Elissa was born in Deir Alahmar on October 27th 1972. Her real name is Alisar Khoury. She was raised in the beautiful nature of Bekaa Valley. Elissa got a degree in Political Science from the Lebanese University. Her first steps into art and music activities were in political critic theater of (Wassim Tabarah). Elissa also appreared in the (10 O''clock Theater).
Her sucess in theater encourage her to take her new steps into the music world.
In the year 1993 Elissa won a silver medal for her performance at (Studio El Fan), a show broadcast on LBC, considered as one of the top TV programs, directed by Maker of the stars, Simon Asmar.
Following her success at Studio El Fan, Elissa performed many live concerts until 1999 when Lido Production Company released her first album, (Baddy Doub).
Elissa''s debut album was not small event, as it included her first smash hit with the famous French gypsy group, Gerard Ferrer.
The sucess of her first album took her straight to Cannes to participate in the International Music Festival in 2000.
Elissa released her second album, (Wakhreta Maak) which included the hit duo (Bitghib Betrouh) with Lebanese superstar Ragheb Allamah. many years after its release, the song is still a big hit, as it is still played on TV and radio today.
In June 2002, Elissa released (Ayshalak), an album which was the number one selling album in the Middle East.
For this album, Elissa surpassed the success of her previous albums. The video clip of the single hit ''Ayshalak'' was shot in Paris with the acclaimed French director, Fabrice Begotti.
This was not enough for Elissa as shy shook up the music scene by teaming up with the world famous Chris de Burgh.
Lebanese Nights was the title of the produced hit duet which was written by de Burgh during his trip to Lebanon in 2000. The song became a huge success in the Arab music world.
Elissa teamed with production giant Rotana and several new albums were added to her portfolio.
Elissa most important event in the last few years included her Performance with Sting on the Pyramids Cairo.
Elissa was the only Arabic Artist to perform to the Ex President of the United States of America Bill Clinton for the Stars charity show in Dubai in the presence of Queen of Jordan Queen Rania and Crown Prince of Dubai Sheikh Mohamad Bin Rached Al Maktoum.
Elissa album (Ahla Donya) was launched in 2004 by Rotana, this album contained the beautiful song Koul Youm Fi Omry which became a great hit in the Arabic music world.
Elissa album (Bastanak) was launched in 2006, this album was also a big success with many new songs. Elissa shot many videoclips to date all of which are with extra care to detail and rich content.
