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Lyra
Lyra
Birth name	Laura McNamara
Born	Bandon, County Cork
Genres	Electropop
Years active	2016–present

Laura McNamara, known professionally as Lyra, is an Irish singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist.

Early life and musical development

Lyra grew up in County Cork, Ireland. In an interview with the Irish Independent, she told of her early love of singing and performing.^[1] She has also said that her experiences singing in her church choir, and in speech and drama lessons were formational in the development of her singing.^[2] She has highlighted her love of Irish "luminaries" Enya and Sinéad O'Connor,^[3] artists whom critics, among others such as Kate Bush and Florence and the Machine, have subsequently likened her music to.^[4] Although she wishes to maintain a degree of mystery,^[5] she has confirmed that 'Lyra' is one of her given names.^[1]

Career

Lyra released her first EP W.I.L.D on 15 July 2016, but gained most of her recognition following the featuring of "Emerald" on the second episode of the RTÉ drama Striking Out, and the subsequent featuring of her music. The same year, "Emerald" was also used in Teen Wolf, The X Factor and The Only Way Is Essex, and helped to gain her exposure.^[6]

She appeared on the 30th anniversary rework of U2's The Joshua Tree alongside other Irish artists Imelda May, Gavin James and Kodaline.^[7]

In 2017, Lyra signed a label deal with Polydor Records and Universal Music.^[8]

She has appeared at such festivals as the Great Escape, Music Cork, Latitude, and Electric Picnic.^[6]

Lyra has appeared as a guest performer on Dancing with the Stars^[9] and Ireland's Got Talent.^[10] Her song "Falling" was featured in the midseason finale of Season 16 of Grey's Anatomy, and on ITV's Love Island.^{[citation needed]}

In 2020, her song New Day (a cover of an old Jackie Lomax song) was released as a single, after it was used in various TV-commercials in the UK (Sky Sports) and the Netherlands (bicycle manufacturer VanMoof).^[11]

In 2021, Lyra was announced as one of the judges on the Virgin Media One talent show, The Big Deal, joining Boy George, Aston Merrygold, Deirdre O'Kane and Jedward on the panel.^[12]

Her single "29 Box" was released on 7 October 2022 and was played on LM/FM on 3 October 2022. She followed this with the single "You" on 10 March 2023.

Discography

Albums

List of albums, with selected details and peak chart positions
Title	Details	Peak chart positions
Title	Details	IRE ^[13]
Lyra	Released: 12 April 2024 Label: Rubyworks Formats: CD, vinyl, digital download, streaming	1

Singles

Year	Title	Album
2016	"Rabbit in the Headlights"	W.I.L.D
	"Emerald"
	"Broken Down"
	"Whitelady"
2019	"Falling"	Non-album singles
2019	"Never Let Go"
2019	"Mother"
2020	"New Day"
2020	"The Magic of Christmas"	The Magic of Christmas
	"Stay Another Day"
	"Walking in the Air"
	"Merry Christmas Everyone - Live"
2022	"29 Box"	Non-album single
2023	"You"	Lyra