Leena Makhoul is an Arab-Israeli international singer-songwriter.
Biography
Leena Courtney Makhoul was born to Arab-Christian parents in Toledo, Ohio, and grew up in Acre, Israel. Since the age of four she has loved dancing, playing the piano and singing. She speaks five languages and became the first Arab to win the Israeli version of The Voice through viewer voting.
Music career
In an audition for the second season of the reality singing competition The Voice Israel in late 2012, Makhoul sang "Empire State of Mind" by Alicia Keys and joined the mentoring team of Shlomi Shabat. In the program she also sang a cover version of the song "Autumn Leaves", obtaining the vote of all mentors. Within three days of her first appearance on The Voice, she had a quarter of a million views on YouTube. On March 23, 2013, Makhoul won the final in the Nokia Arena in Tel Aviv with 62% of the vote, having performed "What A Feeling", theme song of the movie Flashdance. Along with her mentor Shabat, she performed a song written and composed by him with his daughter singer Manor Shabat. She also sang "Hallelujah" by Leonard Cohen. She was approached by International Israeli-born manager Irit TenHengel who signed her to her label, Yodan Productions. In September 2016 Lina was selected as the opening act for the bandQueen + Adam Lambert in Tel Aviv. In December 2016 Lina covered "Holy War" by Alicia Keys, releasing an online video of the song that included her own ethnic influences. The video was discovered by Alicia, who shared it on her own Instagram, Facebook and Twitter pages. In September 2017, Lina announced on her social media pages that she would be supporting British girl-group Little Mix on their upcoming UK & Ireland leg of The Glory Days Tour for all 37 arena dates from October–November 2017.
Discography
Her first single "This Ain't About You" was released worldwide on the April 29, 2016. The track achieved a top 10 in the UK Music-Week's Club and Pop Charts. Her second single "Dance Sucker" rose even further to No. 4 in the UK Music Week's Official Club Chart, reflecting her growing international success. Single "Dance Sucker" was released as a preview of Lina's new album Walking on a Tightrope due for release in 2017. The track was produced by Grammy Award winner Jerry Wonda and Tal Forer. The album features songs written by Karen Poole and Grammy Award winner Eliot Kennedy. Lina is currently working with writers such as Brit Award Nominee Maegan Cottone, Hiten Bharadia and Knightstarr.
