro Cattelan. Mika has worked as a visual artist and designer on various projects, among them designing sunglasses for the Italian eyewear company Lozza, a clothing line for Belgian retailer JBC, pens for the 100th anniversary of Pilot, and collaborated with his sister Yasmine on three watches for Swiss company Swatch.
1983–2006: Childhood and early career
Michael Holbrook Penniman Jr. was born on 18 August 1983, in Beirut, the third of five children—he has two older sisters, Yasmine and Paloma, a younger sister Zuleika, and a younger brother, Fortuné. His parents are an American-born Lebanese-Syrian mother (Mary Joan "Joannie", née Mouakad, daughter of John Mouakad and Odette Farah) and an American father (Michael Holbrook Penniman, son of William Frederick Penniman III and Dorothy Dyar). Mika's father was a banker born in Jerusalem. His paternal grandfather William Frederick Penniman III was a diplomat. Mika's maternal grandfather John Mouakad was Syrian (from Damascus) and his maternal grandmother Odette Farah was Lebanese (from Beirut). He is also the second-nephew of writer William Peter Blatty, best known for his 1971 novel The Exorcist, the second cousin of photojournalist J. T. Blatty, and the great-great-nephew of Melkite bishop Germanos Mouakkad.
When Mika was a year old, his family were forced to leave war-torn Lebanon, and moved to Paris, France. The family lived for a time in Paris. "I was brought up as a Parisian boy, you know," Mika said in an interview. "With the pencil-striped trousers and the hat that I had to wear to school. It was very traditional..." At a young age, Mika learned to play his first piano piece — "Les Champs-Élysées", by Joe Dassin. At the age of seven, he wrote his first song, a piano instrumental called "Angry", which he later described in an interview as being "awful". In 1990, Mika's father went on a business trip to Kuwait, where he became trapped in the U.S. embassy for about eight months when the Gulf War broke out. Upon his return home, he was forced to take a new job, and the family moved to London when Mika was 9 years old. There, he attended the Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle, where he experienced severe bullying and had problems with dyslexia. In response to these experiences Mika was home-schooled by his mother and trained in music by Alla Ardakov (Ablaberdyeva), a Russian opera professional. He also studied with the Royal Opera in London and made his stage debut as a chorus member in Strauss's Die Frau Ohne Schatten at the Royal Opera House in London's Covent Garden. He continued as a boy soprano with the Royal Opera and, at 15, he performed in a 1998 production of The Pilgrim's Progress by Vaughan Williams.
During this time, Mika sang jingles for a variety of companies, most notably, Orbit chewing gum and British Airways. Once he returned to school, Mika attended St Philip's School in Kensington, where he was the head of the Schola Cantorum (the St Philip's Choir). He later attended Westminster School in London, where he took the lead role in a number of school productions. After a very brief stint at the London School of Economics, Mika then managed to gain entrance to the Royal College of Music, which he later left to record his first album at Casablanca Records.
His first single was a limited 7"/download release called "Relax, Take It Easy" (2006). The single was included on his debut EP Dodgy Holiday, which became available for download on 20 November 2006. The song "Billy Brown" was made available on 20 November 2006 on the iTunes Store. He appeared on BBC Radio 2 on 13 December 2006, where he was interviewed by Paul Gambaccini as part of the 'Class of 2006'.
2007–2008: Life in Cartoon Motion
On 8 January 2007, Mika released the song "Grace Kelly" for digital download through Casablanca Records, as the lead single from his then upcoming debut studio album. On 19 January 2007, he appeared on Later... with Jools Holland, and on The Friday Night Project. That same month, Mika was voted the top of the BBC News website's Sound of 2007 poll. "Grace Kelly" reached number one on the UK Singles Chart on 21 January 2007, and stayed at the top-spot for five weeks. His debut album, Life in Cartoon Motion, was released on 5 February 2007, and debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart, while topping the charts in eleven other countries. He earned a UK chart double for the week of 11 February 2007, as "Grace Kelly" placed at number one on the UK singles chart, while Life in Cartoon Motion debuted at number one on the UK albums chart. Musically, the album brought comparisons to artists such as Freddie Mercury, Scissor Sisters, Elton John, Prince, Robbie Williams and David Bowie. "Grace Kelly" references Mercury in the lyrics: "I try to be like Grace Kelly/But all her looks were too sad/So I tried a little Freddie/I've gone identity mad." The album went on to sell more than 8 million copies worldwide.
Life in Cartoon Motion has a coming of age theme and deals with Mika's transition from childhood to the present, though he has stated that not all of the songs are autobiographical. The album addresses difficult topics, such as on the song "Big Girl (You Are Beautiful)", which explores the theme of larger women suffering from discrimination. Mika has said that the fact that his mother was a big woman, and that he had seen the prejudices against her, helped him to write the song. On the song "Billy Brown", Mika writes about a man who is married to a woman, but has an affair with another man.
Mika toured the United States in June 2007, with support from Sara Bareilles and Natalia Lesz. He was the musical act for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on 26 March 2007 and for Jimmy Kimmel Live! on 27 March 2007. He was the musical guest on So You Think You Can Dance on 26 July 2007. On 10 October 2007, Mika began his Dodgy Holiday Tour, playing at venues across Europe. The British band Palladium were the supporting act for the UK leg. The North American leg of the tour began in January 2008, with support from The Midway State and Creature, and continued through February. On 10 February 2008, he attended the 50th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, where he was nominated for Best Dance Recording for his song "Love Today". On 20 February 2008, Mika opened the 2008 Brit Awards with a live performance of "Love Today", "Grace Kelly", and a duet, "Standing in the Way of Control", with Beth Ditto of Gossip. He was awarded the BRIT Award for Best British Breakthrough Artist later that night.