In 60 years, the world has changed, fashions have passed, but Mireille Mathieu has always remained the same. The same iconic jet black hair, that famous bowl cut, instantly recognizable. And above all the same voice, powerful and intoxicating, which makes her the worthy heir of Edith Piaf and the precursor of Céline Dion.
Mireille Mathieu had not set foot in Quebec for 35 years. She is there these days for a series of concerts aimed at highlighting six decades of a prolific career, which has led her to sing in the four corners of the world, in 12 different languages, and to sell 200 million records.
Acropolis Farewell, well done you won, A woman in love… Mireille Mathieu’s repertoire includes a plethora of hits, and she promises to perform several of them on stage during her Quebec tour during which she will perform in Montreal, Quebec and Sherbrooke.
“I have always had a special bond with Quebec. I like the spontaneity of the people here. And I like your accent which is sung, like mine,” enthuses the legend of the French variety, very warm, who always speaks with his pronounced southern accent.
Born in 1946, in Avignon, in the south of France, Mireille Mathieu is the eldest of a family of 14 children. Coming from a modest background, she was thrust into the spotlight at a very young age, but the diva never turned her back on her origins and remained very close to her family. His mother, of whom Mireille Mathieu always speaks with a sob in her voice, even accompanied him regularly on tour until her death in 2016.
The parallels with Celine Dion are as numerous as they are disturbing. Yet the two great voices of the French-speaking world have never sung together. “I only met her once, in Paris, when she was just starting out. We never had the opportunity to sing together. It’s a job where meetings often happen by chance,” she slips, before quickly changing the subject.
In all the interviews that Mireille Mathieu gives in France, she is always brought back to Céline Dion. And each time, she gets away with diverting the conversation.
The interpreter of Santa Maria of the sea is much more talkative when she returns to her meeting with another Quebec idol: the late Guy Lafleur. “We went to see him play hockey when I performed here, and that’s how we became friends. He was extraordinary. We celebrated together. He was very party-loving! We had a lot of fun together,” she recalled with a lot of good feelings in an interview with Le Devoir.
An iron discipline
Usually, Mireille Mathieu never meets the press before her concerts. She says she made an exception this time for the Quebec public. Otherwise, to rest her voice, she imposes silence before going on stage. And the only times she leaves her hotel room is to go to the concert hall or church. Very religious, the singer prays every day.
She owes this almost monastic way of life to her former manager, Johnny Stark, a monument of French show business, who also managed, among others, the career of Johnny Hallyday in his early days. This extremely rigid man will have been her pygmalion, but also her scapegoat. Several times, she confides, he made her cry, he was so hard with her. And yet, Mireille Mathieu only has good words today for the man who was her manager until his death in 1989.
“It wasn’t abuse at all. He was a teacher who was hard on his student, that’s all. And I thank him for that. I owe him everything. It was a bit like a coach with an athlete. To be at the top of your sport, you have to work,” insists the great lady of variety, who even dedicated one of her songs, The Americanto his former mentor.
Johnny Stark meticulously ensured that nothing leaked to the media about his protégé’s private life. So today, we know almost nothing about Mireille Mathieu, even though she is one of the most popular French artists of all time. For example, we don’t know if she is in love with anyone. If even she ever was. Quite a paradox for a woman who has been singing about love for 60 years.
“The goal is precisely for people to know as little about me as possible. That’s what makes all these songs successful,” she laughs, smirking.
The most Russian of French women
At 77 years old, Mireille Mathieu, who measures just 5 feet, appears very frail, but she has lost none of her wit. Her mind is still as lively as ever and she still feels inhabited by the sacred fire. Next year, she will tour France, Belgium and Switzerland for her 60th career. To her great regret, because of the war in Ukraine, she will probably not be able to perform in Russia, where she is adored.
“I love the Russian people. They are a great people, who love the French language. I am against war, and I don’t really understand why we don’t work more for peace. We don’t talk enough about peace at the moment,” she laments.
In an interview last year with a local media outlet in the south of France, Mireille Mathieu had quite harsh words towards the French President, Emmanuel Macron, and his speech of firmness towards Russia. Words that she did not want to repeat across the Atlantic. “I never speak ill of my president when I am abroad, because I have too much respect for the office,” thunders this patriot, to whom we owe one of the most heartfelt interpretations of The Marseillaise.
Mireille Mathieu was criticized for singing in 2008 at the Kremlin in front of Vladimir Putin and former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, then on a state visit to Moscow. “I sang for the Russian people. I don’t do politics,” she still defends herself today when asked if she would do it again.
Vladimir Putin is said to be one of the singer’s great admirers. It shows that Mireille Mathieu’s voice is so moving that it even manages to touch the worst tyrants.