Born on August 1: Michael Penn is the singer of a family of actors

Michael Penn was born in 1958 in New York, in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, into a family of Russian Sephardic Jews who had emigrated several generations earlier.

Son of actor and director Leo Penn, who despite his exploits as a pilot during World War II, found himself, wrongly, on Senator McCarthy's infamous list obsessed with hunting down (supposed) communists. His mother Eileen Ryan was also an actress, as were his older brother Sean Penn ("Mystic River") and the late Chris Penn ("Rusty James"). He is the only one of his siblings to have opted for music and began learning music theory in middle school. He nevertheless dabbled in the cinema, contributing to the music for several films, including "Hollywood Stargirl" in 2022, for which Jasmine Ash covered her famous "No Myth."

He first gained attention as a member of the band Doll Congress in Los Angeles and appeared on television, notably in the series "St. Elsewhere" and during a notable performance on "Saturday Night Live" in 1987. His career really took off with the release of his first solo album, "March," in 1989. The single "No Myth" became a huge international hit and even reached the top 20 in the United States.

In the following years, without ever putting pressure on himself, he released four more albums praised for the quality of their compositions but without attracting a wide audience: "Free-for-All" (1992), "Resigned" (1997), "MP4 Days Since A Lost Time Accident" (2000), and "Mr. Hollywood" (2001). Jr., 1947" (2005). He also composed film and TV music, earning his name in the credits of "Boogie Nights" and "Girls". Married to singer Aimee Mann since 1997, Michael Penn has led a discreet career as a craftsman reluctant to be in the limelight. He can also be found regularly on his partner's albums, alongside Liz Phair or for a cover of Bruce Springsteen, whose talent he admires.

(MH with Stéphane Soupart - Photo : © Etienne Tordoir)

Photo: Michael Penn at one of his very rare concerts at the Belgische Congo hall in Leuven (Belgium) on May 8, 1990