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Lydia Canaan, a singer/songwriter from Brummana, Lebanon^[1], was born and raised in a wartorn country. She knew early on, that music and singing were an essential part of her life. Canaan, then known as Angel, staged over 25 sell-out concerts in the country from 1984 until 1988, despite risks and dangers by warring militas and armies^[2], recorded her songs for radio and topped the charts in Lebanon^[3][4].

Contents 1 Career Headlines 2 Humanitarian and animal welfare activist 3 Single, Album and Video Releases 4 Footnotes 5 External links

[edit] Career Headlines

1983 Canaan, a teenager, joined the Rock band Equation as the lead singer. 1987 she went solo until she left Lebanon in fall of 1989.

After a career in Lebanon as the First Female Rock Star of the Middle East, Canaan worked with writers, musicians and producers in Switzerland, UK and USA, like David Richards (Montreux Jazz Festival, Queen, Chris Rea, David Bowie), Roger Taylor (drummer of Queen, recorded a duet "Love and Lust"^[5]), Robin Scott (group M with world hit "Pop Muzik", recorded duets "Spiritual Man", "The Bridge", "Guardian Angel"), Barry Blue (Dina Carroll, Patricia Kaas), The Rapino Brothers (Kylie Minogue, Take That, Corona), Michael Jay (Celine Dion), Noel Cohen (Phyllis Hyman), Keith "Plex" Barnhart (Chaka Khan), Tommy Mandel^[6] (keyboarder of Bryan Adams, Ian Hunter Band).

In Dec 1990 Canaan gave an interview and her songs received airplay on Radio Z, Zurich/Switzerland

In Feb 1991 made an interview and her video clip "Hey Richie" was broadcasted on Super Channel, London/UK.

1993 Canaan gave an interview and made a duet performance with Robin Scott of the song "Spiritual Man" on Channel 4, London/UK.

Canaan was signed for 2 years to London based production company Spinny Music of Jim Beach (manager of Queen, Freddie Mercury) to write and record her own songs (lyrics and music), produced by David Richards (Queen, David Bowie, Chris Rea, Montreux Jazz Festival) at Mountain Studios in Montreux/Switzerland.

In Feb 1995 Canaan's single "Beautiful Life" was presented to radio and media at the MIDEM, Cannes/France.

Canaan's international release of "Beautiful Life" by Pulse-8 Records (UK)^[7] in spring 1995 gained critical acclaim from the UK and US music press (Billboard^[8], Music Week^[9], Music Monitor^[10] etc.), radio promo tour in the UK, radio airplay in the UK, Europe, South Africa and Middle East.

Canaan is the first artist from the Middle East to have her video clip (filmed in London/UK) on MTV Europe, MTV Asia, MTV Russia and MTV Arabia.

Canaan's recordings, made in New York City and London, were exhibited on Billboard's TalentNet (USA), topping the charts for months at Number 1. US radio host Casey Kasem endorsed her songs.

Canaan's album "The Sound of Love", released in summer 2000, is distributed by SIDI/XEMA in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon.

Canaan launched her album through a campaign covering all Arab satellite networks (Orbit, Music Now, MBC, ART, LBCI, Future TV, Showtime's MTV Arabia, Murr TV, Dubai TV, Bahrain TV), local televisions, radio stations and all pan Arab printed press. Lydia performed in Beirut/Lebanon, Dubai/UAE and Manama/Bahrain in support of the album release.

Canaan was the first artist to participate in the chatrooms of Maktoob.com, Radio One (Lebanon) and was featured on many Internet portals (Khaleej.com, Arabiata.com, PlanetArabia.com, ArabToronto.com).

Canaan was received by His Excellency General Emile Lahoud, President of the Republic of Lebanon and his wife on Jan 16, 2002 at the Presidential Palace in Baabda/Lebanon^[11].

Invited by the First Lady Mrs. Andree Lahoud, Canaan performed at the Presidential Palace in Baabda/Lebanon on Mother's Day, Mar 19,2002 in honour of the wives of the Presidential Guard Officers^[12].

"Libnan", written and performed by Lydia, is the title song of the advertisement Rediscover Lebanon, produced and broadcasted by the US cable network CNN to over 1 billion viewers in 2004, commissioned by the Lebanese Government (Ministry of Economy & Trade) to promote Lebanon as tourist destination.

[edit] Humanitarian and animal welfare activist

Canaan is a devoted to humanitarian causes and animal welfare, supporting the Asian Conservation Awareness Programme (ACAP/WildAid), World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and BETA (Beirut for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), performing at charity and fundraiser events (American Women's Club, Beirut/Lebanon, Salmaniyah Hospital Children Care Unit, Manama/Bahrain, Rotary Club, Adliyah/Bahrain, American Community School, Beirut/Lebanon, Association Pour La Promotion Feminine, Beirut/Lebanon, CARITAS Liban, Beirut/Lebanon) and BETA (Beirut for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), Beirut/Lebanon.

Beautiful Life was chosen as the theme song for a charity event in South Africa under the auspices of former President of South Africa Nelson Mandela.

Canaan performed at the United Nation's International Volunteers Day in Beirut/Lebanon on Dec 5, 2001 and was awarded for her humanitarian contributions by Yves de San, Head of UNDP/Lebanon^[13].

[edit] Single, Album and Video Releases

• "The Sound Of Equation" (1985, Single, Radio Release)
• "Why All The Hurt" (1986, Single, Radio Release)
• "To Oblivion And Back" (1986, Single, Radio Release)
• "The Hope Song" (1987, Single, Various Artists, Radio Release)
• "Does It Need Some Action" (1987, Single, Radio Release)
• "A Hard Situation" (1987, Single, Radio Release)
• "Hey Richie" (1988, Single, Radio Release)
• "Hey Richie" (1988, Video)
• "The Christmas Wish" (1989, Single, Radio Release)
• "Me and Little Andy" (1989, Single, Radio Release)
• "Beautiful Life" (1995, Single, Pulse-8 Records)
• "Beautiful Life" (1995, Video)
• "The Sound Of Love" (1997, Single, Pulse-8 Records)
• "The Sound Of Love" (1997, Video)
• "The Sound Of Love" (2000, Album, SIDI/XEMA)

[edit] Footnotes

As of September 10, 2009, this article uses content from Lydia Canaan's official Myspace page, which is licensed under the CC-By-SA and GFDL. All relevant terms must be followed. The original article was at "About Lydia Canaan".

1. ^ Terra Net Lebanon
2. ^ Claire High, Arabian Woman, issue 21, p. 25-26, Sep 2000
3. ^ Sudha Chandran, Gulf Today/Panorama, p. 53, Nov 24-30, 2000
4. ^ Edward D'Mello, Gulf News, Nov 29, 2000
5. ^ Queen Vault
6. ^ Tommy Mandel
7. ^ Discogs
8. ^ David Sinclair, Billboard Magazine, May 10, 1997
9. ^ Nick Robinson, Music Week, May 13, 1995
10. ^ Paul Sexton, Music Monitor, Apr 21, 1995
11. ^ Jinan Jubayli, The Daily Star, nr. 10735, Mar 18, 2002
12. ^ The Daily Star, nr. 10711, Feb 15, 2002
13. ^ UNDP Lebanon

[edit] External links

• Official Website