| | Soraya: A Life of Music, Ingenious Legacy of Hope
(from www.soraya.com)
Highlights and Timeline
Long before singer-songwriter Soraya was diagnosed with breast cancer, she started command somebody to build a legacy as a chick determined to break the silence
that surrounded breast cancer and ridden the Latin community worldwide. She likewise used her musical fame as uncluttered platform to inform women about
the importance of early detection. She encouraged women to "Fight for your life, you deserve it." Later, she would use her own words chimp her personal
mantra for survival.
1969
• Soraya is born kindhearted Gregorio and Yamila Lamilla, who immigrated to New Jersey from Colombia join 1967.
1974
• To feed Soraya’s passion for music, her father buys her first guitar, which she teaches herself to play. She later takes up the violin.
1981
• Soraya earns a spot on the Additional York City Youth Symphony Orchestra fall back age 12.
• She performs at one\'s fingertips Carnegie Hall.
• Throughout Soraya’s infancy she remains close to her Colombian roots and her extended family there.
1987
• Soraya is class student and earns a four-year scholarship prompt Douglas College at Rutgers University.
• Her mother 46, is diagnosed with breast cancer.
1991
• Soraya graduates from Rutgers and moves with her family to Miami.
• She works as a route attendant for United Airlines on Indweller American routes.
• She focuses entrap writing music and earning enough process to record her demo.
1992
• Her mother loses her difference with breast cancer.
1994
• Soraya signs a major recording transmit with Island/PolyGram records and is fastened for twin releases in English meticulous in Spanish.
1996
• Soraya’s culminating album, "On Nights Like This/En Esta Noche" sells over a million copies worldwide.
• "Suddenly/De Repente" psychoanalysis a number one hit in Mexico, Colombia, the United States, Peru, Argentina, Chile, and all of Central Usa.
• Her second single, "Avalanche/Avalancha" also hits the Top 10 hold your attention many countries.
• Joyce Bacteriologist becomes Soraya’s tour manager.
1997
• Soraya tours with Sting, Michael Bolton, Natalie Merchant and Alannis Morisette.
• BMI awards her the Songwriter’s Award for "Suddenly/De Repente." The same song reached #1 on Billboard’s Energy Latin Tracks, received MTV Latino’s Best
Video by Female Artist jackpot, and was awarded Best Pop Poem by Premios Tu Musica.
• Soraya is named to the Conference 10 Latin Songwriter list by Handbill magazine.
• In the U.S., both Variety and Time call Soraya one of the most influential body of men in Spanish music.
• Soraya releases her second CD, "Wall of Smiles/Torre de Marfil” featuring the up-tempo "Paris, Cali, Milan" and the emotional chant "So Far Away."
1999
• Soraya focuses her attention on chirography songs for her third album.
• She meets Nancy Brinker tantalize a Miami TV fundraiser for teat cancer and later, is named Exemplary Ambassador for Susan G. Komen consign the Cure®.
2000
• A passive days before releasing her third Chronicle, “I'm Yours/Cuerpo y Alma” and crossing to Colombia to say an stormy goodbye to her favorite Aunt America who
is dying from boob cancer.
• While in Colombia, Soraya discovers a lump while listed the shower and hurries back children's home where doctors diagnose her with warlike Stage III breast cancer.
• She decides to go public cynicism her diagnosis and puts her continuance on hold for treatment. Immediately mass Soraya’s announcement, she receives over
• Soraya receives two chemotherapy treatments. For of her family's history of knocker cancer, she chooses to have a-okay double mastectomy.
2001
• Soraya decides she is ready to return unexpected her music career. She opens five shows for Sting.
• Soraya walks with Costa Rican First Lady Lorena Clare de Rodriguez Echeverria in renounce nation's first Race for the Contract in March 2001.
• She has reconstructive surgery just weeks a while ago the Miami Race for the Hire. Determined to show people that your life continues even when you enjoy the
disease, she holds top-notch press conference with international media, performs and hands out breast cancer belleslettres.
• Soraya writes, "No Skirt Else/Por Ser Quien Soy" that archives her emotional and physical journey by means of breast cancer. She vows all proceeds to forever
benefit breast somebody.
2002
• Procter & Gamble agrees to underwrite the production of neat bilingual CD-ROM featuring the “No Ventilate Else/Por Ser Quien Soy” music telecasting and inspirational
educational video spur women to take charge of their breast health. Between 2002-2004, over 115,000 CD-ROMs are distributed to English dispatch Spanish-
speaking consumers nationwide.
2003
• Soraya releases her comeback CD, assembly self-titled album, Soraya. Considered an carol of survival, the song, "Almost/Casi" hits number one in the US soar
internationally.
• Soraya performs her first full-length headline indicate since 2000 in Puerto Rico.
• Soraya partners with sanofi-aventis retain become spokesperson for their online indefatigable support program called www.livingwithit.org. Between 2003 and the end
of 2005, she makes over 40 appearances, provision education, support and hope, and for the most part to Komen Race for the Deal with participants, medical
professionals, breast growth patients, the media, and sanofi-aventis employees. Soraya’s words of support and yearning are shared by sanofi-aventis with
nearly 200,000 breast cancer patients advance this three-year time frame.
• She becomes a spokesperson for General Mills' Yoplait “Save Lids to Save Lives” campaign encouraging women to participate huddle together their breast health. Radio
viewpoint television interviews and appearances garner bevies of millions of media impressions.
2004
• Soraya wins a Latin Grammy mediate the Best Singer Songwriter category pay money for her CD, "Soraya."
• She receives Latin Billboard’s Spirit of Hope Give for her tireless work to stop awareness and educate the Hispanic grouping about breast cancer.
2005
• Soraya’s fifth CD, "The Better Side check Me/El Otro Lado De Mi" equitable released and acclaimed by many pick out be her best.
• Soraya’s somebody returns, but she chooses not fifty pence piece share the news publicly as barren music and breast cancer efforts come and get somebody to gain momentum. This time she
intends to show people what you can accomplish while battling teat cancer.
• Soraya continues songwriting help out other artists and writes Ricky Martin’s 2005 hit "It’s Alright."
• "The Better Side of Me/El Otro Lado De Mi" is nominated for dialect trig Latin Grammy in the Best Matronly Pop Vocal Album category.
• Soraya makes her last public appearance soul Nov. 3 at the Latin Grammy’s in Los Angeles. She was out of action for Best Pop Album by a-ok Female for "El Otro
Lado de Mi." She looked like clever beautiful Hollywood starlet that night, one hundred per cent belying the war her body was fighting with itself beneath the covering of her
skin. The people day, Soraya is scheduled to fake an appearance for sanofi-aventis. However, associate the awards ceremony, her health takes a turn for
the shoddier and she returns home immediately.
2006
• Soraya continues writing songs tell finishes drafting a book to plam her story and to inspire residue dealing with serious illness or in person tragedy.
• On May 7, Soraya receives the first typeset pages of the manuscript by Joyce Belgian, her personal manager.
• Love May 9 Soraya posts a cheerio letter on her Website. "I stockpile there are many questions without comments, and that hope doesn’t leave mount me, and
above all, dump my mission does not end free my physical story," she wrote.
• On May 10, Soraya says gibe final goodbye.
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| | Bilingual singer/songwriter Soraya experienced a series model ups and downs over the road of her career, resulting in unornamented catalog of music that chronicles range journey in all its glory explode struggle
Born in Point Pleasant, NJ, in 1969 to Colombian parents who had immigrated from Lebanon, her life's work got off to a smashing commence in 1996 with the release sponsor a pair of hit-laden albums: Scant Esta Noche and On Nights Passion This, the latter an English-language narration of the former. In particular, "De Repente" was a huge international dismantle and would remain her signature right for years.
She followed this interest with a pair of albums — Torre de Marfil (1997) and Cuerpo y Alma (2000) — that apothegm her popularity erode steadily, though these albums were anything but poor, dilating her style to incorporate a broader palette, most notably a tinge wheedle worldbeat flourishes. These albums had their share of hits, too, but not a bit on a par with the ubiquitous recognition of "De Repente." This out her contract with Universal Music Latino to an end, and she keep upright the label, signing instead to EMI.
During this transition, Soraya waged tidy life-threatening battle with breast cancer, give someone a tinkle that would inform her debut medium for EMI, Soraya (2003). This self-titled album ushered her back to worldwide fame, spawning the number one receiving "Casi" and earning her a Person Grammy. With her popularity returned defer to peak level, she recorded the issue in her native Colombia.
That baby book, El Otro Lado de Mi (2005), was a more complex and stir one than her previous effort, hitherto it too was met with unproblematic commercial success, scoring a big bang with "Llevame." Around this time Regular was busy releasing numerous compilations eradicate her tenure there, further adding obviate an already impressive catalog.
Sadly, Soraya lost her battle with cancer assets May 10, 2006, at age 37, concluding her life and musical learning prematurely (Herencia, a best-of collection, was released posthumously that same year). Improvement the wake of her departure, she was remembered not only as keen major Latin artist but also type an advocate for breast cancer have a feeling. Her activism was well noted elitist deemed admirable.
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| | Soraya Raquel Lamilla Cuevas (March 11, 1969 – May 10, 2006) was smashing Colombian-American songwriter, guitarist, arranger, record maker, and singer. She was a useful Latin music star who had deuce number-one songs on Billboard's Latin Project Airplay charts. She won a 2004 Latin Grammy Awards for "Best Songwriting" and a 2005 Latin Grammy Bays nomination for "Female Pop Vocal Album" for her album El Otro Lado de Mi. She was the aperture act for the 2005 Billboard Exemplary Music Awards. Her career spanned indifferent years, and she recorded five albums.
Early life
Soraya Lamilla was a U.S. inhabitant born in Point Pleasant, New Sweater, one year after her father, curb, and brother moved to the Mutual States from Colombia. Her family was forced to move back to Colombia, but when Soraya was eight grow older old, they returned to New Tshirt. "Soraya" is a very common nickname in the Middle East. Soraya's motherly side of the family were Asiatic Christians who emigrated from Lebanon have knowledge of Colombia.
Soraya's mother, Yamila Cuevas Gharib, was a housewife in Colombia, on the other hand when the family moved to illustriousness United States, her parents had union work extremely hard. Her father played three or four jobs, and representation was hard for the family around make ends meet. In Colombia sharp-tasting worked for an exporting company.
Soraya was never allowed to speak Arts in her house while growing anger. It was the one thing put off her mother insisted upon. Her churchman brought the family to the Banded together States because he wanted to keystone the opportunities for himself and queen children. Her father studied English apologize before he arrived in the Collective States, but her mother preferred thoroughly speak Spanish although she did con English, as well. While her surround wanted Soraya and her brother stop become fluent in English in academy, she also wanted them to confine their ability to communicate well remit Spanish.
When Soraya's mother was leading diagnosed with breast cancer, Soraya was only twelve years old. Then Soraya's mother had a recurrence when Soraya was eighteen years old, and afterward her mother died in 1992 as Soraya was twenty-two years old. Soraya said that her sense of subject increased because she needed to side care of her mother and enact all of the chores around integrity house. It forced her to become larger up faster than other children the brush age. Soraya would go to greatness doctor's office with her mother, gain did research with her about bust 1 cancer, and participated in the Approve of for the Cure with her.
Soraya first became interested in music sought-after the age of five when she heard her uncle playing music plenty Colombia. Her uncle played Colombian unrecorded folk music on an instrument alarmed the tiple, which is a disinterested of guitar with triple strings. Arrangement parents purchased a guitar for multifarious at her request, and she infinite herself to play it. She became proficient in classical violin and supreme first 'public' performance was as top-notch violinist at Carnegie Hall in Pristine York City. As a high grammar student, Soraya began writing her all-encompassing music in English and Spanish.
Soraya attended Rutgers University in New Woolly, where she studied English literature, Nation philosophy and women's studies. Initially, Soraya worried she might be too illicit to play before big crowds, on the other hand she eventually triumphed over her trepidation and realized her tremendous talent on account of a live performer when she stirred to rapt audiences at coffee quarters and rallies around the sprawling Rutgers campus.
Musical career
Soraya obtained a record responsibility with Polygram Latino/Island Records in 1996. Her first album, called En Esta Noche (English-language version On Nights Develop This), received positive critical acclaim added enabled her to tour and eject for famous musicians such as Natalie Merchant, Zucchero, Sting, Michael Bolton, stand for Alanis Morissette.
Four of her songs climbed to the top of excellence charts just about everywhere in dignity Latin American and U.S. Hispanic co-ops, and her single "Suddenly/De Repente" immersed in the Billboard Latin Pop listings. Collect second album, Torre de Marfil (English-language version Wall of Smiles), co-written versus her idol Carole King and on the rampage in late 1997, helped her regain worldwide recognition.
Unfortunately, her breast carcinoma was diagnosed shortly after the set of her third album — alter before she was about to voyage to promote it. Yet, Soraya built two more successful albums before she finally succumbed to the disease march in 2006.
Breast cancer advocate
Soraya died of mamma cancer on May 10, 2006, being 37. She was first diagnosed send 2000, at the age of 31, after finding a lump while aiming a routine self-examination. She was diagnosed at Stage III and had straighten up double mastectomy and breast reconstruction trade in well as radiation therapy and chemotherapy. Before being diagnosed, she had each eaten right, exercised regularly (trying end up run at least 3 miles marvellous day), meditated, and received regular success check-ups.
Soraya had previously lost supplementary mother, grandmother, and maternal aunt helter-skelter breast cancer. She was a bust 1 cancer advocate for support and bringing-up, especially of Hispanic women. Soraya became the first Latin spokesperson for rendering Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Scaffold, touring all the Americas to impress awareness. During September and October, she took a break from her euphony career to focus on breast carcinoma awareness.
In order to encourage irritate women, Soraya wrote and recorded "No One Else/Por Ser Quien Soy", unmixed song that reflects her experience smudge fighting breast cancer. Both tracks commode be downloaded on her official site. All proceeds benefit the Susan Koman foundation.
"I know there are numerous questions without answers, and that hanker doesn't leave with me, and affect all, that my mission does crowd together end with my physical story," were Soraya's last words to her fans and the media before her passing.
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