Amanda Lear (born November 18, 1946 in Hong Kong, of a French/English father and Asian/Russian mother) is a singer and was a disco queen in the 1970s. She was engaged to the lead singer of Roxy Music, Bryan Ferry. She was also the model on the cover of the Roxy Music album For Your Pleasure. During the 1960s painter Salvador Dalà was her companion, and although she was Dali's protege she also became David Bowie's lover. In 1979, she married the aristocrat Alain-Philippe Malagnac d'Argens de Villele, French writer Roger Peyrefitte's lover and adoptive son. Malagnac, aged 51, perished in a fire in the couple's home in Saint-Etienne-du-Grès near Avignon on December 17, 2000.
Despite being a Playboy model, Amanda was widely rumoured to be transexual because of her low baritone-like vocal timbre. This story follows her to this day, although it was also rumoured to be a publicity stunt thought up by her, Bowie and Salvador DalÃ.
In 1977, Amanda won a recording contract, thanks to her success as a model. Her first album was entitled I Am A Photograph and was a tongue in cheek reference to her days as a model with the Zoli Model Agency. It produced hit singles such as "Blood And Honey", "Alphabet", "Tomorrow", "La Bagarre" (The Fight), "These Boots Were Made For Walking" (a cover of the Nancy Sinatra classic) and one of her more well-known and bigger hits from the album, "The Queen of Chinatown". Several editions of the album included "The Queen of Chinatown", although the bootleg CD does not.
In 1978, Amanda continued her line of successful disco albums. She recorded Sweet Revenge, an album told in concept mode, about a girl who sold her soul to Satan for fame and fortune. Her first single from Sweet Revenge, "Follow Me", was a big success. She also recorded Never Trust A Pretty Face, an album with roots mixed in disco and rock music, with yet another hit single, "Fashion Pack", a disco song about the lives of the rich and famous.
In 1979, Amanda recorded the album Diamonds For Breakfast. It was fairly successful.
In 1983, Amanda recorded a New Wave album with Tribal beats, Tam-Tam. It was a flop and did terribly everywhere.
In 1986, Amanda recorded Secret Passion, an album of New Wave mixed with rock music. It featured a cover of the Troggs' "Wild Thing". Amanda got into a car accident and the album flopped because she wasn't able to promote it. However, in the hospital, Amanda wrote a book called The Immortal, about a woman who lives forever and is very depressed because she watches everyone she loves grow old and die around her, while she is helpless to stop it.
Amanda recorded several other albums as well into the late 90s. In 2001, she launched a comeback album known as Heart. Heart contained the hit single "I Just Wanna Dance Again", which was a return to Amanda's disco origins. The album also featured the cover song "Love Boat".
In 2004 one of her biggest hits from the 70's, "Enigma", was revived in a TV and radio advertising campaign for a chocolate dairy product known as Kinder Bueno in eastern and central Europe.
In the same year, she also did the voice of Edna Mode in the French and Italian language versions of The Incredibles.
In 2005, she recorded two new singles, "Copacabana" and "Paris By Night".
To date Amanda has released over 10 albums and has also released 40-50 singles. She has sold 8-10 million albums worldwide and has sold 25-30 million singles worldwide as well.
Nowadays she resides in Southern France.
