Lydia Canaan

Lydia Canaan ليديا كنعان
Lydia Canaan, first rock star of the Middle East
Background information
Native name	ليديا كنعان
Birth name	Lydia Canaan
Also known as	Angel
Born	Brummana, Lebanon
Genres	Rock, pop rock, pop
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter, United Nations delegate
Instruments	Vocals (mezzo-soprano)
Years active	1984–present
Labels	Pulse-8 Records, SIDI/XEMA
Associated acts	Roger Taylor, Robin Scott, Tommy Mandel, Marco Sabiu, Barry Blue, David Richards, The Rapino Brothers, Keith Barnhart

Lydia Canaan (Arabic: ليديا كنعان‎‎) is a Lebanese singer-songwriter, humanitarian, and activist listed as the "first rock star of the Middle East" in the catalog of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum's Library and Archives.

Widely regarded 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.Society writes that "In a small country that was ripped by war, there was this young girl making a difference".The Gulf Today notes: "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".

Canaan was the first Middle-Eastern artist to sing only in English, and the first to have music videos played on MTV Europe, MTV Southeast Asia, MTV Russia, and MTV Middle East.

Canaan's musical debut has been 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".

Born and raised in Brummana, Lebanon during the Lebanese Civil War to a prominent Greek Orthodox Christian family, Canaan studied at Brummana High School (BHS) and later at Lebanese American University (LAU).