Date of Birth: 
Place of Birth: Haukipudas, Northern Finland Regional State Administrative Agency, Finland
About Lea Laven
- Lea Laven (née Luukinen; after that Marjanen, Forssell and Tulonen; born 19 June 1948, Haukipudas) is a Finnish pop singer. Laven grew up in meager circumstances in the small town of Haukipudas: she began singing in shows while in school and as a teenager began participating in talent competitions.
- After completing her schooling she lived for a time in Sweden where she worked as a domestic in hotels and nursing homes.
- In 1966 while back in Finland for an intended visit Laven attended a dance where Pentti Oskari Kangas was playing: Laven asked to sing with his band and the reaction resulted in her being recruited as a vocalist.
- When not performing with the band Laven worked at a textile mill in the town of Rauma which was Kangas' home base. In 1969 Laven began recording for EMI Columbia - later known as CBS Records - with a debut album Se Jokin issued in 1970: during this time Laven also had a "day job" as a secretary at the label's Helsinki office.
- For several years Laven typically recorded Finnish language cover versions of contemporary international hits with the 1974 double A-side single "Niin"/ "Tumma Nainen" - comprising Finnish renderings of "Sì" and "Dark Lady" originally by respectively Gigliola Cinquetti and Cher - affording Laven her career record with a #5 peak on the Finnish national charts: "Niin"/ "Tumma Nainen" debuted in the Top 30 in August 1974 and was still ranked in the Top 30 in August 1975. In 1978 Laven took second place - in a tie - in the Finnish national preliminary round of the Eurovision contest with the song "Aamulla Rakkaani Näin" which served at the title cut of Laven's seventh album which became Laven's first gold-certified album.
- Laven's subsequent recorded output was more focused on new material including the 1979 Syksyn sävel winner "Ei oo, ei tuu" which was the #1 hit in Finland for the months of December 1979 and January 1980.
- Laven still recorded Finnish-language covers including "Lahjan Sain" which as "Si la vie est cadeau" had won Eurovision 1983.
- In 1984 Laven switched to Bluebird Records where her debut album Sanat murenevat - Laven's twelfth album release - became her sole platinum-certified album to date.
- In 1990 Laven debuted on the Polarvox label with the album Ali Baba which was Laven's seventeenth album release and her sixth album to be certified gold.
- Laven subsequently experienced a drop in her career profile but was afforded a major comeback in 1999 when she again won the Syksyn sävel and her winning song ""Nyt kun oot mennyt" reached #6 on the Finnish national charts.
- Laven's twenty-fourth album Tähdenlennon alla was issued in 2006.
- Laven has resided in Naantali since 1984.
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