"Destiny is no matter of chance. It is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved."
William Jennings Bryan (1860 - 1925)

Liona Boyd - Fun Facts

Due to the many requests for personal information here is some Liona Boyd info that we hope will be helpful and of interest. With Liona's help we have compiled this list so that you do not need to send emails with similar requests.

Additional information can be seen under Press Kit, or by reading Liona's autobiography, "In My Own Key—My Life in Love and Music".
  
PLACES LIVED
London, England / Toronto, Canada / San Miguel de Allende, Mexico / Paris, France / San Francisco, USA / Vancouver, Canada / Beverly Hills, USA / Miami USA.

HOBBIES AND PASTIMES
Walking on the beach / hiking in the hills / practicing Spanish and watching Spanish and French films /oil painting / traveling / cruising / dancing / writing poetry / attending classical and Latin concerts / watching documentaries on CNN en Espanol, Discovery, and Bravo / playing with the purrrfect cat, Muffin!

UNUSUAL "GIGS"

• Concert at the Los Angeles Courthouse for the sequestered jury members of the O. J. Simpson trial. 
• A concert for the Cree natives in Moose Factory, Northern Ontario, after paddling a canoe for two weeks up the Missinabi River to get there
• Concert in Mother Theresa's Hospice in Calcutta, India
• Performance at a private party in the Kremlin on New Year's Eve
• Recital aboard a Navy icebreaker in Bermuda
• Private concert at Windsor Castle for the British Royal Family.    

FAVORITE CITIES
Venice / San Miguel de Allende / Paris / Rome / Buenos Aires / Rio de Janeiro/ Hong Kong / Bangkok / Miami / Vancouver / Toronto / Dubrovnik

FAVORITE CLASSICAL COMPOSERS
Beethoven/ Bach /Tarrega / Albeniz / De Falla/ Granados/ Debussy / Chopin / Vivaldi / Mahler

FAVORITE FILM COMPOSERS
Maurice Jarre / Ennio Morricone / John Barry / Michael Kamen / James Horner / Gabriel Yared

FAVORITE MOVIES
Lawrence of Arabia / Dr. Zhivago / The English Patient / Gone with the Wind / Room with a View / A Man and Woman / Gigi / Indochine / Don Juan de Marco / Casablanca / Westside Story / Evita / The Age of Innocence / The Man who Cried / Frida / Ladies in Lavendar 

FAVORITE PERFORMERS
Julio Iglesias/Enrique Iglesias /Placido Domingo /Rocio Durcal/ Joan Baez/ Julian Bream / Yo-Yo Ma / Juan Gabriel / Alejandro Fernandez / Nana Mouskouri / Sarah Brightman / Georges Moustaki / Pepe Romero / Christopher Parkening / Leonard Cohen / Gordon Lightfoot

FAVORITE AUTHORS
Shakespeare / Lawrence Durrell / Isabel Allende / Michael Ondaatje / T.E. Lawrence / Gabriel Garcia Marquez

FAVORITE POETS
Garcia Lorca / Pablo Neruda / Octavio Paz / Antonio Machado / Longfellow / Tennyson

FAVORITE ARTISTS
Renoir / Monet / Picasso / Henry Moore / Frieda Kahlo 

FAMILY AND PERSONAL FACTS

• Liona has one younger sister Vivien, and one younger brother, Damien.
• Her only "child" has white fur, green eyes, and says, "Meow". (A shaded silver American short-hair, named "Muffin").
• Liona's parents live in Toronto, Canada, and her grand-parents lived in Spain and England.
• Height 5'7" / Weight 115 pounds / Has had long hair all her life.
• Engaged for eight years to Joel Bell / married for twelve years to John B. Simon  1992-2004
• Full name—Liona Maria Carolynne Boyd

LANGUAGES SPOKEN
English, Spanish, French

PEOPLE ADMIRED
Prince Philip / Robert Redford / Oprah Winfrey / Jane Goodall / Doctor Andrew Weil /Richard Branson / Anita Roddick / Peter Ustinov / Robert Bateman / David Suzuki / Cristina Saralegui / Wayne Dyer/Dr Neal Barnard

COMPLIMENTS

• Included in The Twelve Sexiest Canadian Women (The Great Canadian Book of Lists).  Shania Twain is Number 1; Liona Number 8.
• Liona's first guitar  is displayed in the Museum of Civilization, Ottawa, Canada.
• Liona's gold concert shoes are displayed in the Bata Shoe Museum, Toronto, Canada
• Liona was named Artist of the Year and Honorary Mayor to the city of San Antonio

DISLIKES
Mosquitoes / blackfly / large spiders / religious extremism / cruelty to animals or humans

FAVORITE FOODS
Fresh fruit/ frozen yogurt / organic salads / freshly baked whole wheat bread / Virgin pina coladas / English tea / cappuccinos / dark chocolate /Lifetime vegetarian but occasionally eats fish/ Hopeless in the kitchen but can make great blueberry and raspberry pancakes!

FAVORITE POSSESSIONS
German Vazquez Rubio guitars / Cherry-wood music stand hand-carved especially for Liona by Edwin Vollmer of Salt Spring Island, her father's paintings and sculptures, 5 Juno Awards, childhood bears Mosey,Tonka and Laelia.

FAVORITE COLORS
White / cream / turquoise / gold / pink /purple

FAVORITE FLOWERS
Yellow roses / Birds of Paradise / Daffodils / Cala Lilies / Poppies / Bugambilia

FAVORITE PERFUME
Vent Vert by Pierre Balmain

SUN SIGN
Moon child (Cancer)

CAR
Gold Lexus 430 – License Plate "2Guitar"

CHILDHOOD TRIVIA

• First instrument played was the treble recorder. 
• Liona was thrown out of her elementary school class choir and told she could not sing. 
• Her first instrumental concert was the talent competition on-board the ocean liner sailing from England to Canada.  She and her sister Vivien played a recorder duet, "The Blue Bells of Scotland." They did not win. Later Liona took both first and second prizes in the art competition on the next ocean liner when returning for the second time to Canada.
• Her first guitar was a Christmas present from her parents at age thirteen. (It had been purchased in Spain as a souvenir when Liona was seven.) Her first guitar concert was presented by the Toronto Guitar Society four years later.