The band Christine And The Queens has been awarded Album of the Year at the 2017 ELLE Style Awards.

At the H&M sponsored evening, Héloïse Letissier – otherwise known by her stage name 'Christine and the Queens' – received the coveted music award from fellow female frontwoman, Gossip band member, Beth Ditto.

As Heloïse hit the stage to accept her award from Beth, she spoke about how amazing it was to be recognised even though she's not your average pop star:' I was born out of anger. It's easy to be angry as a young girl if you feel you're not enough or too much. So here i am. I'm a smoke. Think of me as some smoke. Like smoke, I am dissolving. So thank you for welcoming this weird smoke and this young girl. There should be more space for shape-shifters, ugly people. I live for these people.'

Nominated for International Female Solo Artist in 2017 BRIT Awards later this month, Christine & The Queens has previously spoken out about her identification as 'pansexual', falling in love with people, rather than genders.

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For ELLE's November Issue, she explained: 'Before I created Christine, I was actually really girly. Maybe I was trying to hide something, but I was trying too hard to be a girl and I didn't know what it meant. I was afraid of being myself.'

So, how did Christine & The Queens go from insecure theatre student to one of the most innovative women in contemporary music?

Following a visit to London in 2010, Letissier became inspired by a group of local drag queen musicians, who ultimately came to inspire her stage name and music – a genre she defines as 'freakpop', encompassing a celebration of the arts including music, art videos, drawings and photography.

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In 2012, the performer producer released her debut EP 'Miséricorde' and then 'Mac Abbey' but, it was her third single, 'Nuit 17 à 52' which garnered the biggest success to date, with a charting on on French Albums Chart SNEP.

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Following a career primarily based in France which saw the singer sign to independent music label Because Music and receive the awards for 'Best Female Artist' and 'Best Video Clip of 2014' at the Victoires de la musique awards, Christine & The Queens finally broke into the international market in 2015.

As a result, her hit album Chaleur humaine became one of 19 records nominated for the IMPALA Album of the Year Award in 2015.

In the months that followed, Letissier's single 'Titled' became one of the most famous songs of 2016 and saw Chaleur Humaine go on to become the UK's biggest debut record of 2016.

Félicitations, Christine & The Queens.

See Heloïse's full style file, with her most fashionable red carpet moments, here: