Amanda Lear (born 18 November 1939 is a French singer, lyricist, composer, painter, TV presenter, actress and novelist. She is the daughter of an Englishman and a Russian exile. Currently she lives in Saint-Étienne-du-Grès, France near Avignon in the south. She studied art in Paris and in the 60s moved to London. During this period she got to know the most prominent designers, musicians and artists belonging to the artistic circles she frequented. Her preferences were predominantly for the Surrealist movement and for bodily expression, since she has also studied the art of mime. The meeting with Dali changed her life. In the following 15 years she became the only woman friend, the muse and confidant of the great artist and his wife Gala. She lived in their house in Cadaquès (Spain) and accompanied them when they moved to New York and Paris in the winter. Although he had declared that a woman should never paint, Dali became her mentor, allowing her to work alongside him and teaching her all she knows about art and its techniques. He took her to visit all the great museums of the world, acting as her guide in the discovery of artists from his own highly individual point of view. Famous throughout the world as a pop singer, she soared to celebrity when her first song entered the international hit parades, but this not lead her to neglect the passion of her life: painting. In 1975, disillusioned by a shallow but surprisingly conservative fashion industry and encouraged by boyfriend David Bowie, who paid for singing and dancing lessons, Lear decided to launch a career in music. Bowie recommended her a Hungarian voice coach Florence Wiese-Norberg, with whom he also worked.[16] She would record a demo song called "Stars" with him, however, the track still remains unreleased In 1980 she had her first show in Rotterdam. Encouraged by the success of this and the publicity generated by the media, she went on to display in Paris, Berlin, Milan and Geneva, attracting the attention of the European collectors. She likes to recall the fact that she waited 20 years before having the chance to show her paintings and she is grateful to Dali for having been her friend and teacher. Pop icon Amanda Lear has recorded 15 studio albums and has released some 60 singles to date and has so far sold approximately 15 million albums and 25-30 million singles worldwide. 2012 saw the release of a new album "I Don't Like Disco", from which a few single were taken including La bete et la belle and I Don't Like Disco. Her latest news can be read on her official site: www.amanda-lear.com. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.