Lamia - better known to French music fans as new up-and-coming star Lââm was born in Paris, in the city's 12th arrondissement, on 1st September 1971. However, she was brought up in Montreuil in the Paris suburbs, where she grew up in a large family with six brothers and sisters. Lââm experienced a difficult childhood, complicated by her parents' alcohol abuse and frequent money problems. Her father, a Tunisian immigrant from Gafsa, had difficulty finding work and after a particularly turbulent period of fighting and family disputes, Lââm was placed in a children's home when she was just 6 years old. Her parents went on to get divorced and Lââm's father was given custody of the children after her mother walked out on the family. As a result, Lââm would see her mother only twice in the course of the next twenty years.

By the age of 10 Lââm had developed a passionate interest in music and would spend most of her free time singing along to the radio, 'covering' hits by her favourite artists - which included everyone from Donna Summer to Claude François. When she turned 15, Lââm was sent to a new children's home in Bourges and it was here that one of the youth workers picked up on her musical talent. She encouraged Lââm to make a go of her singing and the youngster soon went on to land a job as backing singer in a local dance orchestra. Lââm enjoyed the experience so much that she insisted on getting the children's home to enrol her for singing lessons at the "Ateliers Chanson de la Ville de Paris". The lessons proved to be such a success that the budding young star went on to pass her first singing audition with a performance of a Céline Dion hit.

After leaving the children's home, Lââm went on to earn her living through a series of odd jobs but she never lost her passion for singing. Indeed, over the next ten years the ambitious young singer would go on sending demo tapes to a variety of French record companies while she spent her free time busking in the metro.

It was while working as a waitress in a restaurant in the Bastille neighbourhood in Paris that Lââm got her first major break. One night she was invited to perform at a hip hop concert at Le Hot Brass (a hip Paris venue which has disappeared since). Lââm's on stage charisma and her impressive vocal skills scored a big hit with two songwriters in the audience that night: SDO and FB Cool. Totally bowled over by Lââm's voice, the pair arranged for her to meet Hervé Benhamou, a well-known producer who also happened to be the director of Heben Music (a French label specialising in rap and dance music).

"Chanter pour ceux..."

Benhamou liked what he heard and Lââm was soon invited into the studio to record her debut single "J'ai le feeling" (produced in collaboration with SDO and FB Cool). The single was released in January '98 but failed to make any major impact on the French charts. Undeterred, Lââm soldiered on with her music career, working as a session singer. She even went on to perform on stage with the likes of Mariah Carey and Michael Bolton. Lââm's second single, released just two months after "J'ai le feeling", proved to be a totally different story however. The young singer's catchy dance-inspired cover of the Michel Berger classic "Chanter pour ceux qui sont loin de chez eux" not only catapulted her straight to the top of the French charts, but went on to sell a staggering 1.5 million copies over the next 18 months! In other words, a new French star was born. And on 4 January 1999 Lââm received her first diamond disc (when sales of "Chanter pour ceux qui sont loin de chez eux" topped the 750,000 mark).

In February 1999 Lââm was back at the top of the French charts with another best-selling single "Assez" (which went on to sell 100,000 copies in the space of just a few months!) Lââm rapidly went on to establish herself as one of the most popular young female singers on the French music scene and she wasted no time in going into the studio and starting work on her debut album, "Persévérance". Needless to say, the 13-track CD, released in the spring of '99, carried on the Lââm success story, amassing impressive sales within a few months of its release.

Following the success of her album, Lââm went on to make an instant impact on the live circuit, performing concerts in Switzerland (Geneva on 6 August), New Caledonia (Nouméa on 16 August) and Tahiti (Papeete on 23 and 24 August). Lââm also headed out to Tunisia, her ancestral homeland, to perform a major concert in Hammamet (where 10,000 fans turned out to see her).
But the ultimate accolade came on 6 December '99 when Lââm was invited to perform at the legendary Olympia music-hall in Paris.

Singer with a cause

Lââm's kindness and her general willingness to get involved with fund-raising tours have made the singer popular with music fans and music professionals alike. In January 2000 and 2001 Lââm joined a group of some 20 top French music stars on a major national tour to raise much-needed funds for the "Restaurants du Cœur" (a feed-the-homeless charity set up by the late French comedian Coluche). Led by the famous French singer/songwriter Jean-Jacques Goldman, the troupe toured up and down the country, Lââm taking obvious delight in performing alongside the likes of Francis Cabrel, Alain Souchon, Maxime Le Forestier and Liane Foly.

Lââm also teamed up with French reggae star Princess Erika to raise money for "Les Ailes de l'espoir" (a charity that bears the cost of flying children from the Third World over to France for operations and hospital treatment).

Meanwhile, Lââm was also busy in the studio working on her second album, "Une vie ne suffit pas". Released in April 2001, the 16-track album boasted superb production work and an eye-catching cover. What's more, following the success of the first single release, "Que l'amour nous garde", Lââm's second album scored an instant hit with French music fans, selling 100,000 copies within two months of its release.

2002: "Cyndy 2002"

Lââm's career branched out in a new direction in 2002 when Luc Plamondon (the creator of hit musicals "Starmania" and "Notre-Dame-de-Paris") offered her the female lead in his new musical. "Cyndy 2002" put a modern spin on the traditional Cinderella fairytale and Lââm jumped at the chance to step into Cyndy's glass slippers.

The show began touring France at the beginning of 2002, then settled in for a stint at the Palais des Congrès in Paris. Despite an ambitious promotion campaign, "Cyndy 2002" failed to attract an audience and, right from the start, the cast found themselves playing to a semi-empty house. Not only did the musical fail to take off with the public, it garnered fairly negative reviews from the critics, too. Despite bad reviews and poor ticket sales at the box-office, no dates were cancelled and "Cyndy 2002" continued to tour France and French-speaking countries until 2003.

After this group experience, where she had shared the stage with rising French R&B star Assia, Lââm turned her attention to her solo career once more. In April 2003, she went on to release her first live album, "Face à Face" (recorded at the famous Olympia music-hall in Paris).

Lââm resurfaced on the French music scene in September 2004 with a new studio album, simply entitled "Lââm." Up until this point, Lââm had carved out an image for herself as a glitzy R&B diva, always appearing in public with a flamboyant hat or headpiece. But this album found her changing her image and experimenting with a more subtle approach. Musically speaking, this fourth album was a much more overtly pop affair and it was clearly aimed at a much wider public. The album featured two contributions from hit French songwriter Jean-Jacques Goldman ("On pardonne" and "Tu es d'un chemin") and a duo with British singer Lisa Stansfield ("Breathe In, Breathe Out"). Unfortunately, the album failed to hit it off with the public and did not enjoy the same success as Lââm's previous releases. The singer's career appeared to be on a downward turn.

2005: "Pour être libre"         

Battling on despite falling record sales, Lââm made a brave comeback almost a year later with her fifth album, "Pour être libre." In fact, this fifth opus was not actually a brand new offering, but featured the same tracks as "Lââm" plus a couple of bonus tracks and a handful of new songs including the single "Petite soeur." The latter proved to be a real hit, finally catapulting the singer back into the upper reaches of the Top 50 in the autumn of 2005.

The album “Le sang chaud” came out at the end of 2006. A single of the same name preceded it, with a featuring by Princess Aniès. The single was a fairly big hit with the public, unlike the album itself. In 2008, to celebrate ten years in the trade, Lââm organised a new singing tour, performing cover versions of international classics sung in French. She also played at the Sentier des Halles in Paris from 4 to 8 March.
That year saw Lââm interpret "Savoir qui je suis", the song on the original soundtrack for the film "High School Musical 2".

The following year, Lââm released a greatest hits entitled "On a tous quelque chose de Lââm" featuring a duet with the American Jennifer Paige, "The Voice", released a few weeks earlier.

Lââm diversified her activities, acting in several French television films.

2011: "Au cœur des hommes"

She had already made cover versions a staple feature of her live performances, but in 2011 Lââm made recordings of several songs borrowed from her peers’ repertoires. The album "Au cœur des homes” features tracks like "Aimer est plus fort que d'être aimé" (Daniel Balavoine), "Puisque tu pars" (Jean-Jacques Goldman), "Ils s'aiment" (Daniel Lavoie), and "Petit" (Bernard Lavilliers), etc.

With these tracks in her knapsack, the singer set off on a French tour.

December 2011

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