Lenka Filipová’s secret: She inadvertently helped Céline Dion to fame!

In 2017, after 34 years of living together, her husband, architect Boris Drbal (73), with whom she has a daughter Lenny (30), left her. It bothered her a lot, but she didn’t mention anything publicly. The singer kept her maiden name after her marriage to Drbal, as they already agreed before the wedding that Boris would stay out of the public eye. But the troubles did not end with the departure of her husband, not long after Lenka was affected by an insidious disease of the immune system. The singer went into seclusion for about a year and struggled with illness. During this period she lost a lot of weight and had to wear a wig.

Similar fates

Canadian singer Dion in 2016, a man and manager, the famous Canadian music producer René Angélil (†73), with whom he has 4 children, died of larynx cancer. Just five years later, Céline began to struggle with a rare autoimmune disease. Dissociative movement disorder is manifested by stiffness of the limbs and trunk and muscle spasms. The disorder also includes frequent falls or a complete loss of momentum. Due to illness, Céline interrupted her career, as part of which her concerts in Prague’s O2 arena were also postponed.

She was not allowed to participate in Eurovision

But let’s go to the beginning. In 1988, Lenka released the record Quo Vadis intended for export. Half of the songs were in French, the other in Czech. “And based on it, I got an offer to represent Switzerland at Eurovision. I received the song, I started working on it, but the then director of Pragokoncert wrote a letter to Supraphon that my participation was not in the interest of bilateral relations.” Filipová explains, who cried a lot. She returned the song Ne partez pas sans moi (Don’t leave me in the Czech version) again. The Swiss were furious, in the end they chose a replacement for Lenka – Céline Dion. She then won Eurovision with Lena’s song and soon became a global megastar.

Famous for the Czech Republic

Then in 2008, when Céline Dion gave a concert in Prague’s O2 arena, she chose Lenka Filipová as an opening act. “When we met backstage, I told her the whole Eurovision ordeal. We really laughed a lot. I was finally able to explain to her how everything actually happened back then,” recalls Lenka. “Céline asked me: So I owe it to you for my career? Thank you very much!’ recalls the singer, whom Dion introduced to her husband in Prague. The cordial meeting eventually ended with an exchange of addresses and phone numbers. “Céline has grown incredibly close to my heart,” Filipová says. Céline thought of Lenka when she got sick and crossed her fingers. And now that Lenka has already won and Céline is still fighting with all her might, Filipová reciprocates her interest. She thought of her.

She refused to emigrate because of her family and the audience

Lenka Filipová originally studied classical guitar at the conservatory in Prague, which came in handy when starting her career, as she accompanies herself on it at concerts. During her further studies, at the International Academy of Music in Paris, she became friends with people from Olympia in Paris (she got contacts and recommendations from Hana Hegerová), and she also recorded two records in France. The most famous song from that time is in love with Francis Cabrel, which in 1981 also gave the name to her first gramophone album in our country. At the time, however, the French company CBS demanded that Filipová be available at any time – and that the money invested in Lenka be returned to the company, they suggested that she emigrate.

But it was unacceptable for Filipová because of her family and the Czech audience, so she stayed at home. Even so, she became known to foreign audiences. She gave concerts in a number of countries, in addition to Europe she also visited Japan, the USA, Canada and Australia. She even won the highly regarded Grand Prix at a guitar festival in the Netherlands Antilles. During her career, she released over twenty albums, some of her songs such as Zamilovaná or Za svets moe čas have already become popular, and Lenka is still considered one of the most likable in Czech show business.