M'bilia Bel is a Congolese soukous singer, known as the Queen of Congolese rhumba. She rose to fame after being discovered by Tabu Ley Rochereau. Born and brought up in the Democratic Republic of the Congo M'bilia Bel became successful in the mid-1980s when she recorded and toured with Tabu Ley Rochereau, and made her own solo albums. The birth of her first child prompted her to take a break from performing, however, and after a last album with Ley in 1987, she moved to Paris.