1. Lydia 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.
18 Facts About Lydia Canaan
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Lydia Canaan's parents discouraged her from singing heavy metal and forbid her to have a musical education or formal training.
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The Daily Star wrote: "On stage, with her daring looks and style, Lydia Canaan became a role model".
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Lydia Canaan's first original composition, "Why All The Hurt", a tribute to a deceased friend that she wrote as a teenager, was a No 1 hit on the radio charts in Lebanon.
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Since her first public appearance, Lydia 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.
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In Tripoli, the second largest city in Lebanon, Lydia Canaan performed in front of a sold-out crowd under tight security despite having received death threats.
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In 1987, Lydia Canaan performed to a crowd of 20,000 at the Beirut Rock Festival.
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In 1991, Lydia Canaan began working with record producer David Richards.
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Also in 1991 Lydia Canaan signed a two-year contract with London-based production company Spinny Music to write and record her original songs produced by David Richards at Mountain Studios in Montreux, Switzerland.
10.
In February 1995, Canaan, who had up until that time performed rock under the stage name Angel, dropped the moniker, and under the name Lydia Canaan presented the pop ballad "Beautiful Life" at the Midem in Cannes, France.
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Lydia Canaan performed "Beautiful Life" at the launch of MTV Europe held in Beirut on May 12,1995.
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In 1998, Lydia Canaan's recordings made in New York City at Jay Ward's Dogbrain Music were exhibited on billboardtalentnet.
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In support of the album release, Lydia Canaan performed at various venues in Beirut, Jumeira Beach Hotel in Dubai, and Savage Garden Club and Rifaa Golf Club in Manama, Bahrain.
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In 2014, Lydia Canaan was named a semi-finalist by the UK Songwriting Contest for her song "Never Set You Free".
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Lydia Canaan gave talks at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland, on seven occasions between 2014 and 2017, and reportedly spoke at Casino du Liban in Beirut in 2014.
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Lydia Canaan 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.
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In 2017, Lydia Canaan was featured in British journalist for Newsweek Orlando Crowcroft's book Rock in a Hard Place: Music and Mayhem in the Middle East, about the dangers she faced and obstacles she overcame as a rock music pioneer in Lebanon.
18.
On March 21,2002, Lydia Canaan again gave a brief performance a capella at a presidential ceremony honoring the wives of fallen Republican Guard Officers.