Christine and the Queens
Héloïse Adélaïde Letissier (French pronunciation: [elɔiz adelaid lətisje]; born 1 June 1988), known professionally as Christine and the Queens[1] and Redcar,[2] or occasionally simply Chris,[3] is a French singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Nantes, he started learning piano at the age of four and found inspiration in one of London's clubs while studying. Letissier released a series of extended plays (EPs) throughout 2011–2013.
Christine and the Queens
Letissier's debut studio album, Chaleur humaine (2014), received critical acclaim, reached number two on both French and UK charts, and was certified diamond in France; it was also a best selling debut record in the United Kingdom. In 2018, he released his second studio album, Chris, to further critical acclaim. It was ranked album of the year by Clash, The Guardian, and The Independent, and placed in top-ten of nine other year-end lists. "Girlfriend" was recognized by Time as song of the year. In reaction to his mother's death, Letissier released an EP in 2020 La vita nuova, with some critics calling it his strongest work up to that point. Time again named his song, "People, I've Been Sad", the song of the year.
In 2016, Letissier was ranked number one in Vanity Fair's list of most powerful and influential French people who "promote French genius", ahead of the country's president.[4] The next year, Forbes placed him on its list of 30 most influential and talented people under 30, and Time included him on its list of Next Generation Leaders twice – in 2016 and 2018.[5][6] His accolades include four Victories of Music awarded by French Ministry of Culture. Christine and the Queens has been signed to the independent record label Because Music since 2012.[7]
Early life[edit]
Héloïse Adélaïde Letissier was born on 1 June 1988 in Nantes and was assigned female at birth.[8] His father, Georges Letissier, taught English literature at the University of Nantes and specialises in Victorian era literature.[9] His mother, Martine Letissier, taught both French and Latin at a local middle school.[10] Martine died suddenly from a heart infection in April 2019, in the week between Letissier's two scheduled Coachella performances on 13 and 20 April; the latter was cancelled because Letissier travelled back to France to be with her.[11]
Letissier began learning to play the piano at the age of four, learned classical dance at five, and then modern jazz.[12] His parents recommended to him writers such as Sarah Waters and Judith Butler, whose works served both as inspiration and reference in Letissier's youth.[10] He attended Lycée Clemenceau learning theatre and then Lycée Fénelon secondary school in Paris learning literature.[13] He later studied at the Department of Arts of École normale supérieure de Lyon (ENS Lyon) and also studied drama at the Lyon Regional Conservatory.[13][14]
Career[edit]
2010–2013: Career beginnings[edit]
Letissier gave his first recital as Christine and the Queens at a small Lyon club in 2010. In 2010, Letissier had to leave the theater conservatory, as he was depressed after a romantic break-up.[15] He made a trip to London and was inspired by the work of local drag queen musicians, including Russella, at the Soho nightclub Madame Jojo's.[16] The queens then became 'the Queens' in his stage name as a tribute.[17] As soon as he returned to France, he left the ENSL grande école in the middle of the second year to devote himself fully to the musical project now called "Christine and the Queens".[18] He dedicated many of his creations to them, and to all transgender individuals, describing his genre as "freakpop".[18]
He released his debut extended play, Miséricorde, in 2011, with Marc Lumbroso (Jean-Jacques Goldman's producer).[15] His second EP, titled Mac Abbey, followed in 2012, with minor hits "Narcissus Is Back" and "Cripple". The same year, he was the opening act for Lykke Li, the Dø, and Woodkid. Letissier won the Best Discovered Act award, known as "Découverte", at the Printemps de Bourges music festival and also won the "Première Francos" award at the Les Francofolies de La Rochelle festival. Then he signed with the independent label Because Music.[19][20][15]
In 2013, Letissier was the opening act for Lilly Wood and the Prick and Gaëtan Roussel. On 3 June, he released the single, and also an EP of the same name, titled "Nuit 17 à 52", which garnered him his first charting on the official French SNEP albums chart. The song was the first single of his forthcoming studio album.
Artistry[edit]
Lyrical and musical style[edit]
Letissier prefers lyrics that are not immediately understandable. He explained that he enjoys "authors with difficult lyrics", such as Alain Bashung.[75] His music has been labelled by music critics as pop,[76] synth-pop,[40] electropop,[76] indie pop, experimental pop,[18] and art pop,[77] while he described his own work as "freakpop".[18]
Influences[edit]
Letissier emphasized the importance of his experience with Madame Jojo's drag club in London: "These drag artists have become my friends, they've inspired my creativity. They gave me the idea of creating a character, inventing another silhouette, another way of being in this world. Before it was a musical project, Christine was for me the answer to how to live properly. The Queens in Christine and the Queens is my tribute to them. Without the queens, I wouldn't be here".[78]
He also said, "[he] does not want to choose between French music and English pop music" and takes influence from both.[79] In a November 2013 interview with Brain Magazine, he cited artists such as Christophe, David Bowie (especially his Ziggy Stardust character),[80] Kanye West, Kendrick Lamar, Philip Glass, T. Rex as well as the Soul Train soundtracks as his musical influences. He also named Michael Jackson as his favourite male singer and "either Patti Smith or Kate Bush" as his favourite female singer.[81] Other influences include Björk,[16] Beyoncé, Daniel Balavoine, Fever Ray, Frank Ocean,[80] Janet Jackson, Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis,[82] Mylène Farmer,[83] Joe Jackson, Lou Reed, Serge Gainsbourg,[84] and Madonna.[85]
Personal life[edit]
Sexuality and gender[edit]
Letissier is pansexual.[86] In an October 2019 interview with the magazine Attitude, he explained that he is genderqueer.[87] Having tweeted in June 2021 that he uses all pronouns,[88] he later told The New York Times in March 2022: "My journey with gender has always been tumultuous. It's raging right now, as I'm just exploring what is beyond this. A way to express it could be switching between they and she."[89] In August of the same year, he stated in a TikTok video in French that his gender journey was "a long process" and explained that he had gendered himself in the masculine for about a year, which he had shared with family and close friends.[90][91] He subsequently updated his pronouns to he/him across social media platforms.[91] He has stated that he is "in resistance to the approach of trans identity that there has to be hormones and operations", which he considers as a form of binarism.[11]
Name[edit]
Letissier has used numerous personal and stage names, and remarked that he "just ha[s] many names for all the layers".[11] He began his career as Christine and the Queens. For his second studio album, he shortened it to Chris, which was accompanied by a shift to a persona described as "a woman playing with masculine tropes".[11] In October 2021, he was using the name Rahim.[92] This sparked a debate around cultural appropriation due to the name's Arabic origin.[92] He eventually began using a succession of different names such as Sam le pompier (the French title of Fireman Sam) and a full stop[92] before settling on Redcar, sometimes shortened as Red.[11] He still occasionally uses his birth name, about which he said: "Héloïse Letissier is my parents' provenance and I love my parents. I sometimes use Héloïse to reconnect me to my childhood, but my inner child name is Manamané."[11]
