Amanda Lear | Artist
Amanda Lear née Tap is a French singer, songwriter, painter, television presenter, actress and model born in Saigon, French Indo-China. Her birth year is uncertain, possibly 1939, 1941, 1946, or 1950. Lear's origins are unclear, with the singer providing different information about her background and keeping her birth year a secret even from her long-term husband Alain-Philippe. Contested facts include her birth date and place, the gender she was assigned at birth, names and nationalities of her parents and the location of her upbringing. She began her professional career as a fashion model in the mid-1960s and went on to model for Paco Rabanne, Ossie Clark and others. She met Spanish surrealist painter Salvador Dalí and remained his closest friend and muse for almost 20 years. Lear first came into the public eye as the cover model for Roxy Music's album For Your Pleasure in 1973. From the mid-1970s to the early 1980s, she was a million-album-selling disco star signed to Ariola Records, popular mainly in Europe and Scandinavia. Lear's first four albums earned her mainstream stardom, charting in the top 10 of European charts, including the best-selling hits "Sweet Revenge", "Blood and Honey", "Tomorrow", "Queen of Chinatown", "Follow Me", "Enigma", "The Sphinx", and "Fashion Pack". She has released 21 studio albums, the latest being 2021's Tuberose. Standout releases Include her classic first three albums I am a Photograph (1977), Sweet Revenge (1978), and Never Trust a Pretty Face (1979), plus Incognito (1981), and Secret Passion (1987). By the mid-1980s, Lear had become a leading media personality in Italy, hosting many popular TV shows. Although television took priority over music, she continued to record, trying to revive her career by re-recording and remixing earlier hits. Lear has also developed a successful career in painting, and regularly exhibited her works in galleries across Europe and beyond since the early 1980s. She has also written a number of books, including My Life with Dalí. Lear lead a bohemian and flamboyant life in the Swinging '60s' London. Her acquaintances included the Beatles and fellow top models Twiggy, Pattie Boyd and Anita Pallenberg. In late 1966, she began dating the Rolling Stones' Brian Jones and their relationship inspired Mick Jagger and Keith Richards for the track "Miss Amanda Jones" from Between the Buttons. She became a "stalwart of London's demimonde", an exotic name on the nightclub circuit and a regular fixture in the gossip columns. Lear was arrested in 1967 by the police with drugs belonging to the Rolling Stones. She was sent naked to a prison cell "because you don't denounce a Rolling Stone", as she later said. Later, when living in New York, she became a fixture at Max's Kansas City, partying every night with Andy Warhol and friends. Lear went on to have an affair with the married David Bowie, which was by all accounts encouraged by his wife Angie.
Artist Website: amandalear.com
Featured Albums: Amanda Lear
Related Artists: Roxy Music, Rolling Stones, Anthony Monn
