Lara Fabian (born Lara Crokaert January 9, 1970 in Etterbeek, Belgium) is an international Belgian-Sicilian francophone singer, known for her vocal prowess and skilled technique. She often sings in Italian, Spanish, and English in addition to French. She has also sung once in Portuguese, though she is not fluent in the language, and also once in German back in 1988 for a German version of "Croire" ("Glaub"). She does not speak German either. She has sold over 12 million records worldwide so far. She also possesses a Canadian citizenship achieved in 1994 at the time she began her career in Québec.
In 1988, the RTL TV channel in Luxembourg invited Lara to represent the country at the 33rd Eurovision Song Contest, held that year in Dublin, Ireland. The song presented to Lara was a composition made by Jacques Cardona and Alain Garciac entitled Croire (Trust) and reached a respectful fourth place that night. The winning song belonged to Switzerland, whose singer was no other than Céline Dion with Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi. "Croire" became a big seller single that year in Europe reaching nearly 500.000 copies. Lara still performs Croire live today.
Lara was born to a Flemish father and a Sicilian mother. Her name comes from her parents' inspiration of the theme song of the film Doctor Zhivago. Although born in Etterbeek (Belgium), she spent her first five years in her mother's hometown of Catania in Sicily, learning Italian as a first language, before moving back to Belgium, in Brussels. Lara began singing, dancing, and taking piano lessons at a very young age and began formal music lessons at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels at age eight. Lara began writing and performing her own songs during her ten years study at the conservatory. Lara's songs were greatly influenced as much by her classical vocal and music theory training as contemporary artists as Barbra Streisand and Queen.
During the summer time Lara will spend a few weeks in Québec with her now fiancé Gerald Pullicino (who had previously recorded her "Un regard 9" DVD in 2006 and Celine Dion's "Au Coeur Du Stade" DVD back in 1999) enjoying the summer where she feels better and closer to her friends.