Lara Fabian is the fourth studio album and the first English-language album by pop singer Lara Fabian. It was first released on 29 November 1999 in France and was released worldwide in 2000. The album features the hit singles âÂÂI Will Love AgainâÂÂ, âÂÂI Am Who I Amâ and âÂÂLove by GraceâÂÂ.
In March 1999, Fabian released her first live album, named Live, which debuted at number one on the French Albums Chart. This helped seal an international recording contract with Sony Music. Fabian went to New York City and San Francisco to record her first album in English. She wrote or co-wrote most of the songs, working with Rick Allison and producers Walter Afanasieff, Patrick Leonard, Sam Watters and Mark Taylor. Both versions of "Adagio" and the song "To Love Again (Si Tu M'Aimes)" feature Steve Lukather guitar solos. The song "Till I Get Over You" was produced by the duo Louis Biancaniello and Sam Watters.
Promotion for Lara Fabian initially targeted the United States, with the album released in May 2000 through Sony Music. Fabian launched the album with an appearance on NBC's Today and later appeared on several American television programs, including The Tonight Show, The View, Access Hollywood and The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn. From June 2000 to February 2001, the song "Love by Grace" was featured as the theme for the lead couple in the Brazilian telenovela Laços de FamÃÂlia, broadcast by Rede Globo in Brazil and Portugal. During its run, the song received extensive airplay and reached number one on multiple radio charts in both countries, contributing to increased recognition for Fabian in those markets. Following the broadcast of From Lara with Love, her first American television special on PBS, Fabian participated in WKTU New YorkâÂÂs annual radio special Miracle on 34th Street. An Asian edition of the album included "Light of My Life," a duet with Taiwanese singer-songwriter Leehom Wang. The song was later featured in the 2000 Hong Kong action film China Strike Force.
The album's second single, "I Will Love Again," was written by Mark Taylor and Paul Barry. Four versions of the song were produced: two in English and two in Spanish, each featuring both a dance-pop version and a ballad reprise. A dance-pop and Europop ballad that talks about overcoming a painful breakup with hopes of eventually loving somebody again. "I Will Love Again" reached number five in Belgium's Wallonia region and number eight in New Zealand. In the United States, the song topped the US Billboard Dance Club Songs chart and peaked at number 32 on the Billboard Hot 100. Elsewhere, the single reached the top 20 in Austria, Canada, France, Hungary, Iceland, Spain, and Switzerland.
"I Am Who I Am," written by Fabian and Rick Allison with its producers Carl Sturken and Evan Rogers, was released as the third single from the album on September 18, 2000. It charted inside the top-twenty in Canada, as well as the lower-regions of France, Germany and Switzerland charts. "Love by Grace," originally recorded by the American country singer Wynonna Judd and included on her third studio album Revelations (1996), was released as the fourth single from Lara Fabian on October 2, 2000. A modest hit on the US Adult Contemporary radio, the song became a smash hit in Brazil, reaching the top of the charts for eight weeks. In Portugal, it was also successful, reaching the top-three on the Portuguese Singles Chart, whilst elsewhere, the song performed moderately in Germany and Sweden.
AllMusic editor William Ruhlmann wrote that the ten credited producers "have created widescreen power ballads with the occasional dance song thrown in. The lyrics are the usual generalized depictions of the joys and turmoil of romance, with the music almost invariably swelling portentously halfway through the track so the singer can take off on an overwrought tear. Fabian has the pipes to handle such material and is actually better at singing in English than Dion [...] Fabian has her work cut out for her, but she's taken a big step toward filling Dion's shoes with this album." Writing for Amazon.com Courtney Kemp described Lara Fabian as "56 minutes of bland, predictable love songs, heavy on ballads, with plenty of vocal gymnastics. Already a French-language superstar, Fabian alternates between vulnerable softie and tough cookieâÂÂfailing to prove she's either, but belting her heart out nonetheless."
The album's opening track, "Adagio," has also been covered by Nightwish singer Floor Jansen, by Ancient Bards singer Sara Squadrani and by Il Divo. The songs "Adagio" and "Broken Vow" were covered by Filipino singers, Mark Bautista and Sarah Geronimo. Also Josh Groban covered "Broken Vow" for his 2003 album Closer, and Lebanese singer Majida El Roumi recorded an Arabic cover of "Adagio", titled "Habibi", for her 2006 album E'tazalt El Gharam. Kazakh singer Dimash Kudaibergen sang "Adagio" in his "wild card" entry performance in 2017 on the Chinese talent competition Singer, which catapulted him to world-wide notice, also performing it on the US show The World's Best. In 2019, he and Lara performed together in a concerts with Igor Krutoy and Dimash joined Lara to perform the song in London in 2025.