Give Me an M

Mathieu Chedid has what it takes for pop success: a talent to write and perform catchy music and an impish wit to produce engaging lyrics. But what distinguishes Chedid from fellow French pop stars is his implausible coif: a winged sculpture of hair and gel approximating the letter M. That alphabetic hairdo is symbolic of Chedid's on-stage alter ego — the caricature glam-rocker M, through whom the 29-year-old Parisian projects the bountiful creativity he inherited from his vocalist father, Louis Chedid, and honed as a studio musician.

In contrast to Chedid's sensitive, down-to-earth profile off stage, M...