Angèle Van Laeken, better known by her stage name Angèle, is a Belgian singer-songwriter, musician, pianist, record producer and actress. She was born on in Uccle, Brussels. Angèle is the daughter of the singer Marka and of the actress Laurence Bibot. Her brother is the rapper Romeo Elvis. Her father encouraged her from an early age to learn the piano, which inspired her musical career. Angèle spent a difficult adolescence in a strict Catholic school before attending the Decroly School. The artistic options at this high school helped develop her musical skills. She then enrolled in the Jazz Studio Antwerp for a jazz education before joining her father’s band.
Angèle gave her first performances in cafés around Brussels. Notably at the restaurant Le Delecta, in Ixelles, now closed. She was first noticed for her cover of Dick Annegarn, “Bruxelles”, and on Instagram videos where she mixed singing and comedy. In 2017, she was the support act for Ibeyi and the Belgian rapper Damso, whom she also accompanied in his album Lithopédion. Her first single, “La Loi de Murphy”, was released in late 2017 and received millions of views on YouTube. A second single “Je veux tes yeux” was released in early 2018. The two video clips were directed by the Belgian photographer Charlotte Abramow.
In May 2018, she performed her first Parisian concert at the Trianon accompanied by MC Solaar on her cover of his song “Victime de la mode”. She performed in several summer festivals in Belgium, France and Switzerland such as Les Ardentes, Dour, and Rock Werchter. In 2018, Angèle released her third single, “La Thune”.
In August 2018, she announced the tracklist of her first album Brol on the Initial label. The album was released in October 2018, the same day as her single duet with her brother, Roméo Elvis. This album was successful and resulted in Angèle invitation to perform on various French TV shows. The single, “Tout oublier”, spent nine weeks at number 1 on the Ultratop charts, breaking the record for a Belgian artist formerly set by Stromae.
In 2019, Angèle became one of the most sought for artists in France and Belgium and affirmed her feminism with the song “Balance ton quoi” in reference to the French #metoo movement, Balance to porc. Pierre Niney makes an appearance in the video alongside some of Angèle’s friends to talk about struggles her female friends have encountered with men. The song is not about ridiculing men but about educating everyone to live in a more accepting society.
In April 2020, Angèle performed for One World: Together At Home – A global broadcast & digital special to support front line healthcare workers and the WHO during the Covid-19 pandemic, hosted by Lady Gaga. In October 2020, Angèle was pictured alongside London singer Dua Lipa on the set of a music video. A collaboration with the latter was later announced and would feature on the reissue of Lipa’s new album Future Nostalgia. “Fever” was released in October 2020. The music video was released a week later on YouTube. Before the release of the video, Lipa announced on social media that Angèle will be appearing as a special guest on her live stream concert Studio 2054 in November 2020.
