Line #8 Music/ChristineAndTheQueens


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/chris_8.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:Damn, he'd be your lover. [[note]]Photography by [[http://serlinassociates.com/news/jamiemorganchristineandthequeens/ Jamie Morgan]].[[/note]]]]
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4	[floatboxright:Influences:
5	+Music/MichaelJackson, Music/PattiSmith, Music/KateBush, Music/DavidBowie, Music/TRex, Music/KanyeWest, Music/KendrickLamar, Music/PhilipGlass, Music/MyleneFarmer, Music/{{Bjork}}, Music/JanetJackson, Music/LouReed, Music/JoeJackson, Music/SergeGainsbourg, ''Series/SoulTrain''
6	]
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8	Christine and the Queens - Chris for short - is the stage name of Héloïse Letissier (born 1 June 1988), a French singer-songwriter. He describes his own music as "freakpop", taking inspiration from disco, funk and French and English pop music, all seasoned with a generous dose of GenderBending.
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10	The "Queens" part of his name comes from the London drag scene in which he had his career start, with drag queen musicians often backing him up on stage in early performances. After a number of [=EPs=] and singles, he released his debut album ''Chaleur humaine'' in 2014 to critical acclaim and commercial success. He was awarded the ''Victoire de la Musique'' (France's equivalent of the Grammy Awards) in 2015 for Best Female Artist of the Year, and when the album was re-recorded in English and released in 2016, it was featured on several end-of-year lists including NME and Rough Trade.
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12	At the start of his second album cycle, he adopted an even more androgynous look and started going by the name Chris, to appear "bolder, stronger and more muscular". His next effort, likewise titled ''Chris'', was received ''even better'' than his debut. The following year he headlined the All Points East festival in London with an acclaimed performance, his first time as headliner of an UK music festival, and he also performed during the finale of ''Series/RuPaulsDragRace'' season 11, making his stage name go full circle. His most recent endeavour, an EP titled ''La vita nuova'', was released in 2020 with an accompanying conceptual short film.
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14	He was named by ''Vanity Fair'' as the most influential French person of 2016, for his artistry and "radiance of French genius"[[note]] Presidential candidate and eventual winner [[UsefulNotes/ThePresidentsOfFrance Emmanuel Macron]] was second[[/note]]. The following year he appeared on the cover of ''Time'' as one of the ten leaders of the next generation, and ''Forbes'' selected him as one of the "30 under 30" in Europe. He identifies as pansexual and genderqueer. As of his most recent record, ''Redcar les adorables étoiles (prologue)'', Chris uses he/him pronouns.
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16	!!Discography:
17	* ''Miséricorde'' EP (2011)
18	* ''Mac Abbey'' EP (2012)
19	* ''Nuit 17 à 52'' EP (2013)
20	* ''Chaleur humaine''[[note]]''Human warmth''[[/note]] (2014)
21	** "Saint Claude" single/EP (2014)
22	* ''Intranquillité'' EP (2015)
23	* ''Chris'' (2018)
24	* ''La vita nuova''[[note]]''The new life''[[/note]] EP (2020)
25	** ''La vita nuova : séquences 2 et 3'' vinyl-only EP (2020)
26	* ''Redcar les adorables étoiles (prologue)''[[note]]''Redcar the adorable stars (prologue)''[[/note]] (2022)
27	* ''Paranoïa, Angels, True Love'' (2023)
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29	!!Christine and the Queens' music provides examples of the following tropes:
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31	* AccentUponTheWrongSyllable: Most of the time his songs are written in the French language first (where the accent usually falls on the end of a word) and are later adapted into English without altering the melody, so it may result in this trope. An example, with "Girlfriend":
32	--> Girlfriend, don't feel like a girlFRIEND\
33	But lover, damn, I'd be your loVER
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35	* ArtistAndTheBand: "The Queens" refer to drag queens who would perform for him during the start of his career. Despite changing their moniker to Chris in 2018, his following releases were still credited to Christine and the Queens.
36	* BilingualBonus: He sometimes mixes French and English in a single song: "Doesn't Matter (Voleur de soleil)" is primarily in French but the refrains are in English, while "People, I've Been Sad" goes French for the second verse and the bridge.
37	* EitherOrTitle: From ''Chris'', "Damn (What Must a Woman Do)", "Doesn't Matter (Voleur de soleil)"[[labelnote:meaning]]"Sun thief"[[/labelnote]] and "L'étranger (Voleur d'eau)"[[labelnote:meaning]]"The Stranger (Water thief)"[[/labelnote]]; from ''La vita nuova'', "Mountains (We Met)".
38	* GratuitousItalian: In "Science fiction" and "La vita nuova".
39	* HotterAndSexier: Deliberately invoked with ''Chris'', which borrows its sound from 80s R&B and dance music and more erotic subject matter (the video for "5 dollars" features him as an S&M gigolo). His look also changed, with stage outfits featuring loose clothing and bare chests inspired by Leonardo [=DiCaprio=] in ''[[Film/WilliamShakespearesRomeoAndJuliet Romeo + Juliet]]''.
40	* IndecipherableLyrics: It may happen in his English songs, since he retains a thick French accent and he frequently drops French words or switches freely between the two languages.
41	* LiteraryAllusionTitle: ''La vita nuova'' takes its title from Dante's ''Literature/LaVitaNuova''.
42	* MeaningfulRename: For his second album, he truncated his stage name just to "Chris", even appearing on some posters as "Christ̶i̶n̶e̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶Q̶u̶e̶e̶n̶s̶". Since then, he uses both the full and the shortened names as alternates.
43	* RedEyesTakeWarning: The Faun in ''La vita nuova'' [[spoiler:and Chris at the end.]]
44	* RedIsHeroic: Invoked for ''Redcar les adorables étoiles''. His new persona, Redcar, wears a black suit with a red tie and single red glove, and on stage he performs with a giant red statue of the archangel Michael.
45	* RepeatedForEmphasis: Done dramatically in "People, I've Been Sad", where Letissier repeats the last few words of most lines at the end of the line.
46	* SceneryPorn: ''La vita nuova'' takes place all over the magnificent Palais Garnier, Paris' most famous opera house, starting from the roof and concluding in the dancers' foyer-turned-discothèque.
47	* SelfTitledAlbum: ''Chris''.
48	** The first US release of ''Chaleur humaine'' was retitled ''Christine and the Queens''.
49	* TranslatedCoverVersion: He often releases two versions of the same song, one in French and one in English. Except for two tracks (replaced by an English-language original), ''Chris'' was fully re-recorded in English for the international release.
50	* VocalEvolution: Starting with ''Chris'' he switches to a lower singing voice, with less belting and more staccato.

Context Music / ChristineAndTheQueens