Born as Lara Sophie Katy Crokaert in Etterbeek, Belgium on 9 January 1970, Lara Fabian is the only child of a Flemish father and a Sicilian mother. During the 1980s, Fabian entered a number of European competitions and won several prizes. She released her first single, ‘L’Aziza Est En Pleurs’ / ‘Il Y Avait’ in 1986. In 1988, the RTL TV channel in Luxembourg invited Fabian to represent the country at the 33rd Eurovision Song Contest, held that year in Dublin, Ireland. The song was a composition by Jacques Cardona and Alain Garcia entitled ‘Croire’ (‘Belief’) which reached a respectable fourth place (while Celine Dion won the contest representing Switzerland). The single became a hit in Europe, selling nearly 500,000 copies.
In 1990, Fabian and musical collaborator Rick Allison moved to Montreal, Quebec, Canada to embark on a career in North America. They started their own music label and publishing company, Productions Clandestines.
In August 1991, her self-titled French-language debut album was released in Canada and sold over 100,000 copies. The album went gold in 1993, and platinum the following year. Her next album ‘Carpe Diem’ (1994) became her definite breakthrough. She followed this up in 1997 with the album ‘Pure’. Her first live album was released in 1999.
In the summer of 1999, Fabian recorded her first English-language album in New York and San Francisco for the Sony label. The dance-pop song ‘I Will Love Again’, her first English single, peaked at number 32 on the Billboard Hot 100 and became a worldwide hit. During this period, Fabian recorded songs for several Hollywood motion picture soundtracks, including ‘The Dream Within’ for the ‘Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within’ soundtrack, and ‘For Always’ for the ‘AI:Artificial Intelligence’ soundtrack, which contained both a solo version and a duet with Josh Groban.
‘Nue’ (‘Naked’), Fabian’s fourth French album, was released in the Fall of 2001 in both Québec and France. Also in 2001, she collaborated with David Foster and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra to record the Canadian national anthem, ‘O Canada’, in an English version, a French version, and a bilingual (French/English) version, for a promotion of the Government of Canada.
Towards the end of 2002, Fabian released her second live album, ‘Live 2002’, from her latest tour, together with a DVD showcasing concerts recorded in December 2001 in Belgium at the Forest National and at Le Zénith in Paris. Her 2003 stint at the Casino de Paris every Monday night consisted of concerts to small audiences which were released as a live CD and DVD at the end of 2003, under the title ‘En Toute Intimité’.
In 2004, Fabian released her second English album, ‘A Wonderful Life’. Named after the wellknown Colin Vearncombe (Black) composition, it was a critical success, if not a commercial one. Its release was cancelled in the United States.
After a sabbatical in 2004, Fabian returned to the music scene spring of 2005 with her fifth French album, ‘9’. In October 2006, Fabian released a CD and DVD of this associated tour, both titled ‘Un regard 9 Live’ and recorded during the concert of March 29, 2006 at Le Zénith in Paris. The CD presents 15 live performances and a new song, “Aime”, recorded in a studio in Montreal, Quebec.
In June 2007 Fabian worked in Rome and Los Angeles to record tracks for her next studio album. In Los Angeles, Fabian worked with Dave Stewart on a multilingual album, reputed to include songs in English, Spanish, French, Italian and a few other languages. This album was planned for release in late 2008. She gave birth to a daughter in October 2007, but soon carried out a tour of Ukraine, Russia and Greece.
During 2008, Fabian was in Belgium preparing to record a French album with pianist Mark Herskowitz. The album, ‘Toutes Les Femmes En Moi’, was released in May 2009. An album with a similar concept but in English was released the same year. Called ‘Every woman in me’, it includes a cover version of The Man With The Child In His Eyes.
Throughout the first half of 2010, Fabian embarked on a European tour of concerts. In the second half of the year she recorded the album ‘Nuit Magique’ with Canadian singer Coral Egan.
Later in 2010, Fabian released a concept album in Russia and Ukraine called Mademoiselle Zhivago which has sold over 800.000 copies in Russia. It features 11 songs in different languages by Russian composer Igor Krutoy. It features stories about a woman who experiences several lives over the years and centuries. Eleven music videos, one each song, were combined to create a full-length film, produced and directed by Ukrainian film producer Alan Badoev. The album itself, containing a CD and a DVD, was first released in Ukraine in October, 2010 and in Russia in November.
Fabian released her new album ‘Le Secret’ in April 2013. On the same day of the album release she showcased her new songs at the Théâtre de Paris. Planned tour dates in early 2014 were cancelled and recording delayed while Fabian recovered from ear damage.
In November 2015, Lara released her 9th studio album, titled ‘Ma Vie Dans La Tienne’ (‘My Life In Yours’). In 2016 Fabian began work on a new English album, her 13th studio album, planned for release in 2017 under the title ‘Camouflage’, with a Swedish-American music production team. The Camouflage World Tour started in Miami on February 2, 2018. She toured throughout the world, making 40 appearances, ending the tour in Paris, in June, 2018.
