Lamya Al-Mugheiry (30 October 1963 – 8 January 2009), better known as her mononym 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. In 2002, she released her debut album Learning from Falling, which spawned the number 1 Dance chart single "Empires (Bring Me Men)".
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 to Omani parents. Along with her parents, she lived in several cities around the world including Cairo and London. She was ultimately raised in Oman, then entered the American University in Cairo, Egypt, and later in Sheffield, United Kingdom. Her mother enrolled her in vocal lessons, training with a voice coach of the Metropolitan Opera. 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 Duran Duran and performed background vocals on the song "Love Voodoo" for their second self-titled album Duran Duran. Lamya also joined them for their two-year Wedding Album 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's single "Queen of Hearts", which was produced by friend and her former group Soul II Soul member Jazzie B. In its review of the album, Blender described her as "the Kenyan Björk". In 2003, she toured with Macy Gray, as the opening act. She was among the many singers scheduled to perform at Nelson Mandela's South African AIDS 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 45 years old.<!-- WP:RS needed; removed link to WP:SPS (Twitter, FB, WP)-->
Vocal style
Lamya was a classically trained soprano who had a five-octave vocal range with ability to reach the whistle register.
Personal life
She was briefly in a relationship with Chic musician Nile Rodgers.
Discography
Albums
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! rowspan="2"| Title
! rowspan="2"| Album details
! colspan="2"| Peak chart positions
|-
! scope="col" style="width:2.75em;font-size:85%;" | US<br>Heatseekers<br>
|-
! scope="row" |Learning from Falling
|
- Released: 30 July 2002
- Label: J
| 16
|}
Singles
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! rowspan="2"| Title
! rowspan="2"| Year
! colspan="2"| Peak chart positions
! rowspan="2"| Album
|-
! style="width:3em;font-size:85%"| UK<br>
! style="width:3em;font-size:85%"| US<br>Dance<br>
|-
! scope="row" | "Ready 4 Love" <small>(with Razette)</small>
| style="text-align:center;"|1989
| style="text-align:center;"| 77
| style="text-align:center;"| —
|align="left" rowspan="2"
|-
! scope="row" | "Survival" <small>(with The Dawning)</small>
| style="text-align:center;"|1990
| style="text-align:center;"| —
| style="text-align:center;"| —
|-
! scope="row" | "Empires (Bring Me Men)"
| style="text-align:center;" rowspan="2"|2002
| style="text-align:center;"| —
| style="text-align:center;"| 1
| style="text-align:left;" rowspan="2"| Learning from Falling
|-
! scope="row" |"Black Mona Lisa"
| style="text-align:center;"| —
| style="text-align:center;"| —
|}
See also
- List of number-one dance hits (United States)
- List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart