At 78 years old, Mireille Mathieu is one of the best-known French song icons around the world. She has just left on an international tour, much to her delight. But the artist has not always seen life in rosy colors. The proof.
She made her debut in 1962, her first television appearance in 1965. Since then, she has recorded no fewer than 1,200 songs and sold nearly 200 million albums worldwide. At 78 years old, Mireille Matthieu is an icon of French song, all generations combined. However, the young lady from Avignon had a difficult start…
“I was bad”: Mireille Mathieu confides in her burnout
The singer with the instantly recognizable bangs, who has seen her hairdresser every ten days since 1970, has not always had happy days. In the columns of the Swiss magazine Time in 2019, Mireille Mathieu even confided that she had to face burnout at the start of her career. And for good reason, his beloved manager, the legendary Johnny Stark, imposed a somewhat frantic pace on him.
A painful phase for the singer which she did not dwell on. “I was preparing a show in France while recording thirty songs in Munich. I had so many lyrics to learn by heart in German that I had a sort of burn-out. I couldn’t leave the house. I was bad”she simply declared.
The complicated beginnings of Mireille Mathieu: “They had to give me a little time”
Back on her feet many years ago, this eldest of fourteen children continues to make a living from her passion. But she admits that her beginnings were complicated. “I was considered so stupid that it hurt me, especially at the beginning. Of course, I had shortcomings. I was extremely shy, and I panicked in front of journalists. But, at least , I was traveling the world, and I continue. And then, they had to give me a little time.confided the 78-year-old star during the same interview.
Never mind, time will have had no hold on her. She has even just returned to the road with a brand new tour which will take her, among other places, to the Olympia in Paris next year, but also to Belgium, Germany and even Prague. Hat !
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