Christine and the Queens



Héloïse Letissier (born 1 June 1988), known by her stage name Christine and the Queens is a French singer, songwriter and producer. She was born in Nantes and has been signed to the independent record label Because Music since 2012. Her work combines music, performance, art videos, drawings and photography.

Early Life
Letissier was born 1 June 1988. Her father, Georges Letissier, teaches English at The University of Nantes and specializes in Victorian era literature. Her mother teaches both French and Latin at a local middle school.

Her parents recommended writers such as Sarah Waters and Judith Butler, whose works served both as inspiration and reference in Letissier's youth.

Career
Letissier studied theatre at École normale supérieure de Lyon (ENS Lyon), moving to Paris in 2010, where she concluded her studies. When she visited London in 2010, she was inspired by the work of local drag queen musicians, including Russella, who accompanied her in one of her early concerts. They then became her "Queens" as a backing band. She dedicated many of her creations to them and to all transgender individuals, describing her genre as "freakpop". She adopted the name Christine and the Queens releasing her debut EP Miséricorde independently followed by another EP in 2012 called Mac Abbey with the minor hits "Narcissus is Back" and "Cripple". In 2012, she was the opening act for Lykke Li, The Dø and Woodkid as well as for Lilly Wood and the Prick in 2013. Her third release was an EP titled Nuit 17 à 52 which garnered her first charting on the official French Albums Chart SNEP with the help of its title track.

In 2012, Christine and the Queens won the Best Discovered Act known as Découverte du Printemps de Bourges and also the Adami Premières Francos 2012 award.

On 13 February 2015, she was awarded Best Female Artist and Best Video Clip of 2014 at the Victoires de la musique. Her album Chaleur humaine was also one of 19 records nominated for the IMPALA Album of the Year Award.

The single "Tilted", translated from "Christine", was released in February 2015 in the United States as an introduction to her first English EP Saint Claude. Edited by Neon Gold Records, the band toured North America with Marina and the Diamonds as promotion for the release. The song was released in the UK in 2016 and charted on the UK Singles Chart. In 2016, Christine and the Queens put together a cover of Beyoncé's "Sorry" in the BBC Live Lounge, the cover was named as one of the "6 Best New Songs of the Week."

She appeared on Jools' Annual Hootenanny on Dec 31 2016/Jan 01 2017.

In 2016, she was chosen as one of BBC's 100 Women

Personal Life
In 2014, Letissier identified herself as pansexual.

In the acknowledgements for the album Chaleur humaine, Letissier wrote "Océane, my beautiful wife. The flowers are for you" (in reference to the album art). This is generally assumed to be a dedication to French comedian and feminist Océane Rose Marie.