Music

Angèle Van Laeken was born in 1995 in Uccle, a commune in the Belgian capital. The singer-songwriter is born on a fine winter's day in a home filled with love.

Angèle was born into a family of artists. Her father, Marka, is a successful singer (first with the group Allez Allez, then solo), while her mother, Laurence Bibot, is an actress. She grew up alongside her brother, Roméo Elvis, who went on to become one of the best-known Belgian rappers of his generation. Both children grew up in Linkebeek and went to the Decroly school in Uccle. 

Her parents encouraged her to take up music from an early age. She began with piano lessons, which her brother also took, before joining her father's band. Angèle then went solo, giving concerts in bars and cafés. At the same time, she posts covers of her songs on her social media networks. By mixing singing and humor, she won the sympathy of a small audience, who were probably far from suspecting the scale her career would take.

In 2017, the young artist was lucky enough to open for Damso, an event that proved to be rather traumatic for her, as the audience wasn't welcoming at all. 

At the end of the same year, Angèle released her first single, “La loi de Murphy”, which proved a huge hit, racking up over 37 million views. It was the start of a string of runaway successes for the young singer from Brussels. Meanwhile, her brother Roméo Elvis was also making his mark in the music world, and gaining ground in the rap scene. In parallel with the announcement of her debut album, Angèle releases the single “Tout oublier”, in which she sings with her brother. Her debut album, entitled “Brol”, was certified platinum in December 2018. Today, it's a double diamond disc in France and a diamond disc in Belgium. On this album, the singer tackles themes such as sexism, the superficiality of social media networks and money, and even, female homosexuality with her track “Ta reine”. Angèle has always been very politically committed, whether in her music or in her daily life and on social media networks. In particular, she spoke out and apologized publicly when accusations of sexual assault against her brother came to light. Just recently, she joined other artists in supporting Gisèle Pelicot in the “Mazan rapes” case.

She announced her second album “Nonante-cinq” for December 10, 2021, before releasing it a week earlier, on December 3, on her birthday. Later in the day, the video for “Démons” is released, featuring rapper Damso. ”Nonante-cinq La Suite”, an enriched sequel to ‘Nonante-cinq’, was released on November 18, 2022. This reissue includes several new songs, such as “Promets-moi”, “Patrick”, “Le temps fera les choses” and “Évidemment” in partnership with Orelsan.

Most recently, Angèle turned the internet upside down when she performed at the closing ceremony of the Paris Olympics this summer, alongside Kavinsky and the group Phoenix. She performed the song “Nightcall”, which broke the record for the most shazammed song in history in 1 minute on the app. As well as causing a sensation with her musical performance, she made us all fall in love with her new hairstyle: a very short blond bob, which no doubt caused hairdresser bookings to rise. As we eagerly await her return and wish her a wonderful birthday, let's reminisce about her “Nightcall” performance and listen to “Brol” again for a little dose of nostalgia.

(MH with Larisa Lungu - Photo : © Etienne Tordoir )

Larisa is a communications student at ICHEC in Brussels (Belgium) on December 18, 2023.

Photo: Angèle (dressed in Chanel) on stage at Forest-National in Brussels (Belgium)