1999 Lara Fabian – Lara Fabian

“Lara Fabian” is the fourth studio album and the first English album by the Belgian recording artist Lara Fabian. It was first released on 29 November 1999 in France and later it was released worldwide in 2000. The album features the hit singles “I Will Love Again”, “I Am Who I Am” and “Love by Grace”.

After the Francophone star’s huge success, in 1998 and 1999, Lara went to New York City and San Francisco to record her first album in English. She wrote or co-wrote most of the songs, working with Rick Allison and producers Walter Afanasieff (Mariah Carey, Céline Dion, Michael Bolton), Patrick Leonard (Madonna), Sam Watters (Color Me Badd, Jessica Simpson, Anastacia) and Mark Taylor (Cher, Enrique Iglesias).

Produced by Sony Music, the self-titled album was launched in May 2000 on America’s most popular morning television show, NBC’s Today Show. Invitations poured in, and Lara Fabian appeared on The Tonight Show, The View, Access Hollywood, Craig Kilborn, and Entertainment Tonight.

The album’s first excerpt, “I Will Love Again”, hit No. 1 on the Billboard Dance Music charts and settled in for 58 weeks. Thanks to this resounding success, she received the Félix for Quebec Artist Having the Most Impact in a Language other than French.

In June 2000 to February 2001, the title “Love by Grace” became the theme song of the lead couple in the Brazilian soap opera Laços de Família, broadcast by Rede Globo for millions of viewers in Brazil and Portugal. For several weeks, the song was number 1 on most Brazilian and Portuguese radio stations. “Love by Grace” generated an incredible frenzy around the artist.

After From Lara with Love, her first American TV special broadcast by PBS, the singer-songwriter participated in the very popular WTKU New York radio special, Miracle on 34th Street, where many popular artists appeared, including Michael Jackson, Christina Aguilera, Marc Anthony, Ricky Martin and Toni Braxton.

Shortly after, when her self-titled English-language album was released in Asia, Lara Fabian scored a number one hit on the Taiwanese top ten, a great moment for the artist. Many were particularly impressed with the song “Light of my Life” (found only on the Asian edition of the album), which she interpreted with Leehom Wang, Asia’s top male Chinese-speaking vocalist. This song was included in the movie feature China Strike Force, starring newcomer Lee-Horn along with Aaron Kwok, a box-office idol throughout Asia.

Eagerly awaited in several cities throughout the world, Lara dealt with her growing popularity by frequently appearing abroad. Fans and critics questioned her promotional tactics, however, as she neglected the US market in favor of a European tour, where she had already solidified her popularity. In 2001, promotion of “Lara Fabian” slowed significantly and a third single was not released. Lara has been absent from the US music landscape since that time.

There are many different international versions of this album. There is a version each for Canada, France, Japan, America, and South America. The albums vary greatly from each other because of different song tracks or cover art work.

The song “Till I Get Over You” was produced by the duo Louis Biancaniello and Sam Watters, who became the producer team behind the sound of the initial hits for American female singer Anastacia. One can see the similarities in sound and production between Lara’s “Till I Get Over You” and Anastacia’s “I’m Outta Love” on Anastacia’s 2000 debut album “Not That Kind”.

The songs “Adagio” and “Broken Vow” were covered by Filipino singers, Mark Bautista and Sarah Geronimo. Also Josh Groban covered “Broken Vow” for his 2003 album “Closer”, and Lebanese singer Majida El Roumi sang an Arabic cover of “Adagio”, titled “Habibi”, for her 2006 album “E’tazalt El Gharam”.

Both versions of “Adagio” and the song “To Love Again (Si Tu M’Aimes)” feature Steve Lukather guitar solos.