Lydia Canaan

Who is Lydia Canaan?

Lydia Canaan a Lebanese singer, songwriter, poet, a leading and a pioneering figure in the Middle Eastern music scene, whom the Arab media hailed as the First Female Rock Star in the Middle East, a big supporter and advocate of women empowerment, humanitarian and social causes from Brummana, Lebanon. Born and raised in Lebanon during the Civil War, daughter of the family Canaan from Mount Lebanon. She is listed as a Celebrity in her native town of Brummana and studied at the famous British Brummana High School. From a young age music and singing were an essential part of her life. Canaan grew up in a conservative family, her father did not entertain the idea of his daughter becoming an artist, so she was deprived of a musical education. However, Canaan defied her father and developed early on the talent to write poetry and lyrics in English, although her Lebanese upbringing ensured that she knew Arabic and French as well, and an unusual talent to compose songs without the help of any instrument, storing lyrics and tunes in her memory. Since her first public appearance, then known as Angel, she staged over 25 sell-out concerts in the country from 1984 until 1988, despite risks and dangers by warring militias and armies, recorded her songs for radio and topped the charts in Lebanon.