Lara Fabian
Encyclopedia
Lara Fabian is a Belgian-Italian international singer who also holds Canadian citizenship. Multilingual, she sings in French
, Italian
and English
.
She has also sung in Spanish
, Portuguese
, Russian
(e.g., "Любовь, похожая на сон", or "Love Resembling A Dream"), once in Hebrew
on Israel's 60th Independence Day celebrations and in German
in 1988 for a version of "Croire" (ger.: "glauben" eng.: "believe"), although she speaks neither language fluently. She also speaks a little Dutch
(Flemish
). She has sold over 18 million records worldwide so far. She is a lyric soprano
with a vocal range
that spans four octaves from E-flat 3 to G#6. She can belt
up to A5.
mother in Etterbeek
, Belgium, she spent her first five years in her mother's hometown of Catania
in Sicily before moving back to Brussels
, Belgium. She began singing, dancing and taking piano lessons at a very young age and began formal music lessons at age eight. She began writing and performing her own songs during her ten years of formal study. Fabian's songs were greatly influenced by both her classical vocal and music theory training and by contemporary artists such as Barbra Streisand
and Queen
.
an competitions and won several prizes. A consequence of winning one of these contests in 1986 was the release of her first single, "L'Aziza est en pleurs" / "Il y avait". Both were written by the Belgian
composer Marc Lerchs as homage to the deceased French singer Daniel Balavoine
.
In 1988, the RTL TV
channel in Luxembourg
invited Fabian to represent the country at the 33rd Eurovision Song Contest
, held that year in Dublin, Ireland
. The song presented to Fabian was a composition made by Jacques Cardona and Alain Garciac entitled "Croire
" (Trust) and reached a respectable fourth place that night. The winning song that year was titled "Ne partez pas sans moi
" and launched the career of its performer, Fabian's fellow francophone artist, Céline Dion
, who sang on behalf of Switzerland
. Fabian's "Croire" became a hit single that year in Europe selling nearly 500,000 copies.
In 1990, Fabian and her friend and musical collaborator, Rick Allison
, moved to Montreal
, Canada to embark on a career in North America
. They began their own music label and publishing company, Productions Clandestines. Rick first met Fabian in a jazz bar in Brussels some years previously and was impressed by Fabian's vocals on George Gershwin
's "Summertime
". The pair worked steadily on writing and recording songs.
In August 1991, Fabian's self-titled French-language debut album, Lara Fabian
, was released in Canada
and sold over 100,000 copies. This debut album went on to be certified Gold in 1993 and then certified platinum the following year. The success of the album's upbeat Dance-pop
singles such as "Le jour où tu partira", "Les murs", and "Qui pense à l'amour" gave Fabian the radio exposure she needed. She received several nominations at the 1993 ADISQ awards and a poll published around that time revealed that she was considered Quebec's most promising singer.
helped her 1994 album Carpe diem
to become her breakthrough album. The album went Gold less than three weeks after its release, and spawned three hit singles: "Tu t'en vas", "Si tu m'aimes", and "Leïla". The following year, the album went Triple Platinum and Fabian's SRO tour attracted more than 150,000 fans. The success of Carpe diem was recognized at the 1995 ADISQ gala. Fabian received two Félix
awards: Best Show Of The Year and Best Female Singer Of The Year (a category that is voted upon by the public).
In January 1995, Serge Lama
requested that Fabian join him on the stage of the Paris venue Palais des Congrès to perform "Je suis malade", which she had recorded on Carpe diem. Impressed by the audience's response to their duet, Lama immediately asked Fabian to sing the song once more on her own, this delighted the audience.
In 1996, Walt Disney Studios immortalized Fabian's voice when they asked her to voice the character of Esmeralda in the French version of the animated feature The Hunchback of Notre Dame
. Disney also included Fabian's French
version of the song "Que Dieu aide les exclus" (God Help The Outcasts) on the film's English
soundtrack album beside Bette Midler's version. This was a unique move for the company.
, Fabian signed a contract with the French Polydor
label for several albums and Pure
was released in June 1997. Pure sold over two million copies in France
alone and the album went platinum in less than two weeks. The album spawned several hit singles: "Tout", "Je t'aime", "Humana" and the anti-homophobia
anthem
"La Différence". "Tout", "Je t'aime" and "Humana" each sold more than one million copies. Fabian was again bestowed with awards, being awarded a Félix
for Popular Album Of The Year at the 1997 ADISQ
gala and was also nominated for two Juno Award
s in the Best Female Singer and Best Selling French Album categories.
In January 1998, Fabian sang a duet with Johnny Hallyday
at a benefit concert
given for the Restos du Coeur
in France
. The pair would later perform this duet again at the Stade de France
in front of 240,000 fans as part of Hallyday's concert tour. Fabian's own tour during this time had two sold-out shows at L'Olympia
(France
). A month later, on that very same stage, Fabian was given the Discovery Of The Year award during the Victoires de la Musique
Gala. Also in 1998, Polydor released Fabian's Canadian hit album Carpe diem
in Europe and her international popularity was secured, as exemplified by the decision of the famous Grévin Wax Museum
to unveil Fabian's wax effigy, as a Quebec City museum had already done. This made her the first female Canadian singer ever to be honoured by the Paris institution.
Fabian spent most of fall 1998 in France, where she embarked on an extensive tour of 24 cities including Paris
, Lyon
, Marseilles, Geneva
and Monaco
. During this sold-out concert tour, Fabian performed for audiences of more than 150,000. In November 1998, Fabian received the Félix Award
for Artist With The Most Recognition Outside Quebec at the ADISQ Gala. In December, Fabian was chosen Revelation Of The Year by the magazine Paris Match
, which put her on its cover to mark this occasion.
In March 1999, Fabian released her first live album, simply named Live
, which debuted at #1 on the French charts. This helped solidify the international buzz around her and she received an international recording contract from Sony
Music.
In May 1999, Fabian was honoured at the World Music Awards
in Monaco
, where she was given the award for Best Selling Record for the Year 1998 for her album Pure. In July 1999, with over 6 million records sold across Europe, Polydor released Fabian’s self-titled debut album
from 1991. This European version of the album contained slight modifications, such as a new album cover and the addition of the hit single "Croire".
In the summer of 1999, Fabian recorded her first English-language album, Lara Fabian, in New York and San Francisco for the Sony label. The songs were written and produced with the help of her partner Rick Allison
as well as Dave Pickell, Walter Afanasieff
, Glen Ballard
and Patrick Leonard
.
The Dance-pop
song, "I Will Love Again
", her first English single, reached #1 on the U.S.A. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play. It also peaked #32 on the Billboard Hot 100
and #10 Adult Contemporary) as well as appearing on several other international charts. A follow-up ballad, "Love By Grace", became a moderate Adult Contemporary chart hit peaking at #24. In February 2001, the title Love By Grace became the theme song of the lead couple in the Brazilian soap opera Laços de Família, broadcast by TV Globo for millions of viewers in Brazil and Portugal. For several weeks, the song was number 1 on most Brazilian and Portuguese radio stations. Love by Grace generated an incredible frenzy around the artist.
The third single, the Dance-pop
song, "I Am Who I Am" remixed by Hex Hector
became an underground club hit, but did not chart. Meanwhile in Europe, the single "Adagio" charted at #5 on the French singles chart and #3 on the Belgian singles chart.
The album itself debuted at #1 on the Billboard Heatseekers new album chart, reached #1 on the French album chart and #2 on the Belgian album chart. For the Asian version of the album, Fabian collaborated with American-Taiwanese pop star Leehom Wang on the song "Light of my life".
During this period, Fabian recorded songs for several Hollywood motion picture soundtracks such as "The Dream Within" for the Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within
soundtrack and, "For Always" for the AI:Artificial Intelligence soundtrack. The "AI: Artificial Intelligence" Soundtrack has two versions of the song "For Always". One version is of Fabian solo, the other version is a duet with singer Josh Groban
. Fabian has also ventured into acting, appearing in the film De-Lovely
, performing Cole Porter
's So In Love with Mario Frangoulis
. This song appears on the movie soundtrack. Also, Fabian's "Givin' Up On You" appears on the soundtrack "Songs From Dawson's Creek, Vol. 2".
(Naked) was Fabian's fourth French album and was released in the Fall of 2001 in both Québec and France, making her return to her French singing roots. Her experiences surrounding her first English album were intense and, although critically praised, personally exhausting. "Nue" is the documentation by Fabian and her partner and producer, Rick Allison
, of her emotional ride in the preceding few years. It is an album that gave listeners a much more vulnerable and fragile perception of Fabian although presented with an exceptional vocal strength. Her first single released in the summer of 2001 was the anthem "J'y crois encore" which was a top 20 French hit and was followed by the release of the album later that month. The album reached #1 in Belgium and #2 in France but had little impact in Québec. Other singles followed, such as Fabian's personal favourite, "Immortelle", a strong song that remains constantly present in Fabian's live concerts. "Aimer Déjà" was also released as a single and in 2002 "Tu es mon autre
" (a duet with fellow Belgian friend and singer Maurane), was nominated for song of the year and reached the top 5 in France. This has become another trademark song in Fabian's career and she has performed it many times with many other artists, including Rick Allison during her 2001/2002 tour. In addition, this album was also released in Portugal and reached the top 10 on the album charts during the Fall of 2001 as a consequence of the tremendous success of Fabian's previous English album.
Also in 2001, she collaborated with David Foster
and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra
to record the Canadian national anthem, "O Canada
", for an English version, a French version, and a bilingual (French/English) version, for a promotion of the Government of Canada.
Also in 2002, Fabian contributed to the World Soccer Championship CD release with the song "World At Your Feet" written and produced by Gary Barlow.
Towards the end of 2002, Fabian released her second live album, Live 2002
, from her latest tour together with a DVD showcasing concerts recorded in December 2001 in Belgium
at the Forest National and at Le Zénith in Paris
.
By early 2003, Fabian was once again touring. This time the concert was presented in a more intimate and acoustic atmosphere at the Casino de Paris every Monday night. An acoustic set that became her transition towards a new Lara Fabian that the public was on verge of knowing and worshiping. During this tour, Maurane
and Daniel Lavoie
both appeared as guests, duetting with Fabian on "Tu es mon autre" and "Je suis mon coeur" respectively. These acoustic concerts were released as a live CD and DVD at the end of 2003, under the title En toute intimité
.
album, A Wonderful Life
. The project was commercially unsuccessful but critically praised. The album did not come close to the success of her previous English debut effort but created a path for a sound and musical change that would trademark Fabian's future musical style. The more organic sound is due to the work of French guitarist Jean-Félix Lalanne, and also working with producers such as Desmond Child
, Anders Bagge
and the British team True North (composed of Take That singer Gary Barlow
and Elliot John Kennedy). The centrepiece of this record, as Fabian stated on a promotional interview for this album, is "Review My Kisses". This song was written by Desmond Child and planned to be recorded initially by Fabian herself. It was recorded by LeAnn Rimes
in 2002 for her album "Twisted Angel".
The first single release (though only for radio) was "The Last Goodbye" in the US and most other countries (except France). The video premiered on Portuguese talk show "Herman Sic" one day before the album was released. In the meantime, Fabian decided to release a different song in France, considering that "The Last Goodbye" was too "American" for an audience that was more used to her own songwriting. She released (with a video as well) the song "No Big Deal". Neither of the songs achieved massive or moderate, partly attributable to Fabian's personal decision to withdraw from the project and also due to conflicts with Sony Music. The album was not promoted and its release was cancelled in the United States.
At least one song from the album, "I Guess I Loved You", saw some moderate success when included on a Brazilian soap opera. Brazil is still one of the countries with a strong passion for Fabian's music, and therefore this song was chosen for the soundtrack of "Senhora do Destino" (Lady Of Destiny) almost gaining the same popularity that "Love By Grace" did when similarly chosen in 2001. The song also gained some popularity in Portugal for the same reasons, though it was never officially released or promoted.
For the rest of 2004 Fabian was in almost complete seclusion from the music scene, having left her second English record aside. Newspapers began speculating about a serious disease that had affected her. The drama became so exaggerated that Fabian herself was forced to appear on a short interview in Québec later that year explaining some of the reasons she withdrew from the public eye and also why she had returned to her native Belgium, leaving Québec (where she had lived in Westmount
for nearly 15 years).
album, 9
. This title symbolically resembles "a change" and "a rebirth[...]the end of a period of time in one's life and simultaneously the beginning of another". It marked a completely different direction in Fabian's musical and personal life. The album is performed differently, with smoothness, serenity and with a lot of joy, far from the in-depth and dramatic vibes of earlier recordings.
9 yielded the hit single "La Lettre", a song co-written by Fabian and composed by her new partner, Jean-Félix Lalanne. He is responsible, along with Fabian herself for the composition and production of the album's 11 tracks. Other singles from 9 were "Ne lui parlez plus d'elle", "Un Ave Maria", "Il ne manquait que toi" (a song written by Fabian and inspired by Lalanne) and the gospel-infused "L'homme qui n'avait pas de maison".
The success of 9 was cemented by a huge tour titled "Un regard 9". This tour reached France
, Belgium
, Switzerland
, Lebanon
, Russia
, Quebec
, Turkey
, Luxembourg
, Mauritius
, French overseas territories in the Caribbean and Oceania
and totalled more than 60 concerts. Fabian also performed in Portugal for the first time, showcasing songs from her two English records and a few French songs such as "La Lettre".
In October 2006, Fabian released a CD
and DVD
of this tour, both titled Un regard 9 Live
. Both the CD and DVD were recorded during Fabian's concerts on 29 March 2006 at Le Zénith in Paris
. The CD presents 15 live performances plus a brand new song, "Aime", which was recorded in a studio in Montreal
. This song has been recorded in both English and French, though the latter version is the only one officially released so far. "Aime" was initially performed live during a few concerts in Belgium as gift for her native Belgium fans but the enthusiastic response and feedback prompted Fabian to record the song and include it on a forthcoming release. On TV shows, where Fabian promoted the song as a single, one can see the audience putting their hands in the air in the shape of a heart, a sign Fabian made during her tour and that has now became a symbol for the song and its meaning.
-language project. Few details have been released except that she has been working with Neapolitan
singer and songwriter Gigi D'Alessio
, who appeared once at one of her shows, and whose performance is included as a bonus on Fabian's recent live DVD, Un regard 9 Live
. The two artists recorded a song called "Un Cuore Malato" (Ill heart), which they performed live during the fourth night of the 2007 Sanremo festival on Rai Uno
, the main Italian public channel. There is also a French/Italian version of this duet "Un Coeur Blessé" and this was released to French radio in Summer 2007.
In June 2007, Fabian worked in Rome and Los Angeles to record sessions for her Italian album. In the meantime, the single "Un Cuore Malato" (with Gigi D'Alessio) reached the top of the Italian charts and #16 in France. As part of her time in Los Angeles, Fabian worked with Dave Stewart
(musician and record producer known for his work with Eurythmics
) and Glen Ballard
(former Alanis Morissette
producer and writing partner) on a "multilingual" album which is reputed to include songs in English, Spanish, French, Italian and a few other languages (resembling albums by singers such as Josh Groban
, Mario Frangoulis
and Russell Watson
with whom Fabian has recorded before). This album is expected to be released in late 2008. Fabian revealed some time ago that she wrote a song with Dave Stewart called "Between Hatred And Love" and a few tracks with Glen Ballard for to this project. Ballard had previously composed a track for Fabian titled "Ivy" and this was released as a b-side for the single "Adagio" in 1999.
Also in 2007, Fabian was in Québec to perform a two night concert at the Olympia de Montreal (re-opening this theatre after its long renovation) presenting her Quebec fans with some of the atmosphere of her 2005-2006 European Un regard 9 tour. In addition, Fabian performed private acoustic sessions in countries such as Portugal, Turkey and Russia. On 14 October 2007, Fabian was a surprise guest at the only concert Gigi D'Alessio gave in France at the famous Olympia in Paris, just a few days before the birth of her daughter. Fabian surprised everyone by appearing and performing their successful duet "Un Cuore Malato". The concert was broadcasted through an Italian TV channel.
, Russia
and Greece
. In Greece she was a guest in a concert by Greek tenor Mario Frangoulis, with whom Fabian had previously duetted on the song "So In Love" featured in the movie "De-Lovely" in 2004. Fabian has also made a few TV appearances (such as 60th Anniversary of Israel where Fabian performed a Hebrew song and duetted with Israeli singer Noa).
On an interview for Russian radio station "Silver Rain", prior to a concert in Moscow, Fabian expressed how much she loved and admired the late singer Grégory Lemarchal
and claimed he was her favourite Star Academy participant from all seven editions done so far. She was also asked about what she thought of the talent shows that have brought so many people to the world of music. Fabian responded with "Who are we to judge? [...] These young people don't know how this machinery works, but we can't kill their dreams, can we?". In addition to the interview, she performed Sarah McLachlan's "Angel" specially for LeMarchal during her Moscow concert.
During 2008, Fabian was in Belgium preparing to record a brand new French album with famous pianist Mark Herskowitz, who had also composed and arranged the hidden instrumental track featured on the 2001 album "Nue". The album will be partly recorded in Montreal, Canada. No further details have been revealed regarding her anticipated Italian album. It is highly suspected, however, that the new French album may be the so-called "multilingual" project previously mentioned, considering the fact that songs in Spanish, Italian, and English are said to be included on it.
Fabian confirmed the release of this much anticipated new album, Toutes les femmes en moi
, on her official website on 20 October 2008. Fabian stated on her website that Toutes les femmes en moi is "daring" and that "Blues, Jazz, Gospel, Klezmer, Tango, Neo Classic, White Soul [and Gospel] come close without disturbing each other...". According to Fabian's official website the album will be released on May 26, 2009. The first single release from this album is Soleil, Soleil
, a cover of the Nana Mouskouri
song, which was sent to French radios on March 11, 2009. Fabian will be promoting the album during the next few months before starting a new tour later this year. The album is a "self-portrait" where Fabian reveals her strong admiration for some of the most impressive female singers in France and Québec that have inspired her as both a woman and as an artists and, as she states "have constructed [her]". The album came as a result of two situations, where at one point Fabian had had a deep reflective conversation with her best friend Natalie about how can anyone truly explain that people are what they have become (a question to which Fabian replies has being a result of all the women that are part of her both at a personal level and musically; and after that she had a discussion with Polydor France boss Pascal Negre who told her that she should be comfortable about herself as a singer not letting herself be influenced by those old criticisms and views that followed her over the years concerning her singing and personality. According to him, she should just be herself and sing exactly the way that represent who she is and who she has always been regardless those who tried to knock her down. Fabian thanks each and every one the selected singers hommaged on this album with real life letters she actually wrote to them in different periods of her life thanking them for their inspiration and perseverance that helped her in her own professional and personal life. She pays tribute to artists such has Maurane
, Véronique Sanson
, Dalida
, Nana Mouskouri
, Catharine Lara, France Gall
and Céline Dion
among others.
It was recently revealed by the singer during her current promotional tour in France that there is an English recorded album equivalent to TLFM called "Every Woman In Me" that showcases in an acoustic environment with piano and vocals her own interpretation of some of the most amazing classic songs from some of the most recognized women in the recording Anglo-Saxonic industry around the world with names such as Celine Dion
, Bette Midler
, Joni Mitchell
, Karen Carpenter
, Kate Bush
, Aretha Franklin
, Ella Fitzgerald
and even Fabian's forever idol Barbra Streisand
. The album will only be released online and during her upcoming francophone tour "Tous Le Femmes En Moi Font Son Show" that will start later in September this year. Fabian has, however showcased a few numbers from this release in her 5 day recent concert tour in Russia, a country where she has become a huge star over the last four years with both her English and French repertoire.
The second single of the album confirmed is the song "Toutes les Femmes en moi", Fabian's only original recording included and also the album's title track.
. This marked what for a long time was referred to be the multi-lingual musical project with Russian composer Igor Krutoy
entitled "Mademoisse Zhivago". It features 11 different songs which tell us a particular story but are all linked by one same character, a woman who crosses different lives over the years and centuries having a special personal bond to Fabian's origins and family. The whole project not only was musical but also cinematographic as all 11 songs were filmed into different videos that as a whole created one big film produced and directed by Ukrainian film producer Alan Badoev. The album containing a CD and a DVD was first released in Ukraine on 25 October but will also have its release in Russia on 19 November. It's planned to be also released in France later in 2011. The whole set of songs composed by Fabian with Igor Krutoy is in English, French, Italian, Spanish and also in Russian. Fabian first introduced one of these songs in 2009 during the New Wave Festival in Latvia performing "Demain N'Existe Pas" and the following she would return to that same stage performing new songs from the already finalized project. Fabian has been promoting this project in both country specially on television but also giving a series of concerts too presenting the new songs to the eastern European public. Fabian has with this been established as a huge superstar in the eastern part of Europe. Fabian was a guest performer on 30 October show of the Ukrainian X Factor singing "Mademoiselle Hyde" and "Demain N'Existe Pas" taken from the album and also her longtime classic "Adagio".
As her career follows new directions, she has not lost connection to her French and Canadian public and fans. In September 2010 she finally released her 2009 album "Tout Les Femmes En Moi" in Québec having enjoyed a heavy week of promotion there returning shortly to the country she claims made her who she is. There is a new version on the album for "Nuit Magique" which was recorded as a duet with Canadian singer Coral Egan.
Parallel to this whole range of musical events and adventures, Fabian will finally release her first "Best of" album in France on 15 November alongside the DVD filmed in March of one of the concerts during the "Tout Les Femmes Font Leur Show". The album will contain two new recordings: the first single "On S'aimerai Tout Bas" composed by Stanislas
and Maxime Le Forestier
and a virtual duet with Ray Charles
called "Ensemble".
Fabian will also be featured on an upcoming release by American singer Michael Bolton
on which both sang the classic The Prayer
originally recorded by Andrea Bocelli
and Céline Dion
in 1998. The track was produced by the hitmaker producer David Foster
who had also composed the song. For the producer's latest show "Hitman and Friends" in Canada on October 15, Fabian was invited to perform "Caruso
" and also the recently recorded duet with Michael Bolton with standing ovation from the crowd.
, Nolwenn Leroy
and Myriam Abel
. She also composed for Daniel Lévi
and is said to be currently working with a former contestant from "Nouvelle Star 3", Roland. She has often praised the voice and talent of successful female singer Amel Bent
, who was also a contestant on that show.
.
In a recent press release, Fabian confirmed that she will be acting in a French play with two other famous French actors. Her role will be that of a man, whose character she has not yet revealed. She expressed excitement on this new adventure on which she is embarking, about which she states, "Acting is related to being a singer, as interpreting a song makes a singer become a small actor on a song".
began a relationship at the start of 1998. The photos of the happy couple have been splashed across the cover of French tabloids ever since!
On November 20, 2007 Belgian singer Maurane
, Fabian's very close friend (both shared vocals on the single "Tu Es Mon Autre" in 2002), revealed during her concert at the Cirque Royal that "...little Lou was born this morning!" referring to Fabian's first child, a girl named Lou, who was born at the Edith Cavell Hospital in Uccle, Belgium.
http://www.rfimusic.com/artist/chanson/patrick-fiori/biography
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
and English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
.
She has also sung in Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
, Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
, Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
(e.g., "Любовь, похожая на сон", or "Love Resembling A Dream"), once in Hebrew
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
on Israel's 60th Independence Day celebrations and in German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
in 1988 for a version of "Croire" (ger.: "glauben" eng.: "believe"), although she speaks neither language fluently. She also speaks a little Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
(Flemish
Flemish
Flemish can refer to anything related to Flanders, and may refer directly to the following articles:*Flemish, an informal, though linguistically incorrect, name of any kind of the Dutch language as spoken in Belgium....
). She has sold over 18 million records worldwide so far. She is a lyric soprano
Lyric soprano
A lyric soprano is a type of operatic soprano that has a warm quality with a bright, full timbre which can be heard over an orchestra. The lyric soprano voice generally has a higher tessitura than a soubrette and usually plays ingenues and other sympathetic characters in opera. Lyric sopranos have...
with a vocal range
Vocal range
Vocal range is the measure of the breadth of pitches that a human voice can phonate. Although the study of vocal range has little practical application in terms of speech, it is a topic of study within linguistics, phonetics, and speech and language pathology, particularly in relation to the study...
that spans four octaves from E-flat 3 to G#6. She can belt
Belt (music)
Belting refers to a specific technique of singing by which a singer produces a loud sound in the upper middle of the pitch range. It is often described as a vocal register although some dispute this since technically the larynx is not oscillating in a unique way...
up to A5.
Early life
Born to a Belgian father and a SicilianSicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
mother in Etterbeek
Etterbeek
Etterbeek is one of the nineteen municipalities located in the Brussels-Capital Region of Belgium. It neighbours the municipalities of the City of Brussels, Ixelles, Auderghem, Woluwe-Saint-Pierre, Woluwe-Saint-Lambert and Schaerbeek....
, Belgium, she spent her first five years in her mother's hometown of Catania
Catania
Catania is an Italian city on the east coast of Sicily facing the Ionian Sea, between Messina and Syracuse. It is the capital of the homonymous province, and with 298,957 inhabitants it is the second-largest city in Sicily and the tenth in Italy.Catania is known to have a seismic history and...
in Sicily before moving back to Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
, Belgium. She began singing, dancing and taking piano lessons at a very young age and began formal music lessons at age eight. She began writing and performing her own songs during her ten years of formal study. Fabian's songs were greatly influenced by both her classical vocal and music theory training and by contemporary artists such as Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
and Queen
Queen (band)
Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor...
.
1986-1993: Early music career
During the 1980s, Lara Fabian entered a number of EuropeEurope
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an competitions and won several prizes. A consequence of winning one of these contests in 1986 was the release of her first single, "L'Aziza est en pleurs" / "Il y avait". Both were written by the Belgian
Demographics of Belgium
This article is about the demographic features of the population of Belgium, including ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population...
composer Marc Lerchs as homage to the deceased French singer Daniel Balavoine
Daniel Balavoine
Daniel Balavoine was a French singer and songwriter. He was hugely popular in the French-speaking world, and inspired many singers in the 1980s, such as Jean-Jacques Goldman, and Michel Berger, his closest friend...
.
In 1988, the RTL TV
RTL Télé Lëtzebuerg
RTL Télé Lëtzebuerg is the main television channel in Luxembourg, broadcasting in Luxembourgish.The small television market in Luxembourg led to a unique system in Europe: Luxembourg remains the only country in the world to run television stations in both the PAL and SECAM formats. Originally, both...
channel in Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
invited Fabian to represent the country at the 33rd Eurovision Song Contest
Eurovision Song Contest 1988
The Eurovision Song Contest 1988 was the 33rd Eurovision Song Contest and was held on 30 April 1988 in Dublin. The presenters were Pat Kenny and Michelle Rocca...
, held that year in Dublin, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. The song presented to Fabian was a composition made by Jacques Cardona and Alain Garciac entitled "Croire
Croire
"Croire" was the Luxembourgish entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1988, performed in French by Belgian singer Lara Fabian, an at the time 18 year old up and coming artist, and some twenty years later an established performer in all of Europe, the U.S...
" (Trust) and reached a respectable fourth place that night. The winning song that year was titled "Ne partez pas sans moi
Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi
"Ne partez pas sans moi" is the Swiss winning entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1988, performed by Céline Dion. It was released as a single in Europe on May 6, 1988...
" and launched the career of its performer, Fabian's fellow francophone artist, Céline Dion
Celine Dion
Céline Marie Claudette Dion, , , is a Canadian singer. Born to a large family from Charlemagne, Quebec, Dion emerged as a teen star in the French-speaking world after her manager and future husband René Angélil mortgaged his home to finance her first record...
, who sang on behalf of Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
. Fabian's "Croire" became a hit single that year in Europe selling nearly 500,000 copies.
In 1990, Fabian and her friend and musical collaborator, Rick Allison
Rick Allison
Rick Allison is a Belgian musician.Of Irish and Russian descent, he became bilingual. His mother was an amateur pianist and his father had international music interests. At the age of 15, Allison started a band and gradually performed more and more gigs in clubs around Brussels...
, moved to Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Canada to embark on a career in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
. They began their own music label and publishing company, Productions Clandestines. Rick first met Fabian in a jazz bar in Brussels some years previously and was impressed by Fabian's vocals on George Gershwin
George Gershwin
George Gershwin was an American composer and pianist. Gershwin's compositions spanned both popular and classical genres, and his most popular melodies are widely known...
's "Summertime
Summertime (song)
"Summertime" is an aria composed by George Gershwin for the 1935 opera Porgy and Bess. The lyrics are by DuBose Heyward, the author of the novel Porgy on which the opera was based, although the song is also co-credited to Ira Gershwin by ASCAP....
". The pair worked steadily on writing and recording songs.
In August 1991, Fabian's self-titled French-language debut album, Lara Fabian
Lara Fabian (French album)
Lara Fabian's self titled French debut album is considered by some to be her best album because it is the only album Lara has ever record that is somewhat raucous, highly spirited, and very amiable. It is also notable because it is her only album that is dominated by Dance-pop type songs instead of...
, was released in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and sold over 100,000 copies. This debut album went on to be certified Gold in 1993 and then certified platinum the following year. The success of the album's upbeat Dance-pop
Dance-pop
Dance-pop is dance-oriented pop music that originated in the early 1980s. Developing from post-disco, it is generally up-tempo music intended for clubs with the intention of being danceable or merely dancey...
singles such as "Le jour où tu partira", "Les murs", and "Qui pense à l'amour" gave Fabian the radio exposure she needed. She received several nominations at the 1993 ADISQ awards and a poll published around that time revealed that she was considered Quebec's most promising singer.
1994-1996: Breakthrough album: "Carpe diem"
Fabian's constant touring in QuebecQuebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
helped her 1994 album Carpe diem
Carpe diem (Lara Fabian album)
Carpe diem is Lara Fabian's second French album released in 1994.The album sold more than 250,000 copies.- Track listing :...
to become her breakthrough album. The album went Gold less than three weeks after its release, and spawned three hit singles: "Tu t'en vas", "Si tu m'aimes", and "Leïla". The following year, the album went Triple Platinum and Fabian's SRO tour attracted more than 150,000 fans. The success of Carpe diem was recognized at the 1995 ADISQ gala. Fabian received two Félix
Félix Award
The Félix Award is a music award, given on an annual basis to artists in the Canadian province of Quebec.The first Félix awards were presented on September 23, 1979, by the Association du disque, de l'industrie du spectacle québécois...
awards: Best Show Of The Year and Best Female Singer Of The Year (a category that is voted upon by the public).
In January 1995, Serge Lama
Serge Lama
Serge Lama is a French singer. He was born in Bordeaux.His most famous song is Je suis malade. In 1971 he represented France in the Eurovision Song Contest with the song Un jardin sur la terre, which was placed tenth.-Discography:...
requested that Fabian join him on the stage of the Paris venue Palais des Congrès to perform "Je suis malade", which she had recorded on Carpe diem. Impressed by the audience's response to their duet, Lama immediately asked Fabian to sing the song once more on her own, this delighted the audience.
In 1996, Walt Disney Studios immortalized Fabian's voice when they asked her to voice the character of Esmeralda in the French version of the animated feature The Hunchback of Notre Dame
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996 film)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a 1996 American animated drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released to theaters on June 21, 1996 by Walt Disney Pictures. The thirty-fourth animated feature in the Disney animated features canon, the film is inspired by Victor Hugo's novel of...
. Disney also included Fabian's French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
version of the song "Que Dieu aide les exclus" (God Help The Outcasts) on the film's English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
soundtrack album beside Bette Midler's version. This was a unique move for the company.
1997-1999: Mainstream international success: "Pure" and first "Live"
After the success of Carpe diemCarpe diem (Lara Fabian album)
Carpe diem is Lara Fabian's second French album released in 1994.The album sold more than 250,000 copies.- Track listing :...
, Fabian signed a contract with the French Polydor
Polydor Records
Polydor is a record label owned by Universal Music Group, headquartered in the United Kingdom.-Beginnings:Polydor was originally an independent branch of the Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft. Its name was first used as an export label in 1924, the British and German branches of the Gramophone...
label for several albums and Pure
Pure (Lara Fabian album)
Lara Fabian's 1996 album Pure, was a two million-selling album ,which reached Diamond status in France, from which came the anti-homophobia anthem "La Différence." The album went platinum in less than two weeks...
was released in June 1997. Pure sold over two million copies in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
alone and the album went platinum in less than two weeks. The album spawned several hit singles: "Tout", "Je t'aime", "Humana" and the anti-homophobia
Homophobia
Homophobia is a term used to refer to a range of negative attitudes and feelings towards lesbian, gay and in some cases bisexual, transgender people and behavior, although these are usually covered under other terms such as biphobia and transphobia. Definitions refer to irrational fear, with the...
anthem
Anthem
The term anthem means either a specific form of Anglican church music , or more generally, a song of celebration, usually acting as a symbol for a distinct group of people, as in the term "national anthem" or "sports anthem".-Etymology:The word is derived from the Greek via Old English , a word...
"La Différence". "Tout", "Je t'aime" and "Humana" each sold more than one million copies. Fabian was again bestowed with awards, being awarded a Félix
Félix Award
The Félix Award is a music award, given on an annual basis to artists in the Canadian province of Quebec.The first Félix awards were presented on September 23, 1979, by the Association du disque, de l'industrie du spectacle québécois...
for Popular Album Of The Year at the 1997 ADISQ
ADISQ
The ADISQ is a nonprofit organization with the mission to help the music industry in Quebec. It was created in 1978....
gala and was also nominated for two Juno Award
Juno Award
The Juno Awards are presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music...
s in the Best Female Singer and Best Selling French Album categories.
In January 1998, Fabian sang a duet with Johnny Hallyday
Johnny Hallyday
Johnny Hallyday is a French singer and actor. An icon in the French-speaking world since the beginning of his career, he was considered by some to have been the French Elvis Presley. He was married for 15 years to one of the most popular French female singers: Sylvie Vartan...
at a benefit concert
Benefit concert
A benefit concert or charity concert is a concert, show or gala featuring musicians, comedians, or other performers that is held for a charitable purpose, often directed at a specific and immediate humanitarian crisis. Such events raise both funds and public awareness to address the cause at...
given for the Restos du Coeur
Restaurants du Cœur
The Restaurants du Cœur is a French charitable organisation, the main activity of which is to distribute food packages and hot meals to the needy....
in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. The pair would later perform this duet again at the Stade de France
Stade de France
The Stade de France is the national stadium of France, situated just north of Paris in the commune of Saint-Denis. It has an all-seater capacity of 80,000, making it the fifth largest stadium in Europe, and is used by both the France national football team and French rugby union team for...
in front of 240,000 fans as part of Hallyday's concert tour. Fabian's own tour during this time had two sold-out shows at L'Olympia
Paris Olympia
The Olympia is a music hall in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. Located at No. 28, Boulevard des Capucines, its closest métro/RER stations are Madeleine, Opéra, Havre – Caumartin and Auber....
(France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
). A month later, on that very same stage, Fabian was given the Discovery Of The Year award during the Victoires de la Musique
Victoires de la Musique
Victoires de la musique , is an annual French award ceremony that recognizes the best musical artists of the year.- Male artist of the year :*1985 : Michel Jonasz*1986 : Jean-Jacques Goldman*1987 : Johnny Hallyday...
Gala. Also in 1998, Polydor released Fabian's Canadian hit album Carpe diem
Carpe diem (Lara Fabian album)
Carpe diem is Lara Fabian's second French album released in 1994.The album sold more than 250,000 copies.- Track listing :...
in Europe and her international popularity was secured, as exemplified by the decision of the famous Grévin Wax Museum
Musée Grévin
The Musée Grévin is a waxwork museum in Paris located on the Grands Boulevards in the IXe arrondissement on the right bank of the Seine, at 10, Boulevard Montmartre, Paris, France. It is open daily; an admission fee is charged....
to unveil Fabian's wax effigy, as a Quebec City museum had already done. This made her the first female Canadian singer ever to be honoured by the Paris institution.
Fabian spent most of fall 1998 in France, where she embarked on an extensive tour of 24 cities including Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, Lyon
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
, Marseilles, Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
and Monaco
Monaco
Monaco , officially the Principality of Monaco , is a sovereign city state on the French Riviera. It is bordered on three sides by its neighbour, France, and its centre is about from Italy. Its area is with a population of 35,986 as of 2011 and is the most densely populated country in the...
. During this sold-out concert tour, Fabian performed for audiences of more than 150,000. In November 1998, Fabian received the Félix Award
Félix Award
The Félix Award is a music award, given on an annual basis to artists in the Canadian province of Quebec.The first Félix awards were presented on September 23, 1979, by the Association du disque, de l'industrie du spectacle québécois...
for Artist With The Most Recognition Outside Quebec at the ADISQ Gala. In December, Fabian was chosen Revelation Of The Year by the magazine Paris Match
Paris Match
Paris Match is a French weekly magazine. It covers major national and international news along with celebrity lifestyle features. It was founded in 1949 by the industrialist Jean Prouvost....
, which put her on its cover to mark this occasion.
In March 1999, Fabian released her first live album, simply named Live
Live 1999 (Lara Fabian album)
Live is Lara Fabian's first live album and forth in total. The album was released in 1999.- 2 CDs edition :- 1 CD edition :-External links:...
, which debuted at #1 on the French charts. This helped solidify the international buzz around her and she received an international recording contract from Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
Music.
In May 1999, Fabian was honoured at the World Music Awards
World Music Awards
The World Music Awards is an international awards show founded in 1989 that annually honors recording artists based on worldwide sales figures provided by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry . John Martinotti is an executive producer and co-founder of the show...
in Monaco
Monaco
Monaco , officially the Principality of Monaco , is a sovereign city state on the French Riviera. It is bordered on three sides by its neighbour, France, and its centre is about from Italy. Its area is with a population of 35,986 as of 2011 and is the most densely populated country in the...
, where she was given the award for Best Selling Record for the Year 1998 for her album Pure. In July 1999, with over 6 million records sold across Europe, Polydor released Fabian’s self-titled debut album
Lara Fabian (French album)
Lara Fabian's self titled French debut album is considered by some to be her best album because it is the only album Lara has ever record that is somewhat raucous, highly spirited, and very amiable. It is also notable because it is her only album that is dominated by Dance-pop type songs instead of...
from 1991. This European version of the album contained slight modifications, such as a new album cover and the addition of the hit single "Croire".
1999-2001: Extension of success to the US and Latin America: "Lara Fabian"
Rick Allison
Rick Allison is a Belgian musician.Of Irish and Russian descent, he became bilingual. His mother was an amateur pianist and his father had international music interests. At the age of 15, Allison started a band and gradually performed more and more gigs in clubs around Brussels...
as well as Dave Pickell, Walter Afanasieff
Walter Afanasieff
Walter Afanasieff is a multiple Grammy-award-winning record producer and songwriter. He is best known for his long association with Mariah Carey, for whom he was producer and co-writer for several years, beginning in 1990...
, Glen Ballard
Glen Ballard
Glen Ballard is an American songwriter and record producer, best known for co-writing and producing Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill , which won Grammy Award for "Best Rock Album", and "Album of the Year" amongst others, and is ranked by the Rolling Stone amongst The 500 Greatest Albums of...
and Patrick Leonard
Patrick Leonard
Patrick Raymond Leonard is an American songwriter, keyboardist and music producer, known for his longtime collaboration with Madonna on many different recordings....
.
The Dance-pop
Dance-pop
Dance-pop is dance-oriented pop music that originated in the early 1980s. Developing from post-disco, it is generally up-tempo music intended for clubs with the intention of being danceable or merely dancey...
song, "I Will Love Again
I Will Love Again
"I Will Love Again" is a song by the Belgian singer Lara Fabian. It was released as the second single of her self-titled album.The Dance-pop song was her first English single. It reached #1 on the U.S...
", her first English single, reached #1 on the U.S.A. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play. It also peaked #32 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
and #10 Adult Contemporary) as well as appearing on several other international charts. A follow-up ballad, "Love By Grace", became a moderate Adult Contemporary chart hit peaking at #24. In February 2001, the title Love By Grace became the theme song of the lead couple in the Brazilian soap opera Laços de Família, broadcast by TV Globo for millions of viewers in Brazil and Portugal. For several weeks, the song was number 1 on most Brazilian and Portuguese radio stations. Love by Grace generated an incredible frenzy around the artist.
The third single, the Dance-pop
Dance-pop
Dance-pop is dance-oriented pop music that originated in the early 1980s. Developing from post-disco, it is generally up-tempo music intended for clubs with the intention of being danceable or merely dancey...
song, "I Am Who I Am" remixed by Hex Hector
Hex Hector
Hex Hector , is an American dance remixer. He won a Grammy in 2001 for "Best Remixer".-Biography:Hector was born in in Manhattan, New York, of a Puerto Rican mother and Cuban father, and was raised in the Washington Heights neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan...
became an underground club hit, but did not chart. Meanwhile in Europe, the single "Adagio" charted at #5 on the French singles chart and #3 on the Belgian singles chart.
The album itself debuted at #1 on the Billboard Heatseekers new album chart, reached #1 on the French album chart and #2 on the Belgian album chart. For the Asian version of the album, Fabian collaborated with American-Taiwanese pop star Leehom Wang on the song "Light of my life".
During this period, Fabian recorded songs for several Hollywood motion picture soundtracks such as "The Dream Within" for the Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within is a 2001 Japanese-American computer animated science fiction film directed by Hironobu Sakaguchi, creator of the Final Fantasy series of role-playing video games. It was the first photorealistic computer animated feature film and also holds the record for the most...
soundtrack and, "For Always" for the AI:Artificial Intelligence soundtrack. The "AI: Artificial Intelligence" Soundtrack has two versions of the song "For Always". One version is of Fabian solo, the other version is a duet with singer Josh Groban
Josh Groban
Joshua Winslow "Josh" Groban is an American singer-songwriter, musician, actor, and record producer. His four solo albums have been certified at least multi-platinum, and in 2007, he was charted as the number-one best selling artist in the United States with over 21 million records in that country...
. Fabian has also ventured into acting, appearing in the film De-Lovely
De-Lovely
De-Lovely is a 2004 musical biopic directed by Irwin Winkler. The screenplay by Jay Cocks is based on the life and career of Cole Porter, from his first meeting with Linda Lee Thomas until his death...
, performing Cole Porter
Cole Porter
Cole Albert Porter was an American composer and songwriter. Born to a wealthy family in Indiana, he defied the wishes of his domineering grandfather and took up music as a profession. Classically trained, he was drawn towards musical theatre...
's So In Love with Mario Frangoulis
Mario Frangoulis
Mario Frangoulis is a Greek tenor and is best known for his song, "Vincerò, Perderò". He sings in Italian, Spanish, English, French, and Greek; he is fluent in all 5 languages.-Early life:...
. This song appears on the movie soundtrack. Also, Fabian's "Givin' Up On You" appears on the soundtrack "Songs From Dawson's Creek, Vol. 2".
2001-2003: "O Canada 2001" and return to French roots: "Nue", "Live 2002" and "En toute intimité"
NueNue (Lara Fabian album)
Nue , is Lara Fabian's fifth album, and first French release in four years, since Pure, which earned Lara instant fame in Europe....
(Naked) was Fabian's fourth French album and was released in the Fall of 2001 in both Québec and France, making her return to her French singing roots. Her experiences surrounding her first English album were intense and, although critically praised, personally exhausting. "Nue" is the documentation by Fabian and her partner and producer, Rick Allison
Rick Allison
Rick Allison is a Belgian musician.Of Irish and Russian descent, he became bilingual. His mother was an amateur pianist and his father had international music interests. At the age of 15, Allison started a band and gradually performed more and more gigs in clubs around Brussels...
, of her emotional ride in the preceding few years. It is an album that gave listeners a much more vulnerable and fragile perception of Fabian although presented with an exceptional vocal strength. Her first single released in the summer of 2001 was the anthem "J'y crois encore" which was a top 20 French hit and was followed by the release of the album later that month. The album reached #1 in Belgium and #2 in France but had little impact in Québec. Other singles followed, such as Fabian's personal favourite, "Immortelle", a strong song that remains constantly present in Fabian's live concerts. "Aimer Déjà" was also released as a single and in 2002 "Tu es mon autre
Tu es mon autre
"Tu es mon autre" is a 2002 song recorded as a duet by Belgian singers Lara Fabian and Maurane. It was the fifth and last single from Fabian's fifth studio album Nue, and was released in October 2002...
" (a duet with fellow Belgian friend and singer Maurane), was nominated for song of the year and reached the top 5 in France. This has become another trademark song in Fabian's career and she has performed it many times with many other artists, including Rick Allison during her 2001/2002 tour. In addition, this album was also released in Portugal and reached the top 10 on the album charts during the Fall of 2001 as a consequence of the tremendous success of Fabian's previous English album.
Also in 2001, she collaborated with David Foster
David Foster
David Walter Foster, OC, OBC , is a Canadian musician, record producer, composer, singer, songwriter, and arranger, noted for discovering singers such as Michael Bublé, Josh Groban, and Charice Pempengco; and for producing some of the most successful artists in the world, such as Céline Dion, Toni...
and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra
Vancouver Symphony Orchestra
The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra is a Canadian orchestra performing in Vancouver, British Columbia. Over 240,000 people attend its live performances each year. It was founded in 1930 and plays in 12 venues. Its home is the Orpheum theatre. With an annual operating budget of $9.5 million, it is the...
to record the Canadian national anthem, "O Canada
O Canada
It has been noted that the opening theme of "O Canada" bears a strong resemblance to the "Marsch der Priester" , from the opera Die Zauberflöte , composed in 1791 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and that Lavallée's melody was inspired by Mozart's tune...
", for an English version, a French version, and a bilingual (French/English) version, for a promotion of the Government of Canada.
Also in 2002, Fabian contributed to the World Soccer Championship CD release with the song "World At Your Feet" written and produced by Gary Barlow.
Towards the end of 2002, Fabian released her second live album, Live 2002
Live 2002 (Lara Fabian album)
Live is the title of both a CD and DVD released by Belgian pop singer Lara Fabian in 2002. This is Fabian's first live DVD, second live album and seventh album in total...
, from her latest tour together with a DVD showcasing concerts recorded in December 2001 in Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
at the Forest National and at Le Zénith in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
.
By early 2003, Fabian was once again touring. This time the concert was presented in a more intimate and acoustic atmosphere at the Casino de Paris every Monday night. An acoustic set that became her transition towards a new Lara Fabian that the public was on verge of knowing and worshiping. During this tour, Maurane
Maurane
Maurane, real name Claudine Luypaerts, is a Belgian singer. She lives currently in Schaerbeek.Maurane was born at Ixelles. Her father was director in the Académie de Musique de Verviers, and when she was a teenager she took part in several musical contests...
and Daniel Lavoie
Daniel Lavoie
Daniel Lavoie is a Canadian singer–songwriter.Lavoie was born in Dunrea, Manitoba, Canada. His mother was a musician and he learned to play piano at a young age...
both appeared as guests, duetting with Fabian on "Tu es mon autre" and "Je suis mon coeur" respectively. These acoustic concerts were released as a live CD and DVD at the end of 2003, under the title En toute intimité
En Toute Intimité (Lara Fabian album)
En toute intimité is the title of both the CD and DVD from Lara Fabian's 2003 acoustic concerts at the Olympia in Paris. Both the CD and DVD were recorded during the concerts on February 2 & 3 2003....
.
2004: Second English language release: "A Wonderful Life"
In 2004, Fabian released her second EnglishEnglish language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
album, A Wonderful Life
A Wonderful Life (Lara Fabian album)
The singer/songwriter, Lara Fabian's second English album and sixth studio album, "A Wonderful Life" was released in June 2004. The album did not make a significant impression on the pop charts in Europe and it was never released in the United States, much to the dismay of her fans. In France the...
. The project was commercially unsuccessful but critically praised. The album did not come close to the success of her previous English debut effort but created a path for a sound and musical change that would trademark Fabian's future musical style. The more organic sound is due to the work of French guitarist Jean-Félix Lalanne, and also working with producers such as Desmond Child
Desmond Child
Desmond Child is an American musician, songwriter, and producer. He is a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame.-Career:...
, Anders Bagge
Anders Bagge
Sven Anders Bagge is a Swedish composer, lyricist, musician and record producer and partner with Peer Åström. The two songwriters / producers are known as Bagge & Peer...
and the British team True North (composed of Take That singer Gary Barlow
Gary Barlow
Gary Barlow is an English singer-songwriter, pianist and record producer. He is frontman and lead vocalist of pop group Take That and is currently the head judge on the eighth series of The X Factor. Barlow is one of Britain's most successful songwriters...
and Elliot John Kennedy). The centrepiece of this record, as Fabian stated on a promotional interview for this album, is "Review My Kisses". This song was written by Desmond Child and planned to be recorded initially by Fabian herself. It was recorded by LeAnn Rimes
LeAnn Rimes
LeAnn Rimes is an American country/pop singer. She is known for her rich vocals and her rise to fame as an eight-year-old champion on the original Ed McMahon version of Star Search, followed by the release of the Patsy Cline-intended single "Blue" when Rimes was only age 13, resulting in her...
in 2002 for her album "Twisted Angel".
The first single release (though only for radio) was "The Last Goodbye" in the US and most other countries (except France). The video premiered on Portuguese talk show "Herman Sic" one day before the album was released. In the meantime, Fabian decided to release a different song in France, considering that "The Last Goodbye" was too "American" for an audience that was more used to her own songwriting. She released (with a video as well) the song "No Big Deal". Neither of the songs achieved massive or moderate, partly attributable to Fabian's personal decision to withdraw from the project and also due to conflicts with Sony Music. The album was not promoted and its release was cancelled in the United States.
At least one song from the album, "I Guess I Loved You", saw some moderate success when included on a Brazilian soap opera. Brazil is still one of the countries with a strong passion for Fabian's music, and therefore this song was chosen for the soundtrack of "Senhora do Destino" (Lady Of Destiny) almost gaining the same popularity that "Love By Grace" did when similarly chosen in 2001. The song also gained some popularity in Portugal for the same reasons, though it was never officially released or promoted.
For the rest of 2004 Fabian was in almost complete seclusion from the music scene, having left her second English record aside. Newspapers began speculating about a serious disease that had affected her. The drama became so exaggerated that Fabian herself was forced to appear on a short interview in Québec later that year explaining some of the reasons she withdrew from the public eye and also why she had returned to her native Belgium, leaving Québec (where she had lived in Westmount
Westmount, Quebec
Westmount is a city on the Island of Montreal, an enclave of the city of Montreal, in southwestern Quebec, Canada; pop. 20,494; area 4.02 km²; population density of 5,092.56 inhabitants/km²....
for nearly 15 years).
2005-2006: A new musical direction: "9" and "Un Regard 9"
In March 2005, Fabian re-appeared on the music scene in France (and also in Canada) with her fifth FrenchFrench language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
album, 9
9 (Lara Fabian album)
9 is the 5th French album and 7th studio album in total to be released by the singer Lara Fabian.The album is considered by many as a shift in Lara's music style, and vocal performance, primarily because it was Lara's first album that long time producer, Rick Allison, did not produce. The Album...
. This title symbolically resembles "a change" and "a rebirth[...]the end of a period of time in one's life and simultaneously the beginning of another". It marked a completely different direction in Fabian's musical and personal life. The album is performed differently, with smoothness, serenity and with a lot of joy, far from the in-depth and dramatic vibes of earlier recordings.
9 yielded the hit single "La Lettre", a song co-written by Fabian and composed by her new partner, Jean-Félix Lalanne. He is responsible, along with Fabian herself for the composition and production of the album's 11 tracks. Other singles from 9 were "Ne lui parlez plus d'elle", "Un Ave Maria", "Il ne manquait que toi" (a song written by Fabian and inspired by Lalanne) and the gospel-infused "L'homme qui n'avait pas de maison".
The success of 9 was cemented by a huge tour titled "Un regard 9". This tour reached France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
, Mauritius
Mauritius
Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...
, French overseas territories in the Caribbean and Oceania
Oceania
Oceania is a region centered on the islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean. Conceptions of what constitutes Oceania range from the coral atolls and volcanic islands of the South Pacific to the entire insular region between Asia and the Americas, including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago...
and totalled more than 60 concerts. Fabian also performed in Portugal for the first time, showcasing songs from her two English records and a few French songs such as "La Lettre".
In October 2006, Fabian released a CD
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
and DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
of this tour, both titled Un regard 9 Live
Un regard 9 LIVE
Un Regard 9 is the title of both the CD and DVD from Lara Fabian's 2005/2006 tour of the same name which followed her 2005 studio release, titled "9". The CD and DVD were both released separately and together as a limited edition box set. The CD and DVD were both recorded live on 29 March 2006 at...
. Both the CD and DVD were recorded during Fabian's concerts on 29 March 2006 at Le Zénith in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. The CD presents 15 live performances plus a brand new song, "Aime", which was recorded in a studio in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
. This song has been recorded in both English and French, though the latter version is the only one officially released so far. "Aime" was initially performed live during a few concerts in Belgium as gift for her native Belgium fans but the enthusiastic response and feedback prompted Fabian to record the song and include it on a forthcoming release. On TV shows, where Fabian promoted the song as a single, one can see the audience putting their hands in the air in the shape of a heart, a sign Fabian made during her tour and that has now became a symbol for the song and its meaning.
2006-2007: An Italian collaboration and live concerts in Europe
According to messages left by Lara Fabian on her official site in 2006, her next studio album was to be her first ItalianItalian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
-language project. Few details have been released except that she has been working with Neapolitan
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
singer and songwriter Gigi D'Alessio
Gigi d'Alessio
Luigi "Gigi" D'Alessio is an Italian popular singer and Neapolitan singer-songwriter.-Career:D'Alessio was born in Naples. Well-known in Naples beginning in the early 1990s and throughout Italy due to participation in the Sanremo Festival in 2000 and 2001. He has also made overseas appearances,...
, who appeared once at one of her shows, and whose performance is included as a bonus on Fabian's recent live DVD, Un regard 9 Live
Un regard 9 LIVE
Un Regard 9 is the title of both the CD and DVD from Lara Fabian's 2005/2006 tour of the same name which followed her 2005 studio release, titled "9". The CD and DVD were both released separately and together as a limited edition box set. The CD and DVD were both recorded live on 29 March 2006 at...
. The two artists recorded a song called "Un Cuore Malato" (Ill heart), which they performed live during the fourth night of the 2007 Sanremo festival on Rai Uno
Rai Uno
Rai 1 is the primary television station of RAI, the national public service broadcaster, and the most watched television channel in Italy. It was born as Rai Tv from 1954 to 1961, called Programma Nazionale from 1961 to 1979, after called Rete 1 from 1979 to 1982, then called Rai Uno from 1982 to...
, the main Italian public channel. There is also a French/Italian version of this duet "Un Coeur Blessé" and this was released to French radio in Summer 2007.
In June 2007, Fabian worked in Rome and Los Angeles to record sessions for her Italian album. In the meantime, the single "Un Cuore Malato" (with Gigi D'Alessio) reached the top of the Italian charts and #16 in France. As part of her time in Los Angeles, Fabian worked with Dave Stewart
David A. Stewart
David Allan Stewart , often known as Dave Stewart, is an English musician, songwriter and record producer, best known for his work with Eurythmics. He is usually credited as David A. Stewart, to avoid confusion with other musicians named "Dave Stewart".-Early life:Stewart was born in Sunderland,...
(musician and record producer known for his work with Eurythmics
Eurythmics
Eurythmics were a British pop rock duo, formed in 1980, currently disbanded, but known to reunite from time to time. Consisting of members Annie Lennox and David A...
) and Glen Ballard
Glen Ballard
Glen Ballard is an American songwriter and record producer, best known for co-writing and producing Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill , which won Grammy Award for "Best Rock Album", and "Album of the Year" amongst others, and is ranked by the Rolling Stone amongst The 500 Greatest Albums of...
(former Alanis Morissette
Alanis Morissette
Alanis Nadine Morissette is a Canadian-American singer-songwriter, guitarist, record producer, and actress. She has won 16 Juno Awards and seven Grammy Awards, was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards and also shortlisted for an Academy Award nomination...
producer and writing partner) on a "multilingual" album which is reputed to include songs in English, Spanish, French, Italian and a few other languages (resembling albums by singers such as Josh Groban
Josh Groban
Joshua Winslow "Josh" Groban is an American singer-songwriter, musician, actor, and record producer. His four solo albums have been certified at least multi-platinum, and in 2007, he was charted as the number-one best selling artist in the United States with over 21 million records in that country...
, Mario Frangoulis
Mario Frangoulis
Mario Frangoulis is a Greek tenor and is best known for his song, "Vincerò, Perderò". He sings in Italian, Spanish, English, French, and Greek; he is fluent in all 5 languages.-Early life:...
and Russell Watson
Russell Watson
Russell Watson is an English tenor who has released singles and albums of both operatic-style and pop songs. The self-styled "People's Tenor" had been singing since he was a child, and became known after performing at a working men's club...
with whom Fabian has recorded before). This album is expected to be released in late 2008. Fabian revealed some time ago that she wrote a song with Dave Stewart called "Between Hatred And Love" and a few tracks with Glen Ballard for to this project. Ballard had previously composed a track for Fabian titled "Ivy" and this was released as a b-side for the single "Adagio" in 1999.
Also in 2007, Fabian was in Québec to perform a two night concert at the Olympia de Montreal (re-opening this theatre after its long renovation) presenting her Quebec fans with some of the atmosphere of her 2005-2006 European Un regard 9 tour. In addition, Fabian performed private acoustic sessions in countries such as Portugal, Turkey and Russia. On 14 October 2007, Fabian was a surprise guest at the only concert Gigi D'Alessio gave in France at the famous Olympia in Paris, just a few days before the birth of her daughter. Fabian surprised everyone by appearing and performing their successful duet "Un Cuore Malato". The concert was broadcasted through an Italian TV channel.
2009: Return to the music scene: "Toutes les femmes en moi"
Lara Fabian returned to the music scene a few months after her daughter's birth in 2007 and has been doing some concerts in UkraineUkraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
and Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
. In Greece she was a guest in a concert by Greek tenor Mario Frangoulis, with whom Fabian had previously duetted on the song "So In Love" featured in the movie "De-Lovely" in 2004. Fabian has also made a few TV appearances (such as 60th Anniversary of Israel where Fabian performed a Hebrew song and duetted with Israeli singer Noa).
On an interview for Russian radio station "Silver Rain", prior to a concert in Moscow, Fabian expressed how much she loved and admired the late singer Grégory Lemarchal
Grégory Lemarchal
Grégory Jean-Paul Lemarchal was a French singer who rose to fame by winning the fourth series of the reality TV programme Star Academy France, broadcast on the TF1 television network....
and claimed he was her favourite Star Academy participant from all seven editions done so far. She was also asked about what she thought of the talent shows that have brought so many people to the world of music. Fabian responded with "Who are we to judge? [...] These young people don't know how this machinery works, but we can't kill their dreams, can we?". In addition to the interview, she performed Sarah McLachlan's "Angel" specially for LeMarchal during her Moscow concert.
During 2008, Fabian was in Belgium preparing to record a brand new French album with famous pianist Mark Herskowitz, who had also composed and arranged the hidden instrumental track featured on the 2001 album "Nue". The album will be partly recorded in Montreal, Canada. No further details have been revealed regarding her anticipated Italian album. It is highly suspected, however, that the new French album may be the so-called "multilingual" project previously mentioned, considering the fact that songs in Spanish, Italian, and English are said to be included on it.
Fabian confirmed the release of this much anticipated new album, Toutes les femmes en moi
Toutes les femmes en moi
Toutes les femmes en moi is the 6th French album and 8th studio album in total released by Lara Fabian.During 2008, Fabian was in Belgium preparing to record a brand new French album with famous pianist Mark Herskowitz, who had also composed and arranged the hidden instrumental track featured on...
, on her official website on 20 October 2008. Fabian stated on her website that Toutes les femmes en moi is "daring" and that "Blues, Jazz, Gospel, Klezmer, Tango, Neo Classic, White Soul [and Gospel] come close without disturbing each other...". According to Fabian's official website the album will be released on May 26, 2009. The first single release from this album is Soleil, Soleil
Soleil, soleil
"Soleil, soleil" performed by Géraldine Olivier was the winning song in the Swiss preselection to the Eurovision Song Contest 1992. When it was disqualified, the first runner up, "Mister Music Man", was selected to represent Switzerland instead....
, a cover of the Nana Mouskouri
Nana Mouskouri
Nana Mouskouri , born Ioánna Moúschouri on October 13, 1934, in Chania, Crete, Greece, is a Greek singer who has sold about 300 million records worldwide in a career spanning over five decades, making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time. She was known as Nána to her friends and...
song, which was sent to French radios on March 11, 2009. Fabian will be promoting the album during the next few months before starting a new tour later this year. The album is a "self-portrait" where Fabian reveals her strong admiration for some of the most impressive female singers in France and Québec that have inspired her as both a woman and as an artists and, as she states "have constructed [her]". The album came as a result of two situations, where at one point Fabian had had a deep reflective conversation with her best friend Natalie about how can anyone truly explain that people are what they have become (a question to which Fabian replies has being a result of all the women that are part of her both at a personal level and musically; and after that she had a discussion with Polydor France boss Pascal Negre who told her that she should be comfortable about herself as a singer not letting herself be influenced by those old criticisms and views that followed her over the years concerning her singing and personality. According to him, she should just be herself and sing exactly the way that represent who she is and who she has always been regardless those who tried to knock her down. Fabian thanks each and every one the selected singers hommaged on this album with real life letters she actually wrote to them in different periods of her life thanking them for their inspiration and perseverance that helped her in her own professional and personal life. She pays tribute to artists such has Maurane
Maurane
Maurane, real name Claudine Luypaerts, is a Belgian singer. She lives currently in Schaerbeek.Maurane was born at Ixelles. Her father was director in the Académie de Musique de Verviers, and when she was a teenager she took part in several musical contests...
, Véronique Sanson
Véronique Sanson
Véronique Sanson is a two-time Victoires de la Musique Award-winning French singer-songwriter, musician, and producer with an avid following in her native country.She brings a very personal vocal style to the singing of French pop songs: Her voice has a very strong vibrato.Unlike...
, Dalida
Dalida
Dalida , born with Italian name of Iolanda Cristina Gigliotti, was a world-famous singer and actress born in Egypt with Italian origins but naturalised French with the name Yolanda Gigliotti. She spent her early years in Egypt amongst the Italian Egyptian community, but she lived most of her adult...
, Nana Mouskouri
Nana Mouskouri
Nana Mouskouri , born Ioánna Moúschouri on October 13, 1934, in Chania, Crete, Greece, is a Greek singer who has sold about 300 million records worldwide in a career spanning over five decades, making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time. She was known as Nána to her friends and...
, Catharine Lara, France Gall
France Gall
France Gall is a popular French yé-yé singer.Gall was married to, and had a successful singing career in partnership with, French singer-songwriter Michel Berger....
and Céline Dion
Celine Dion
Céline Marie Claudette Dion, , , is a Canadian singer. Born to a large family from Charlemagne, Quebec, Dion emerged as a teen star in the French-speaking world after her manager and future husband René Angélil mortgaged his home to finance her first record...
among others.
It was recently revealed by the singer during her current promotional tour in France that there is an English recorded album equivalent to TLFM called "Every Woman In Me" that showcases in an acoustic environment with piano and vocals her own interpretation of some of the most amazing classic songs from some of the most recognized women in the recording Anglo-Saxonic industry around the world with names such as Celine Dion
Celine Dion
Céline Marie Claudette Dion, , , is a Canadian singer. Born to a large family from Charlemagne, Quebec, Dion emerged as a teen star in the French-speaking world after her manager and future husband René Angélil mortgaged his home to finance her first record...
, Bette Midler
Bette Midler
Bette Midler is an American singer, actress, and comedian, also known by her informal stage name, The Divine Miss M. She became famous as a cabaret and concert headliner, and went on to star in successful and acclaimed films such as The Rose, Ruthless People, Beaches, and For The Boys...
, Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell, CC is a Canadian musician, singer songwriter, and painter. Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in her native Saskatchewan and Western Canada and then busking in the streets and dives of Toronto...
, Karen Carpenter
Karen Carpenter
Karen Anne Carpenter was an American singer and drummer. She and her brother, Richard, formed the 1970s duo The Carpenters. She was a drummer of exceptional skill, but she is best remembered for her vocal performances of idealistic romantic ballads of true love...
, Kate Bush
Kate Bush
Kate Bush is an English singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Her eclectic musical style and idiosyncratic vocal style have made her one of the United Kingdom's most successful solo female performers of the past 30 years.In 1978, at the age of 19, Bush topped the UK Singles Chart...
, Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...
, Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald , also known as the "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella," was an American jazz and song vocalist...
and even Fabian's forever idol Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
. The album will only be released online and during her upcoming francophone tour "Tous Le Femmes En Moi Font Son Show" that will start later in September this year. Fabian has, however showcased a few numbers from this release in her 5 day recent concert tour in Russia, a country where she has become a huge star over the last four years with both her English and French repertoire.
The second single of the album confirmed is the song "Toutes les Femmes en moi", Fabian's only original recording included and also the album's title track.
2010: "Tour Les Femmes Font Leur Show", a new musical adventure "Mademoiselle Zhivago" and her first "Best of" album
Throughout the first half of 2010, Fabian embarked on a European tour of concerts specially throughout France, Switzerland and Belgium incorporating the main repertoire of her last album "Tout Les Femmes En Moi" alongside some classic and fan favourites. She also had the change of once again performing in Eastern Europe with a more acoustic environment of piano-voice she was used to do in those territories but this time around also including some of the English recording from the English album Every Woman In MeEvery Woman in Me
Every Woman In Me is an English album by Lara Fabian, that was only available to buy on her tour or from her website.It follows Toutes les femmes en moi, and just like it, EWIM is also a cover album, only that it's completely acoustic ....
. This marked what for a long time was referred to be the multi-lingual musical project with Russian composer Igor Krutoy
Igor Krutoy
Igor Yakovlevich Krutoy , born on July 29, 1954, is a Russian composer of Ukrainian descent, performer, producer and musical promoter.Krutoy was awarded the Lenin Komsomol Prize in 1989...
entitled "Mademoisse Zhivago". It features 11 different songs which tell us a particular story but are all linked by one same character, a woman who crosses different lives over the years and centuries having a special personal bond to Fabian's origins and family. The whole project not only was musical but also cinematographic as all 11 songs were filmed into different videos that as a whole created one big film produced and directed by Ukrainian film producer Alan Badoev. The album containing a CD and a DVD was first released in Ukraine on 25 October but will also have its release in Russia on 19 November. It's planned to be also released in France later in 2011. The whole set of songs composed by Fabian with Igor Krutoy is in English, French, Italian, Spanish and also in Russian. Fabian first introduced one of these songs in 2009 during the New Wave Festival in Latvia performing "Demain N'Existe Pas" and the following she would return to that same stage performing new songs from the already finalized project. Fabian has been promoting this project in both country specially on television but also giving a series of concerts too presenting the new songs to the eastern European public. Fabian has with this been established as a huge superstar in the eastern part of Europe. Fabian was a guest performer on 30 October show of the Ukrainian X Factor singing "Mademoiselle Hyde" and "Demain N'Existe Pas" taken from the album and also her longtime classic "Adagio".
As her career follows new directions, she has not lost connection to her French and Canadian public and fans. In September 2010 she finally released her 2009 album "Tout Les Femmes En Moi" in Québec having enjoyed a heavy week of promotion there returning shortly to the country she claims made her who she is. There is a new version on the album for "Nuit Magique" which was recorded as a duet with Canadian singer Coral Egan.
Parallel to this whole range of musical events and adventures, Fabian will finally release her first "Best of" album in France on 15 November alongside the DVD filmed in March of one of the concerts during the "Tout Les Femmes Font Leur Show". The album will contain two new recordings: the first single "On S'aimerai Tout Bas" composed by Stanislas
Stanislas
Stanislas is a French version of Stanislav.It may refer to:People*Stanislas de Boufflers, a French statesman and writer*Stanislas Dehaene, a French professor*Stanislas Julien, a French sinologist*Stanislas Lépine, a French painter...
and Maxime Le Forestier
Maxime Le Forestier
Maxime Le Forestier is a French singer.He was born in Paris to an English father and a French mother who had lived in England. He had two older sisters, Anne and Catherine....
and a virtual duet with Ray Charles
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson , known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records...
called "Ensemble".
Fabian will also be featured on an upcoming release by American singer Michael Bolton
Michael Bolton
Michael Bolton is an American singer and songwriter. Bolton originally performed in the hard rock and heavy metal genres from the mid 1970s to the mid 1980s, both on his early solo albums and those recorded as the frontman of the band Blackjack...
on which both sang the classic The Prayer
The Prayer
"The Prayer" is most commonly known as a duet between Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli. This duet is the second single from Dion's Christmas album These Are Special Times and first from Bocelli's album Sogno, and was released as a promotional single on March 1, 1999."The Prayer" won the Golden Globe...
originally recorded by Andrea Bocelli
Andrea Bocelli
Andrea Bocelli, is an Italian tenor, multi-instrumentalist and classical crossover artist. Born with poor eyesight, he became blind at the age of twelve following a soccer accident....
and Céline Dion
Celine Dion
Céline Marie Claudette Dion, , , is a Canadian singer. Born to a large family from Charlemagne, Quebec, Dion emerged as a teen star in the French-speaking world after her manager and future husband René Angélil mortgaged his home to finance her first record...
in 1998. The track was produced by the hitmaker producer David Foster
David Foster
David Walter Foster, OC, OBC , is a Canadian musician, record producer, composer, singer, songwriter, and arranger, noted for discovering singers such as Michael Bublé, Josh Groban, and Charice Pempengco; and for producing some of the most successful artists in the world, such as Céline Dion, Toni...
who had also composed the song. For the producer's latest show "Hitman and Friends" in Canada on October 15, Fabian was invited to perform "Caruso
Caruso (song)
"Caruso" by Italian singer-songwriter Lucio Dalla in 1986. It is dedicated to Enrico Caruso, an Italian tenor.-Unclear meaning of the song:Controversially, the song simply tells about the pains and longings of a man who is about to die while he is looking in the eyes of a girl who was very dear to...
" and also the recently recorded duet with Michael Bolton with standing ovation from the crowd.
Writing for other artists
Fabian has written for other artists such as French female singers Chimène BadiChimène Badi
-Early life:Chimène Badi was born in Melun, in the Paris suburbs but she spent her entire childhood in the south-west of France, growing up in Villeneuve-sur-Lot with her parents, Chérifa and Mohammed, her sister, Déborah, and her brother, Karim...
, Nolwenn Leroy
Nolwenn Leroy
Nolwenn Leroy, , is a French singer and songwriter, discovered by the French television reality show Star Academy. She is best known for her two Number One singles "Cassé" and "Nolwenn Ohwo!"....
and Myriam Abel
Myriam Abel
Myriam Morea also known as Myriam Abel is a French singer of Algerian descent who rose to popularity after winning Nouvelle Star 3, the French version of Pop Idol, shown by M6....
. She also composed for Daniel Lévi
Daniel Lévi
Daniel Lévi , is a French singer-songwriter, composer and pianist.-Biography:Daniel Lévi was born in Constantine, French Algeria. He spent his childhood in Lyon, where he was preparing for his job as a musician studying piano for a decade at the conservatory in the city. In 1983, he composed and...
and is said to be currently working with a former contestant from "Nouvelle Star 3", Roland. She has often praised the voice and talent of successful female singer Amel Bent
Amel Bent
Amel Bent is a French singer.- Biography :Amel Bent grew up in the French commune of La Courneuve with her Algerian father and a Moroccan mother. She has a brother and a sister...
, who was also a contestant on that show.
Acting career
In 2004 the singer appeared in her musical role in the film De-LovelyDe-Lovely
De-Lovely is a 2004 musical biopic directed by Irwin Winkler. The screenplay by Jay Cocks is based on the life and career of Cole Porter, from his first meeting with Linda Lee Thomas until his death...
.
In a recent press release, Fabian confirmed that she will be acting in a French play with two other famous French actors. Her role will be that of a man, whose character she has not yet revealed. She expressed excitement on this new adventure on which she is embarking, about which she states, "Acting is related to being a singer, as interpreting a song makes a singer become a small actor on a song".
Personal life
Much to the delight of the French and Canadian media, Lara Fabian and French singer Patrick FioriPatrick Fiori
Patrick Fiori is a French singer.-Biography:Fiori was born to an Armenian father and a Corsican mother in Marseille, France. When he was only 12 years old, he was offered his first role in the musical La légende des santonniers...
began a relationship at the start of 1998. The photos of the happy couple have been splashed across the cover of French tabloids ever since!
On November 20, 2007 Belgian singer Maurane
Maurane
Maurane, real name Claudine Luypaerts, is a Belgian singer. She lives currently in Schaerbeek.Maurane was born at Ixelles. Her father was director in the Académie de Musique de Verviers, and when she was a teenager she took part in several musical contests...
, Fabian's very close friend (both shared vocals on the single "Tu Es Mon Autre" in 2002), revealed during her concert at the Cirque Royal that "...little Lou was born this morning!" referring to Fabian's first child, a girl named Lou, who was born at the Edith Cavell Hospital in Uccle, Belgium.
http://www.rfimusic.com/artist/chanson/patrick-fiori/biography
See also
- List of number-one dance hits (United States)
- List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart
- List of awards received by Lara Fabian
External links
- Official Web Site (available in French, English and Italian)
- Biography of Lara Fabian, from Radio France InternationaleRadio France InternationaleRadio France Internationale was created in 1975 as part of Radio France by the Government of France, and replaced the Poste Colonial , Paris Mondial , Radio Paris , RTF Radio Paris and ORTF Radio Paris...
- Lara Fabian News (in English, Portuguese and French)
- Last.fm - Lara Fabian
- Last.fm - Lara Fabian
- All Lara Fabian's career
- English translations of Lara Fabian's songs