Born in Belgium 28 years ago, multi-lingual Lara Fabian, who sings in English, Spanish, Italian and French, seems to have exploded onto the American music scene with her first hit single, "I Will Love Again." But this is no overnight success story. For almost 10 years, Fabian has been working
extremely hard to win over audiences in such countries as Canada and France.
     In 1991, she released her self-titled debut album on Canadian shores, which sold over 100,000 copies. Her 1994 follow-up CD, Carpe Diem, sold over 800,000 copies and her third release, Pure, went on to sell several million units in France alone. With such impressive stats outside the U.S., it was only a matter of time before we caught on.
     Columbia Records is so confident that people will absolutely love the music of singer/songwriter extraordinaire Lara Fabian that they are offering consumers a money-back guarantee with her CD, a first in the record company's 100-year history! If you're not satisfied with her product, you can return it to Columbia for a full refund. Of course, the label is more than willing to give consumers this option because they anticipate that few, if any, people will take advantage of the offer. They know for a fact that once you listen to this CD, you will get hooked by the incredible vocal talent of this international "star." We spoke to Fabian about her trip up the ladder of success.
     InsideCx: Why did you choose 'I Will Love Again' as the first single? I thought it would be a perfect song to open up the gates of radio and give people an idea what I'm about, then pull out something so different that people will trust in the fact that I could be a chameleon. It will give the idea of the many different colors in me
     InsideCx: I understand you grew up listening to a variety of music. I loved Queen, Journey, Fleetwood Mac, and people like Barbara Streisand. The thing
with me is that classical music was also an inspiration. I took piano lessons at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels for 10 years. Being classically trained gave me the real foundation for music. It's so important in my life. Why was I influenced by all these styles of music? Because it gave me a sense of freedom. It made me feel like I could put my hand in a colored bag and pull out a different colored candy and have fun with it.
     InsideCx: When you were 19, you left home and moved to Montreal to start your own independent label, Productions Clandestines. What was your motivation for doing that? I started the indie label because when you need to survive, you will do anything. I had gotten so many no's, and I was banging my head on every wall trying to find a way to make it work. So I said, I'll do it myself. I started my own company, hired people, and did it with no money. The
people who worked for me were very loyal. I said, If this works out, we'll be okay. These people have been with me for the last 10 years.
     InsideCx: In your early years, who would you say was responsible for helping you realize your potential? Rick Allison was a very important factor. He truly is an amazing talent. He's a great musician, a great person, a great producer, and a great composer. I met him in a club in Brussels where I was performing and he was performing as well. He's that one person you meet at a very strategic point in your life when you seem a little lost and you seem not to know exactly how you want to pull that one thing out of yourself. He sat down with me and said, 'I think you are going to be a beautiful butterfly. Right now, you don't see it.' We both started writing music. He heard things the way I heard things.
     InsideCx: On this CD, you got to work with some amazing talent, including Walter Afansieff, who has worked with Mariah Carey, and Pat Leonard, who has worked with Madonna. What was that like? It's amazing to see how paradoxical it is, because these people are extremely talented and very famous. The glory of their music shines throughout the house, but they have a sensitive side and a humility. You go into Walter Afanasieff's world, sit down in the studio and realize that he turns to you after writing the most gorgeous thing and says, 'Is that all right?'. I'm like, What??? The same is true for Pat Leonard. He's more sophisticated. He sees music as an intelligence. He analyzes it a little bit more. They're equally as great and graceful. I learned a lot from all of them. It also made me realize how much more was available to me. These are things I will cherish forever.