Lydia Canaan

Lydia Canaan (; born December 2, 1967) is a Lebanese singer-songwriter.

Canaan gained local recognition in Lebanon performing heavy metal cover songs during the Lebanese Civil War despite the conflict. Canaan was one of the first Middle Eastern artists to sing solely in English, and one of the first to have music videos played on MTV Europe, MTV Southeast Asia, MTV Russia, and MTV Middle East.

Life and career

Early life and education Born and raised in Brummana, Lebanon during the Lebanese Civil War to a Greek Orthodox family, Canaan studied at Brummana High School (BHS).

Early career In 1984, Canaan—under the stage name Angel—joined the heavy metal band Equation,

Since her first public appearance, Canaan held over 25 sell-out concerts in the country from 1984 to 1988, and despite the risks and dangers of warring militias and armies, recorded her songs for radio, and topped the charts in Lebanon. the last performer to grace its stage until it resumed activity following the end of the Liberation War in 1990. Al-Hayat writing that she had " ... invaded the European market with her ballads". There she took vocal lessons with soprano Anita Monti.

The same year, she recorded the duet "Love and Lust" with Queen drummer Roger Taylor.

In 1993, Canaan recorded songs "Libnan", "Fallin'", and her cover of John Lennon's "Gimme Some Truth". (produced by Barry Blue and The Rapino Brothers) at the Midem in Cannes, France. That Spring, Canaan's international release of the single "Beautiful Life" the buzz culminating in a promo tour in England and radio airplay in the UK, Europe, South Africa, and the Middle East. In promoting the event, MTV Europe billed her as "the diva from the Middle East". was released in 1997. In 1998, Canaan's recordings made in New York City at Jay Ward's Dogbrain Music were exhibited on billboardtalentnet.com and appeared on its RadioBTN top 10 chart.

Canaan's never-released studio album The Sound of Love was completed in the summer of 2000. Recorded in London and New York City, it included the track "Right on the Verge", featuring Bryan Adams' keyboardist Tommy Mandel.

In 2004, "Libnan" was chosen as the title song of the advertisement "Rediscover Lebanon", produced and broadcast by CNN and commissioned by the Lebanese Ministry of Economy & Trade to promote Lebanon as a tourist destination.

In 2014, Canaan was named a semi-finalist by the UK Songwriting Contest for her song "Never Set You Free".

Public speaking and advocacy performances

Lydia Canaan gave talks at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva, Switzerland, on seven occasions between 2014 and 2017, and reportedly spoke at Casino du Liban in Beirut in 2014. In 2001, she spoke at the American Community School in Beirut, Lebanon, and was awarded for her humanitarianism. She participated in the Arab International Forum in Solidarity With Palestinian Prisoners in 2014 and the International Forum for Justice in Palestine in 2015, both held in Beirut.

Literature American author Robert W. McGee mentioned Canaan's songs "So Much To Give" and "Never Set You Free" in his two novels Justifiable Homicide (2014) and Annie and the Senator (2015); Canaan and her songs "Shine", "Fallin'", and "Libnan" were referenced in all three volumes of McGee's The Iraqi Girl Trilogy (2015). McGee's characters often risk their lives to listen to Lydia Canaan's music.

Honors and awards

Honors

On January 16, 2002, President Emile Lahoud thanked Lydia Canaan for her services to Lebanon. The First Lady, Andree Lahoud, expressed admiration for Canaan's positive representation of Lebanon and invited her to give a short a capella performance at the Presidential Palace on January 28 and February 15. On March 21, 2002, Canaan again gave a brief performance a capella at a presidential ceremony honoring the wives of fallen Republican Guard Officers.

Awards 1988: Scoop d'Or Award by Scoop magazine. Reference: 1997: Lebanese International Success Award by Lebanese Ministry of Tourism. Reference: 2005: Caritas Award by Caritas. Reference: 2014: Lebanese Army Award by Lebanese Armed Force. 2014: UK Songwriting Contest Semi-finalist Award by UK Songwriting Contest. Reference:

Videography

Music videos Hey Richie (1988): Broadcast by LBCI and NBC Europe. Beautiful Life (1995): Filmed at Canalot Studios and Syon House, London, England. The Sound of Love (1997): Filmed at the palace of Sir Francis Dashwood in West Wycombe, England.

Concerts Live in Concert at Casino du Liban (1988): Lydia Canaan performing as Angel live in concert at Casino du Liban. References:

Oration Hostage to Injustice (2014): Delivered at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva, Switzerland. Fighting Terrorism Without Violating Human Rights (2016): Delivered at the UNHRC in Geneva. Global Effects of the Persecution of Religious Minorities in the Middle East (2017): Delivered at the UNHRC in Geneva.

Discography

Studio album The Sound of Love

Label: None Released: Unreleased Format: Compact disc (CD) Track listing:

Beautiful Life by Barry Blue & Marco Sabiu (4:17) Right On The Verge (Tommy Mandel Mix) by Noel Cohen & Daryl Hair (4:37) The Sound of Love by Barry Blue & Marco Sabiu (4:10) A Love That Shines by Noel Cohen & Keith Plex Barnhart (4:42) The Hurt Won't Hurt (No More) by Barry Blue (3:51) Every Goodbye Ain't Gone by Geena Breedlove, Noel Cohen & Daryl Hair (4:07) Without You by Sandy Wilbur & Keith Barnhart (4:32) Somewhere in the Night by Barry Blue (4:24) Right On the Verge (Original Mix) by Noel Cohen & Daryl Hair (4:28) Fade Away by Noel Cohen & Keith Barnhart (4:30)

Singles 1985: The Sound of Equation – Lydia Canaan (Unreleased) 1986: Why All the Hurt? – Lydia Canaan (Unreleased) 1986: To Oblivion and Back – Lydia Canaan (Unreleased) 1987: The Hope Song – Lydia Canaan (Unreleased) 1987: Does It Need Some Action? – Lydia Canaan (Unreleased) 1987: A Hard Situation – Lydia Canaan (Unreleased) 1988: And You Call Me – Lydia Canaan (Unreleased) 1988: Hey Richie – Lydia Canaan (Unreleased) 1989: The Christmas Wish – Lydia Canaan (Unreleased) 1989: Me and Little Andy – Dolly Parton cover (Unreleased) 1995: Beautiful Life – Barry Blue (Unreleased) 1997: The Sound of Love – Barry Blue (Unreleased) 2004: Libnan – Lydia Canaan (Unreleased) 2014: Shine – Lydia Canaan (Unreleased) 2014: Fallin' Remix – Lydia Canaan (Unreleased) 2014: Love – Lydia Canaan (Unreleased) 2014: So Much to Give – Lydia Canaan (Unreleased) 2014: Gimme Some Truth – John Lennon cover (Unreleased) 2014: Never Set You Free – Lydia Canaan (Unreleased) 2017: Desire – Lydia Canaan (Unreleased) 2017: Never Never Never – Alberto Testa & Tony Renis cover (Unreleased) 2017: Fallin' – Lydia Canaan (Unreleased) 2017: Love is Blind – Lydia Canaan (Unreleased) 2017: Everybody's Running After a Dream – Lydia Canaan (Unreleased) 2017: Wish I Could Fly – Lydia Canaan (Unreleased)