His early life was quite as romantic as his end. Born on 28 November 1632 to a
miller, he had no formal education in
music but learnt
guitar and
violin almost by himself, then joined a band of travelling players.
The Chevalier de Guise found him in 1646 and took him to France. He was placed as a scullion in the household of the king's cousin, Mlle de Montpensier, who promoted him to her personal servant and leader of her band of musicians.
After becoming court composer, he was naturalized as French in 1661. His first opera, Cadmus et Hermione, was performed in 1673. The monopoly he was granted cancelled a previous patent issued to Robert Cambert (who went off to London to die) and his librettist Pierre Perrin (who also died a couple of years later, suspicious or what?). The Paris Opéra was at this time called the Académie Royale de Musique; it was this body that Lully took over.
His end was also romantically tragic. What he was conducting when he injured his foot was a Te Deum to celebrate the recovery of the King (Louis XIV).
As far as I can work out he composed fifteen operas, one being incomplete at his death (22 March 1687), and with the usual classical mythology and Amadis de Gaul titles; nine comic ballets in collaboration with Molière; and eighteen other ballets, including one called Ballet des ballets, you know how it gets after you've done a few.