What Is Mika's Net Worth?
Mika is a British singer-songwriter who has net worth of $12 million. Mika has released the studio albums "Life in Cartoon Motion" (2007), "The Boy Who Knew Too Much" (2009), "The Origin of Love" (2012), "No Place in Heaven" (2015), and "My Name Is Michael Holbrook (2019), and "Life in Cartoon Motion" topped the charts in numerous countries and was certified Diamond in France and 5× Platinum in Belgium and the U.K. He is known for singles such as "Relax, Take It Easy," "Grace Kelly," "Love Today," and "We Are Golden," and in 2008, Mika earned a Grammy nomination for Best Dance Recording for "Love Today." He also starred in the Italian variety show "Stasera Casa Mika" from 2016 to 2017, and he directed his music videos for "Staring at the Sun" (2015) and "Yo Yo" (2022). In 2010, Mika received France's Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Chevalier) for services to music.
Early Life
Mika was born Michael Holbrook Penniman, Jr. on August 18, 1983, in Beirut, Lebanon. He is the son of Mary Joan Mouakad (an American of Lebanese descent) and Michael Holbrook Penniman (an American who was born in Israel), and his father was a banker. Mika has four siblings, Paloma, Yasmine, Zuleika, and Fortuné, and Yasmine is an artist who painted the artwork for his albums "Life in Cartoon Motion" and "The Boy Who Knew Too Much." His paternal grandfather was diplomat William Frederick Penniman III. When Mika was a baby, the family left war-torn Lebanon for Paris, France, and in 1990, his father became trapped in the United States embassy for seven months during a business trip to Kuwait due to the Gulf War breaking out. When he returned to his family in Paris, he had to find a new job and the family subsequently moved to London. Mika wrote his first song, "Angry," when he was just 7 years old, and it was an instrumental piano piece. He attended London's Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle, where he struggled with dyslexia and was bullied. His mother decided to homeschool him, and Russian opera singer Alla Ardakov (Ablaberdyeva) trained him in music.
Mika studied with London's Royal Opera, and his stage debut took place at the Royal Opera House as a chorus member in the Richard Strauss opera "Die Frau Ohne Schatten." At the age of 15, he performed in a production of Vaughan Williams' "The Pilgrim's Progress." Mika eventually returned to school, studying at Kensington's St. Philip's School, and he was head of the St. Philip's Choir (Schola Cantorum). He later starred in numerous school productions at London's Westminster School. Mika spent one day at the London School of Economics, then he was accepted into the Royal College of Music. He left the Royal College of Music before graduating in order to record his debut album with Casablanca Records. His first single, 2006's "Relax, Take It Easy," was named Record of the Week by BBC Radio 1 DJ Scott Mills.
Career
In January 2007, Mika's career took off after the release of his single "Grace Kelly," which was a top 10 hit in more than 20 countries and went 2× Platinum in the U.K. and Platinum in Australia, Belgium, Denmark, and Italy. He released his debut album, "Life in Cartoon Motion," the following month, and it reached #1 on the charts in nine countries. The single "Love Today" earned him a Grammy nomination. Mika followed his successful debut with 2009's "The Boy Who Knew Too Much," which reached #1 in France and went 3× Platinum in that country as well as Platinum in Belgium, Italy, and the U.K. The album featured the singles "We Are Golden" and "Rain," which were certified Gold and Platinum, respectively, in Italy. Mika's third album, 2012's "The Origin of Love," topped the French Albums Chart and South Korean International Albums Chart and went Platinum in France. The single "Elle me dit" reached #1 in Belgium and France, and his collaboration with Pharrell Williams, "Celebrate," went Gold in Italy.
In 2015, Mika released the album "No Place in Heaven," and it was certified Platinum in France and Italy and Gold in the U.K. Next, he released 2019's "My Name Is Michael Holbrook," which reached the top 10 in Belgium, France, Italy, and Switzerland. In 2016, Mika teamed up with Kylie Minogue to cover Paul McCartney's "Wonderful Christmastime" on the album "Kylie Christmas: Snow Queen Edition," then he recorded the singles "Me, Myself" (2020) and "It Must Have Been Love" (2021) with Danna Paola. He has also released several EPs, including "Dodgy Holiday EP" (2006), "Songs for Sorrow" (2009), and "This Is the Sound of: Mika" (2010). In 2022, Mika, Laura Pausini, and Alessandro Cattelan co-hosted the Eurovision Song Contest.
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Personal Life
Mika grew up in a Melkite Catholic family, and in 2013, he told "Metro Weekly" that he was "still a Roman Catholic." He is fluent in English, Italian, French, and Spanish, and he has taken Mandarin Chinese lessons and can speak some Arabic in a Lebanese dialect. In a 2009 "Gay & Night" interview, Mika said of his sexuality, "I've never ever labelled myself. But having said that, I've never limited my life, I've never limited who I sleep with … Call me whatever you want. Call me bisexual, if you need a term for me." In a 2012 interview with "Instinct" magazine, he stated, "If you ask me, 'Am I gay?', I say yeah. Are these songs about my relationship with a man? I say yeah. And it's only through my music that I've found the strength to come to terms with my sexuality beyond the context of just my lyrics. This is my real life." For more than a decade, Mika has been in a relationship with Andreas Dermanis, a filmmaker known for directing and producing the films "Andi" (2017) and "Lost Youth" (2019). Dermanis also co-directed Mika's 2015 music video "Staring at the Sun." Mika has owned homes in Tuscany, Italy, and Miami, Florida.
Philanthropy
In 2009, Mika took part in the charity event Children in Need Rocks as well as the Mencap event "Little Noise Sessions." In 2010, he designed a Coca-Cola bottle for charity with his sister Yasmine, which he called the "Happiness Bottle." Proceeds from sales of the bottle were donated to Hôpitaux de Paris and Hôpitaux de France. That year Mika also performed a cover of REM's "Everybody Hurts" in support of earthquake relief efforts in Haiti alongside artists such as Jon Bon Jovi, Mariah Carey, and Rod Stewart. He has helped raise money for the charities London's Air Ambulance, Oxfam UK, Epilepsy Action, Imagine for Margo/Children without Cancer, and the European Association for Research in Surgical Oncology, and in 2015, he visited Lebanon with the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR and met with refugees who fled their homes during the conflict in Syria.
Awards and Nominations
Mika has earned numerous awards and nominations for his work. He won The Music Award at the 2019 Attitude Awards, the BBC Sound of 2007 award, and 2008 Capital FM's Awards for Favorite UK Male Artist and Favorite UK Album for "Life in Cartoon Motion." Mika has received five Brit Award nominations: British Single of the Year for "Grace Kelly," British Album of the Year for "Life in Cartoon Motion," and British Breakthrough Act (won) in 2008 and British Male Solo Artist in 2008 and 2010. He has earned Coca-Cola Onstage Awards for Best International Pop Show (2017) and Best International Artist (2020), a Danish Music Award for Foreign Newcomer of the Year (2008), an ECHO Award for Best International Newcomer (2008), and a Gay Music Chart Award for Best British Music Video for "Good Guys" (2015). In 2007, "Life in Cartoon Motion" won an IFPI Hong Kong Top Sales Music Award for Top 10 Best Selling Foreign Albums, and Mika received World Music Awards for World's Best Selling New Artist, World's Best Selling Pop/Rock Male Artist, and World's Best Selling British Artist. In 2008, he earned an Ivor Novello Award for Songwriter of the Year and a TMF Award for Best International Pop. "Stasera casa Mika" won a Rose d'Or for Best Entertainment Series (2017) and a Flaiano Prize for Best Television Program (2018), and in 2021, Mika was honored with Lebanon's Silver Palm – Order of Merit.
