A voice from Avignon that conquered the world. Mireille Mathieu made her debut as a singer in the 1960s. Scouring the singing competitions of her region, the young artist persevered and won first place thanks to a cover of La vie en rose popularized by Edith Piaf.
On the strength of this first success, Mireille Mathieu performed at an Enrico Macias gala in 1965 and took her first steps on television in Le Jeu de la Chance, the flagship tele-hook of Télé Dimanche. At the same time, the singer was under the leadership of Johnny Stark who became her impresario. She publishes her first 45 rpm from which her first success Mon Credo was taken, which sold more than 500,000 copies.
The beginning of a long career that awaits Mireille Mathieu, signing around 1,200 songs in several languages. A singular voice that she will carry in mythical rooms at the Olympia and even abroad. While she rubs shoulders with French stars like Michel Polnareff, Sacha Distel or even Johnny Hallyday, the young lady from Avignon also meets international stars like Ella Fitzgerald and Tom Jones.
It is in particular thanks to her interpretation of The Last Waltz (adapted from the original The Last Waltz by Engelbert Humperdinck) that Mireille Mathieu knows success in the United Kingdom. In 1967, she had the privilege of performing for Queen Elizabeth II for the first time at the London Paladium. “I was invited to the Royal Variety Performance, an annual charity concert that has been held since 1912 in the presence of the British sovereign. You have to imagine the little debutante from Avignon who finds herself singing at a gala evening in front of the Queen of England! I was both terrified and amazed”, she remembered for Le Parisien in June 2022.
On the occasion of the jubilee of the Queen of England, Mireille Mathieu returned to this moment which marked her career. “I felt transported to these fairy tales that rocked my childhood. Yes, it was Cinderella, but for real. A dream come true”, assures the star dressed by her designer Louis Féraud in a “magnificent dress white embroidered”. The French artist will be invited by the sovereign in 1969 and 1981.
From her beginnings to today, the septuagenarian has succeeded in establishing herself in the world and continues to perform in several European countries. As in October 2022 for his next concerts in Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Bulgaria. “I missed you a lot, I can’t wait to see you again for the start of this new tour”, she wrote to her fans on her Instagram page.
