East Lothian (Scots: Aest Lowden, Scottish Gaelic: Siorrachd Lodainn an Ear) (formerly Haddingtonshire) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a lieutenancy Area. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Scottish Borders and Midlothian. Its administrative centre is Haddington, although its largest town is Musselburgh.

The council area was created in 1996, under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, with the boundaries of the East Lothian district of the Lothian region. The district had been created in 1975, under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, and it consisted of the local government county of East Lothian, plus the burgh of Musselburgh and the Inveresk area, both formerly within the county of Midlothian.

When abolished, for local government purposes, in 1975, the county of East Lothian bordered the county of Midlothian to the west, and the county of Berwick to the south. The county was called Haddingtonshire until 1921. At this time, border changes saw several villages on the outskirts of Edinburgh (e.g. Whitecraig) become part of East Lothian.

Lothian (Scots: Lowden; Scottish Gaelic: Lodainne) forms a traditional region of the Scottish Lowlands, lying between the southern shore of the Firth of Forth and the Lammermuir Hills. The Lothian region includes Edinburgh City, West Lothian, Mid Lothian and East Lothian. The principal settlement in Lothian is the Scottish capital, Edinburgh. Towns include Livingston, Linlithgow, Bathgate and Dunbar.

Historically, the term Lothian is used for a province encompassing the present area plus the Scottish Borders region. The name is related to the legendary British King Loth or Lot. In the 7th century it came under the control of the northern part of the Angle Kingdom of Northumbria for a time, but Anglian grip on Lothian was quickly weakened following the Battle of Dun Nechtain in which they were defeated by the Picts. Lothian's distinction from Northumbria is indicated in the survival of its original Brythonic Celtic name, used even by English Chroniclers. In 1018 AD Lothian was annexed by the Kingdom of Scotland.

Eddi Reader MBE (born Sadenia Reader; 29 August 1959) is a Scottish singer-songwriter, known both for her work with Fairground Attraction and for an enduring solo career. She is the recipient of three BRIT Awards and has topped both the album and singles charts. In 2003 she showcased the works of Scotland's national poet, Robert Burns.

Reader was born in Glasgow, the daughter of a welder, and the eldest of seven children (her brother, Francis, is vocalist with the band The Trash Can Sinatras). She was nicknamed Edna by her parents. Living at first in the district of Anderston, Glasgow, in a tenement slum demolished in 1965, The young Reader family moved to a two-bedroomed flat in the estate of Arden, Glasgow.

In 1976, due to overcrowding the family was re-housed 25 miles from Glasgow, in the council development of Irvine, Ayrshire; however, Eddi returned to Glasgow (where she lived with her grandmother) in order to finish her compulsory schooling. She began playing the guitar at the age of ten, and started her musical career busking, first in Glasgow's Sauchiehall Street, then in the early 1980s in London and around Europe (where she also worked with circus and performance artists).