Belgian-born pop singer/songwriter Lara Fabian 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. During her ten years of study there, Fabian started writing and performing her own songs, which were inspired as much by her classical vocal and music theory training as they were by Barbra Streisand and Queen. After finishing her studies, Fabian moved to Montreal and began her own label and publishing company, Productions Clandestines. Collaborator/producer Rick Allison, an old friend from Brussels, joined her in Montreal and the pair worked steadily on writing and recording songs. In 1991, Fabian's French-language debut album was released in Canada and sold over 100,000 copies in three years. Her consistent touring in Quebec helped bolster her 1994 album Carpe Diem to similar success, which paved the way for 1997's Pure, a two million-selling album in France that spawned the anti-homophobia anthem "La Difference." The live album Fabian released a year later solidified the international buzz around her and she was signed by Sony Music, which released her self-titled, English-language album in mid-2000. ~ Heather Phares