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Lara Fabian (Belgium)
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June 01, 02, 04, 19:30
Operetta Theater 
Lara was born in 1970 in the Belgian town of Etterbeek. Her Flemish father and Sicilian mother, inspired by the theme song of the film "Doctor Zhivago", named her Lara. Right from the age of five, Lara knew she wanted to sing. Accompanied by her musician father, an ex-guitarist and back vocalist for Petula Clark, she began her singing career at 14 in Brussels’ boîtes à chanson. A few years later, she entered a number of European competitions and won several prizes. Then, at 18, she sang 'Croire' in the prestigious Eurovision competition and was awarded fourth prize. It’s at this time that her first recordings, both on the French Tréma label, made a good impression on the public. Her songs 'Croire' and 'Je sais' sold 500,000 and 300,000 copies respectively. A year earlier, she had recorded a first single 'L’aziza est en pleurs'. Following her European successes, Lara arrived in Quebec to promote 'Je sais' and fell in love with the place. With her friend Rick Allison at her side, two suitcases and $1,000 in her pocket, she decides to embark on a career in America. A first album simply entitled Lara Fabian that had been recorded earlier in Belgium was launched in August 1991. Slowly but surely, the public responded to her perseverance and became fascinated by her talent and her inimitable spunk. The success of songs like 'Le jour où tu partiras', 'Les murs' and 'Qui pense à l’amour' gave Lara the exposure she needed on the airwaves. Her skill as a songwriter was acknowledged with 'Je m’arrêterai pas de t’aimer' and this first album is certified gold in 1993 and platinum the following year.
"Capre Diem", Lara's second album was released after her eponymous album and proved that her popularity with the Quebec public was more than just a flash in the pan. In less than three weeks, the album goes gold and three of its songs found themselves on the Top-50 radio hit-parade. The following year, the album went nearly triple platinum and the tour attracted more than 150,000 fans. This phenomenal success was recognized by the 1995 ADISQ gala where Lara receives two Félix awards: Best Show of The Year and Best Female Singer of The Year.
The Walt Disney Studios immortalized Lara’s voice in 1996 when they asked her to do the voice for the character Esmeralda and sing a song in the animated feature 'The Hunchback of Notre-Dame'. Disney also decided to include Lara’s French version on the English film score album That same year "Pure", Lara’s third album, was released in October and went platinum in less than two weeks. For this recording, Lara was awarded a Félix for Popular Album of The Year at the 1997 ADISQ gala and was also nominated for two Juno awards in the Best Female Singer and Best Selling French Album categories.
When Lara singed a contract with the French Polydor label for several albums, French-speaking Europe got ready for a stirring comeback. Sales of 'Pure' hit the 2 millions mark with excerpts 'Tout, Je t’aime' and 'Humana' each selling more than 1 million records. In 1998, the French gott the chance to hear Lara sing a duo with Johnny Hallyday at a benefit concert given for the Restos du Cœur and during a tour that included two sold-out shows at L’Olympia. A month later, on this very stage, Lara was given the Discovery of The Year award during the Victoires de la musique gala.
Soon after, to satisfy public demand, Polydor finally released 'Carpe Diem' on the European market. After a sold-out two-night stint at the Paris Palais des Sports in April, Lara was even more in demand. Once again she was invited to perform with Johnny Hallyday during several concerts given at the Stade de France in front of 240,000 fans.
Lara's tremendous popularity is perhaps exemplified by the Grevin Wax Museum's decision to unveil her wax effigy, as a Quebec City museum had already done. She thus becomes the first female Canadian singer ever to be honoured by the Paris institution. Although she was busy in Europe, Lara found time to cross the Atlantic and record her first English-language album in New York and San Francisco for the Sony label. The songs were written and produced with the help of her faithful partners Rick Allison and Dave Pickell as well as with Walter Afanasieff, Glen Ballard and Pat Leonard - regular contributors to the works of several international stars. This first much-awaited English-language album was released in 1999.
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