Amanda Lear

Amanda Lear (real name Amanda Tapp, born 18 June 193918 November 1939 or 1946, in British Hong Kong, or 1950 in Saigon) is a French singer, lyricist, composer, painter, TV presenter, actress and novelist.

Lear began her career as a fashion model in the mid-1960s and was also a muse of the Spanish surrealist painter Salvador Dalí. She 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 queen, mainly in Continental Europe and Scandinavia. Her hits included "Queen of Chinatown", "Blood and Honey", "Follow Me", "Enigma (Give a Bit of Mmh to Me)" and "Fashion Pack".

In the mid-1980s Lear positioned herself as one of the leading media personalities in mainland Europe, especially in Italy and in France where she hosted many long-running TV shows. Since the 1990s her time has been divided between music, television, writing and movies, as well as pursuing her career as a painter. Currently she lives in Saint-Étienne-du-Grès near Avignon in the south of France.