Michael Holbrook Penniman, now known as Mika, was born in Beirut to a Lebanese mother and American father.  He was the third in a family of five children.  Just one year after his birth, the family was forced to leave war-stricken Lebanon and moved to Paris where Mika lived for the next eight years of his life.  
At the age of nine, Mika’s father was taken hostage at Kuwait’s American Embassy.  The family moved once again, this time to London.  This instability caused Mika to be bullied and isolated at school.  The situation had a tremendous impact on the young boy and he was pulled out of school for a few months.  Redemption for Mika came through music.  He started discovering artists such as Bob Dylan, Serge Gainsbourg, Prince, Michael Jackson and Elton John.  He also learned to play the piano.

He started taking voice lessons and started recording with the Royal Opera House.  He recorded a jingle for Orbit chewing gum.  He then dropped out of school and focused on his music.  At the age of 19, he was accepted to the Royal College of Music in London.  He started cutting demos and caught the attention of a first record label, which he turned down.  He continued to hone his talent as a singer and songwriter and waited for his breakthrough.

In 2006, Mika landed a deal with Casablanca Records and released his debut single Relax (Take It Easy). It received great reviews and Mika was compared with Freddie Mercury. The follow-up single, Grace Kelly, was Mika’s real breakthrough in 2007.  The song hit number one on the singles chart.   It was the most downloaded track in the United Kingdom.  It was off Mika’s debut album, Life in Cartoon Motion, which was released one month after the leading track.  The album was another smash.  The artist had not expected his career to skyrocket that quickly and added many new concert dates to his tour.

The album had a string of hits such as Big Girl (You are Beautiful), Lollipop and Love Today.   Mika was nominated for many awards at the MTV European Music Awards. He made up for not winning at the MTV EMAs when he took home four awards at the World Music Awards in Monaco in 2007.

Mika’s popularity was cemented in 2008 when he received a Grammy nomination for Best Dance Recording for his single Love Today.   He received further accolades at the Brit Awards where he won for Best Breakthrough Act, and received four other nominations.  In 2008, he won the Ivor Novello Award for Songwriter of the Year.

In one year, Life in Cartoon Motion sold more than six million copies around the world.