page_title: Lydia Canaan
section_title: Early career
hierarchical_section_title: Lydia Canaan / Life and career / Early career
caption_attribution_description: English: Canaan performing as Angel at Mont La Salle Theater, Beirut, Lebanon, 1984
context_page_description: Lydia Canaan is a Lebanese singer-songwriter and humanitarian activist widely regarded as the first “rock star” of the Middle East.
  Credited as the first internationally successful Lebanese recording artist, Canaan rose to fame performing rock music in English amid enemy military attacks during the Lebanese Civil War, holding concerts in vicinities of Lebanon that were simultaneously being bombed. Hala Habib of Society wrote, “in a small country that was ripped by war, there was this young girl making a difference”.
  Canaan was the first Middle Eastern artist to sing solely in English, and the first to have music videos played on MTV Europe, MTV Southeast Asia, MTV Russia, and MTV Middle East. Her musical debut was described as having defied tradition, challenged convention, and transcended millennia-old gender barriers. According to Arabian Woman, “as a girl who grew up in the midst of a bloody civil war, Canaan was breaking down seemingly insurmountable barriers ... She rocked the establishment”. In 2015, Canaan was cataloged in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum's Library and Archives.
context_section_description: In 1984, the teenaged Canaan—under the stage name Angel—joined the heavy metal band Equation, who until then had been intent on finding a male lead singer. Canaan's talent, personality, and stage presence gained her national popularity among Lebanese youth. The same year, she donned what would become her trademark, trend-setting look: revealing, studded leather outfits with dramatic capes and hip-length blonde-streaked hair. Off stage, Canaan's Alma Mater, Brummana High School (BHS), voted her “Best Dressed”. On stage, her provocative costumes contributed to the perception of her as a sex symbol. The Daily Star wrote: “On stage, with her daring looks and style, Canaan became a role model”. At the height of their success the band drew a crowd of over 15,000. Canaan's first original composition, “Why All The Hurt”, a tribute to a deceased friend that she wrote as a teenager, was a No. 1 hit on the radio charts in Lebanon.
  Following Canaan's first concert with Equation, a The Gulf Today writer noted, “the first show produced a phenomenal reaction . . . It is incredible that amidst the state of civil war that existed in Lebanon at that time, when most people had no idea if they would see another day, she managed to keep her ambitions alive”. Society magazine stated, “tickets were sold out but more teenagers stormed in to see the young Angel perform... To accommodate the crowd, the concert organizers had to stamp on each fan's hand as they ran out of tickets. It was... հer first success”.
  Canaan was hailed by the media as the first “rock star” of the Middle East. Since her first public appearance, Canaan held over 25 sell-out concerts in the country from 1984–1988, and despite the risks and dangers of warring militias and armies, recorded her songs for radio, and topped the charts in Lebanon. Her last concert with Equation was held in 1986.
caption: Lydia Canaan performing as Angel at Mont La Salle Theater, Beirut, Lebanon, 1984
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