Lydia Canaan (Arabic: ليديا كنعان‎) is a Lebanese
singer-songwriter and humanitarian activist widely regarded as the
first “rock star†of the Middle East.Credited as the first
internationally successful Lebanese recording artist, Canaan rose to
fame performing rock music in English amid enemy military attacks
during the Lebanese Civil War, holding concerts in vicinities of
Lebanon that were simultaneously being bombed. Hala Habib of Society
wrote, “in a small country that was ripped by war, there was this
young girl making a difference†.Canaan was the first Middle Eastern
artist to sing solely in English, and the first to have music videos
played on MTV Europe, MTV Southeast Asia, MTV Russia, and MTV Middle
East. Her musical debut was described as having defied tradition,
challenged convention, and transcended millennia-old gender barriers.
According to Arabian Woman, “as a girl who grew up in the midst of a
bloody civil war, Canaan was breaking down seemingly insurmountable
barriers ... She rocked the establishment†. In 2015, Canaan was
cataloged in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum's Library and
Archives.
singer-songwriter and humanitarian activist widely regarded as the
first “rock star†of the Middle East.Credited as the first
internationally successful Lebanese recording artist, Canaan rose to
fame performing rock music in English amid enemy military attacks
during the Lebanese Civil War, holding concerts in vicinities of
Lebanon that were simultaneously being bombed. Hala Habib of Society
wrote, “in a small country that was ripped by war, there was this
young girl making a difference†.Canaan was the first Middle Eastern
artist to sing solely in English, and the first to have music videos
played on MTV Europe, MTV Southeast Asia, MTV Russia, and MTV Middle
East. Her musical debut was described as having defied tradition,
challenged convention, and transcended millennia-old gender barriers.
According to Arabian Woman, “as a girl who grew up in the midst of a
bloody civil war, Canaan was breaking down seemingly insurmountable
barriers ... She rocked the establishment†. In 2015, Canaan was
cataloged in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum's Library and
Archives.
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