Lamya Al-Mugheiry (30 October 1973 – 8 January 2009), better known as her

mononym A mononym is a name composed of only one word. An individual who is known and addressed by a mononym is a mononymous person. In some cases, a mononym selected by an individual may have originally been from a polynym, a word which refers to one o ...

Lamya, was a Kenyan-born English singer-songwriter and record producer. She rose to fame in the early 1990s as one of the lead singers of R&B group Soul II Soul, and later as a backing singer for

Duran Duran Duran Duran () are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer and bassist Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor (bass guitarist), John Taylor. With the addition of drummer Roger ...

. In 2002, she released her debut album ''

Learning from Falling ''Learning from Falling'' is the debut studio album by British singer-songwriter artist Lamya. The album included production by Nellee Hooper and Mark Ronson and entered the Top Heatseekers chart in the United States at #16. A remix of the first ...

'', which spawned the number 1 Dance chart single "

Empires (Bring Me Men) "Empires (Bring Me Men)" is a song by British singer Lamya, released in 2002. It was the first single taken from her debut album ''Learning from Falling''. It is based on a poem, ''The Coming American'', commemorating the 75th anniversary of the ...

". On 8 January 2009, she died from a sudden heart attack. She was recording on her second album ''Hiding in Plain Sight'', which was scheduled to be released later that year.

Early life

Lamya Hafidh Sultan Al-Mugheiry was born in

Mombasa, Kenya Mombasa ( ; ) is a coastal city in southeastern Kenya along the Indian Ocean. It was the first capital of the British East Africa, before Nairobi was elevated to capital city status. It now serves as the capital of Mombasa County. The town is ...

to Omani parents. Along with her parents, she lived in several cities around the world including

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

and London. She was ultimately raised in

Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of t ...

, then entered the

American University in Cairo The American University in Cairo (AUC; ar, الجامعة الأمريكية بالقاهرة, Al-Jāmi‘a al-’Amrīkiyya bi-l-Qāhira) is a private research university in Cairo, Egypt. The university offers American-style learning programs ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

, and later in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

, United Kingdom. Her mother enrolled her in vocal lessons, training with a voice coach of the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is operat ...

. At the age of sixteen, she ran away from home to New York City to pursue her musical career, after watching a

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

interview.

Career

In 1989, she recorded the single " Break 4 Love" with DJ Vaughn Mason, originally by Raze. The single peaked at number 77 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

in August 1989. The song also garnered the attention of Soul II Soul's lead musician

Jazzie B Trevor Beresford Romeo OBE, (born 26 January 1963) better known as Jazzie B, is a British DJ and music producer. He is the founder of Soul II Soul. Life and career Jazzie was born in London UK to parents of Antiguan descent in Hornsey, Londo ...

who asked her to join the group.Lamya > Biography
''Billboard''. Retrieved 29 March 2017 In 1990, Lamya performed lead vocals on the songs "Love Come Through" and "In the Heat of the Night", which appeared on Soul II Soul's second album '' Vol. II: 1990 - A New Decade''. Following the release of the album, she toured with the group throughout the year. One of their concerts at Brixton Academy was recorded live, titled '' A New Decade: Live from Brixton Academy'', and released in September 1990. Despite leaving the group at the end of 1990, she still maintained a close relationship with the members. In 1993, she teamed up with

and performed background vocals on the song "Love Voodoo" for their second self-titled album ''

''. Lamya also joined them for their two-year ''

Wedding Album ''Wedding Album'' is the third and final in a succession of three experimental albums by John Lennon and Yoko Ono. It followed '' Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins'' and '' Unfinished Music No. 2: Life with the Lions''. In Britain, the album w ...

'' tour, and related television appearances, including '' MTV Unplugged''. During each concert, she was given centre stage to finish her solo on the song " Come Undone". In 1994, Lamya contributed background vocals for

Charlotte Kelly Charlotte Kelly is a British singer-songwriter, composer, arranger, and record producer. Kelly rose to fame in the mid-1990s as one of the lead singers of British R&B group Soul II Soul, one of the London's best-selling groups of all time. She ...

's single "Queen of Hearts", which was produced by friend and her former group Soul II Soul member Jazzie B. In 1995, she contributed background vocals for Soul II Soul's album ''Volume V: Believe''. She also sang background vocals "White Lines", "I Wanna Take You Higher", and "Drive By" for Duran Duran's album ''

Thank You "''Thank you''" (often expanded to ''thank you very much'' or ''thanks a lot'', or informally abbreviated to ''thanks'' or alternately as ''many thanks''Geoffrey Leech, ''The Pragmatics of Politeness'' (2014), p. 200.) is a common expression of ...

''. Throughout the years, she also performed with

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...

, and

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...

. In 2001, Lamya contributed background vocals on fellow Soul II Soul colleague

Kym Mazelle Kym Mazelle (born Kymberly Grigsby; August 10, 1960) is an American singer. She is regarded as a pioneer of house music in the United Kingdom and Europe. Her music combines R&B, soul, funk, house music, dance, and pop. She is credited as " Th ...

's song "I Wanna Go Dancing (Dance With Me)". In July 2002, Lamya released her debut album, ''

'', which reached number 16 on ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Top Heatseekers Top Heatseekers are "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The Heatseekers Albums and the Heatseekers Songs charts were introduced by ''Billboard'' in 1991 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new an ...

chart. She produced and composed the songs, using poems she had written since the age of eleven. It included the singles "

" and "Black Mona Lisa". In its review of the album, '' Blender'' described her as "the Kenyan

Björk Björk Guðmundsdóttir ( , ; born 21 November 1965), known mononymously as Björk, is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and actress. Noted for her distinct three-octave vocal range and eccentric persona, she has de ...

". In 2003, she toured with Macy Gray, as the opening act. She was among the many singers scheduled to perform at

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist who served as the President of South Africa, first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1 ...

's South African

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

awareness concert before it was cancelled due to problems over broadcast rights and sponsorship.

Death

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 35 years old.

Vocal style

Lamya was a classically-trained

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

who had a five-octave vocal range with ability to reach the whistle register.

Personal life

She was briefly in a relationship with

Chic Chic (; ), meaning "stylish" or "smart", is an element of fashion. It was originally a French word. Pronounced Chick. Etymology ''Chic'' is a French word, established in English since at least the 1870s. Early references in English dictiona ...

musician

Nile Rodgers Nile Gregory Rodgers Jr. (born September 19, 1952) is an American musician, record producer and composer. The co-founder of Chic, Rodgers has written, produced, and performed on records that have sold more than 500 million albums and 75 million ...

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lamya 1973 births 2009 deaths 21st-century Black British women singers British contemporary R&B singers Duran Duran members English dance musicians English rock musicians English sopranos Kenyan people of Omani descent Kenyan emigrants to the United Kingdom Neo soul singers Musicians from Sheffield Singers from London Trip hop musicians Women in electronic music British people of Omani descent Soul II Soul members Deaths in Oman