Amr Diab

Amr Diab
Background information
Native name عمرو دياب
Birth name Amr Abdel-Basset Abdel-Azeez Diab
Also known as El Hadaba
Born (1961-10-11) 11 October 1961
Port Said, Egypt
Genres Arabic Pop, dance, folk dance [1]
Occupation(s) Singer, Solo Singer, Composer, Actor, Body Builder
Instruments Vocal, Guitar, Oud, Piano
Years active 1983–present
Labels

Sout El Delta (Former)
Alam El Phan (Former)
Rotana Records (Former)

Nay For Media (Current)
Website www.AmrDiab.net

Amr Abd El-Basset Abd El-Azeez Diab (Arabic: عمرو عبد الباسط عبد العزيز دياب‎  pronounced [ˈʕɑm.ɾe ʕæbdelˈbɑːsetˤ ʕæbdelʕæˈziːz deˈjæːb];[pronunciation 1] born 11 October 1961)[2] is an Egyptian pop singer and songwriter. Diab is a multi-award winner musician. He is the best selling Middle Eastern artist of all time.[3] Furthermore, he has created his own style which is often termed "Mediterranean Music", a blend of Western and Egyptian rhythms.[4] By 1992, he became the first Arabic artist to start making high-tech music videos.[4]

Amr Diab with His 7 World Music Awards

Early life

Amr Diab was born on October 11, 1961 in Port Said, Egypt into an artistic family. His father, Abdul Basset Diab, worked for the Suez Canal Corporation and was the chairman of Marine Construction & Shipbuilding in the canal. Diab's father played a huge role in igniting the early sparks of musical inspiration towards Diab's early stages in his professional music career. Diab, at the age of six, had his first shot at fame when he sang the Egyptian National Anthem "Bilady, Bilady, Bilady" at the annual July 23 Festival in Port Said. As a result, he was rewarded with a guitar from the governor of Port Said, and began to become recognised nationally. Diab graduated with a bachelor's degree in Arabic Music from the Cairo Academy of Arts in 1986.

Career

Diab released his first album entitled Ya Tareeq in 1983. Diab's second album, Ghanny Men Albak (1984), was the first of a series of records he released with Delta Sound, including Hala Hala (1986), Khalseen (1987), Mayyal (1988), Shawa'na (1989), Matkhafesh (1990), Habibi (1991), Ayyamna (1992), Ya Omrena (1993), Weylomony (1994), and Rag'een (1995). In 1996 Diab released his first album with Alam El Phan entitled Nour El Ain, which proved an international success and gained Diab recognition beyond the Arabic speaking world. Diab recorded four more albums on the Alam El Phan label including Amarain (1999) on which he collaborated with Khaled (on the song "Alby") and with Angela Dimitriou (on the song "Bahebbak Aktar").

In the summer of 2004 Diab, having left Alam El Phan, released his first album with Rotana Records, Leily Nehary, which he followed up with the hugely successful Kammel Kalamak (2005), and El Lilady (2007). September 2011 saw the release of his album Banadeek Taala, produced by Rotana. On February 2011, Amr Diab released his hit single "Masr Allet" (Egypt spoke). In 2012, Diab hosted the first Google Hangout in the Middle East during his performance in Dubai. In October 2014, Amr Diab released his album "Shoft El Ayam" which topped his last album "El Leila" and again became the best selling album in Egypt in iTunes and Rotana. In July 2015, Amr Diab released the music video from his song "Gamalo" from his album "Shoft El Ayam."

Musical style

Diab is known as the father of Mediterranean Music.[5] David Cooper and Kevin Dawe refer to his music as "the new breed of Mediterranean music".[6] According to author Michael Frishkopf, Diab has produced a new concept of Mediterranean music, especially with his international hit, "Nour El Ain".[4]

Personal life

Diab is an active fitness enthusiast. Diab is well known for his intense body building. Diab was married to Shereen Reda, from 1989–1992, ending in a divorce. They have one daughter, Nour, who became known through the song, "Habibi Ya Nour El Ain." Diab is currently married to Zeina Ashour, with whom he has three children: Abdallah, Kinzy, and Jana.

Accolades

He has been awarded the World Music Award for Best Selling Middle Eastern Artist four times: 1996 for album Nour El Ain, 2001 for album Akter Wahed, 2007 for album El Lillady and 2013 for El Leila album. He has also won (Best Egyptian Artist, Best Male Arab Artist and World's Best Arab Male Artist Voted Online) at the World Music Awards 2014.[7] Amr Diab is the only Middle Eastern artist to have received 7 World Music Awards.

He also won The African Music Awards 2009 as Artist Of The Year, Song Of The Year, Video Of The Year And Best Male Act, and won The 2010 African Music Awards as best male act and best artist of North Africa. He is the only African artist to have received 6 African Music Awards in his career. Diab won Big Apple Music Awards 2009 as Lifetime Achievements Awards and Best Singer of The Year and also won The Global Icon Award, Most Popular Artist and Best Arabic Male Artist in 2014.

Albums

Main article: Amr Diab Discography

Tamally Maaak

"Tamally Maak", meaning "Always with you", is written by Ahmed Ali Moussa and the music for the song was composed by Sherif Tag.[1] Original arrangement was by Tarek Madkour. The video was filmed in Czech Republic and the instrumentation prominently included the classic guitar.

Main article: Tamally Ma'ak

Wayah (2009)

The world music award of for the best-selling album in the Middle East 2009, Wayah (With Her) was released for sale on the internet on 27 June; however, the album was leaked online and was downloaded illegally amid complaints of slow download speed on the official site. Diab's fans initiated a massive boycott of the sites with the illegal copies.[8]

On 18 October 2009 Amr Diab won four 2009 African Music Awards in the following categories: best artist, best album, best vocalist and best song for "Wayah"; Amr Diab had been nominated by the Big Apple Music Awards.[9]

Success of El Leila (2013)

Chart (2013) Peak
position
Virgin Egypt Chart 1
Virgin Lebanon Chart 1
Virgin UAE Chart 1
Virgin Saudi Arabia Chart 1
Virgin Jordan Chart 1
Virgin Qatar Chart 1
Virgin Oman Chart 1
Virgin Bahrain Chart 1
iTunes Chart (2013) Peak
position
Egypt Chart 1
UAE Chart 1
Lebanon Chart 1
Saudi Arabia Chart 1
Jordan Chart 1
Qatar Chart 1
Oman Chart 1
Bahrain Chart 1

Music videos

Diab is one of the first singers to popularize music videos in the Arab world and the first Egyptian singer to appear in music videos.[4]

Film career

Diab's fame in the music industry has led him to experiment with other forms of media, such as film. Amr played himself in his first film, El Afareet, which was released in 1989. It also starred Madiha Kamel. His second film Ice Cream in Gleam (Ays Krim fi Glym), in which Diab starred in 1992, was chosen as one of the best five Egyptian musical films by the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television. The film was featured in the UCLA Film and Television Archive's new program "Music on the Nile: Fifty Years of Egyptian Musical Films" at James Bridges Theater at UCLA on 6, 8 and 10 April 1999. David Chute of the Los Angeles Weekly termed it "observant" and "a big leap".[10] His third movie was released in 1993, and was named Deahk We La'ab (Laughter and Fun). The film premiered in the Egyptian Film Festival in 1993. Amr played alongside international Egyptian movie star Omar Sharif (Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago) and Yousra. Overall, Diab did not experience the same level of success in film that he had with his music career. Since 1993, Diab has focused on his singing career.

Egyptian Revolution

During the 2011 uprising, some protesters criticized Diab for staying silent, and for fleeing Egypt for London.[11] A few days after former President Hosni Mubarak stepped down, Amr Diab composed and sang a memorial song, "Masr A'let" (Egypt Said Its Word),[12] and released it in conjunction with a music video showing pictures of the martyrs who died in the uprising. He initiated a charity campaign "Masry Begad" ("Truly Egyptian"), a social national program aimed at serving and rebuilding Egyptian society. His online radio station Diab FM often presents talks and discussions about what the Diab FM team can offer to the community as well as applying it practically by being present in different sites across Egypt with a new humanitarian project each week.[13]

Amr Diab in movies

Amr Diab's songs have appeared in several films, including:

Discography

Official Albums

Unofficial Albums

Notes

  1. ↑ His common shortened name, Amr Diab, is pronounced in Egyptian Arabic as [ˈʕɑm.ɾedˈjæːb]

References

  1. ↑ Frishkopf, Michael (November 22, 2002), Plastino, Goffredo, ed., Mediterranean Mosaic: Popular Music and Global Sounds, Routledge, p. 170, ISBN 0415936551
  2. ↑ "Bio". IMDb.
  3. ↑ Lesswing, Bryan (October 2009). "Sounds of the Middle East, Minnesota provide options for listeners". The DePauw. Retrieved 20 December 2009.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Frishkopf, Michael (2003). "Some Meanings of the Spanish Tinge in Contemporary Egyptian Music". In Plastino, Goffredo. Mediterranean mosaic: popular music and global sounds (PDF). Routledge. pp. 145–148. ISBN 978-0-415-93656-9. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 March 2009. Retrieved 4 June 2009.
  5. ↑ Crane, Kelly (April 2010). "Egyptian superstar Amr Diab is set to rock Dubai". Gulf News. Archived from the original on 26 April 2010. Retrieved 24 April 2010.
  6. ↑ Cooper, David; Kevin Dawe (2005). The Mediterranean in music: Critical perspectives, common concerns, cultural differences. Scarecrow Press. p. 117. ISBN 0-8108-5407-4.
  7. ↑ http://amrdiab.net/diab/awards/item/264-wma2014.html
  8. ↑ "Amr Diab's album sweeping cassette market" (in Arabic). Musicananet. 30 June 2009. Archived from the original on 4 July 2009. Retrieved 2 July 2009.
  9. ↑ Khaled Taha (25 October 2009). "Amr Diab wins four African Music Awards" (in Arabic). ART. Archived from the original on 27 October 2009. Retrieved 28 October 2009.
  10. ↑ Chute, David; Irene G. Behnan (8 April 1999). "All Singing! All Belly-Dancing". Los Angeles Weekly. Archived from the original on 27 June 2009. Retrieved 4 June 2009.
  11. ↑ "Egyptian celebrities face protesters' wrath in post-Mubarak Egypt". Asharq al-awsat, 18 February 2011. Retrieved 7 May 2013.
  12. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsxyHbWY71s
  13. ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20110428082422/http://diabfm.com:80/masry-begad/. Archived from the original on 28 April 2011. Retrieved 14 April 2011. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  14. ↑ "Soundtracks for Yadon ilaheyya". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 11 June 2009.
  15. ↑ "Soundtracks for The Dancer Upstairs". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 11 June 2009.
  16. ↑ "Soundtracks for O Clone". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 11 June 2009.
  17. ↑ "Amr Diab Filmography". Yahoo! Movies. Archived from the original on 20 May 2009. Retrieved 11 June 2009.
  18. ↑ "Malcolm in the Middle, Season 4, Episode 4 notes". CNET Network: TV.com. Retrieved 12 October 2009.

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