Lamya

Lamya Al-Mugheiry
Born October 30, 1973
Kenya
Died January 8, 2009 (aged 35)
Oman
Genres Dance
Occupation(s) Singer-songwriter
Years active 1987–2009
Labels J Records
Associated acts Duran Duran, DJ Vaughn Mason, Angélique Kidjo, Soul II Soul, Macy Gray
Website MySpace page

Lamya Al-Mugheiry (October 30, 1973 - January 8, 2009), better known as her mononym Lamya was a Kenyan-born British female dance music singer. She was born in Kenya and was of Omani descent and raised in Sheffield, United Kingdom. A remix of her song "Empires" hit #1 on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart in 2002.[1]

Aged just 16, Lamya sang lead vocals on "Ready 4 Love" by DJ Vaughn Mason (under the guise 'Razette'), an answer track to the single "Break 4 Love" by Raze, previously a hit in 1988. Lamya's version reached no. 77 in the UK Charts in August 1989. Soon afterwards, she was chosen to perform lead vocals for Soul II Soul on the tracks "Love Come Through" and "In the Heat of the Night", from their second album Vol. II: 1990 - A New Decade. In 1993, she joined Duran Duran for their two-year Wedding Album tour, and related television appearances, including MTV Unplugged. She also performed with David Bowie and James Brown.

In 2002, Lamya released her first and only album, Learning from Falling. She produced and composed the songs, using poems she had written since the age of eleven. It included the singles "Empires (Bring Me Men)" (for which a video was filmed) and "Black Mona Lisa".[2] In its review of the album, Blender described her as "the Kenyan Björk".[3] In 2003 she toured (as opening act) with Macy Gray.[4][5]

Lamya was scheduled to release her second album, Hiding in Plain Sight in 2009, but died of a sudden and unexpected heart attack on 8 January 2009, while in Oman. She was only 35.[6][7]

Vocal style

Lamya was said to have a 5 octave vocal range with ability to reach the whistle register, popularised by singers such as Mariah Carey.

Discography

Singles

See also

References

  1. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Hot Dance/Disco: 1974-2003. Record Research. p. 151.
  2. ↑ MTV.com profile
  3. ↑ "Soul II Soul/Duran Duran backing singer would like to be the Kenyan Björk. Who wouldn’t, really?" Learning From Falling review, 2002.
  4. ↑ Armitage, Mike (21 March 2003). "Live: Macy Gray with Lamya". ChartAttack. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
  5. ↑ "Macy Gray w/ Lamya @ Ogden Theatre on 3/09/03". nipp.com. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
  6. ↑ Lamya Al-Mugheiry, Duran Duran Official Site news page
  7. ↑ Official Myspace page
  8. 1 2 "Learning From Falling - Lamya : Awards". Allmusic. Retrieved 29 July 2012.


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