Soraya

Genres:	World Music
Descriptive "tags":	latin • pop • spanish • female vocalists • latino • latin pop • colombia
Decades Active:	1990s • 2000s

Biography

Soraya Raquel Lamilla, 11 March 1969, Point Pleasant, New Jersey, USA, d. 10 May 2006, Miami, Florida, USA. Sources vary, but apparently Soraya’s Lebanese parents emigrated first to Colombia and then to the USA. She sang and played guitar from early childhood. She also showed aptitude for songwriting and was soon determined upon a career in music. After studying classical violin, she turned to pop and from the mid-90s onwards she attracted attention through her appearances as opening act for leading artists such as Sting and Alanis Morissette. Meanwhile, she headlined her own shows, singing songs influenced by flamenco and cumbia, and also made successful records. Her 1996 debut, En Esta Noche was released in an English-language version titled On Nights Like This, which helped Soraya expand her audience. This album was a Billboard Top 10 in Germany and subsequent albums, usually in both Spanish and English, were often in Billboard’s Latin and pop charts...

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