Amr Diab

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

Sawt 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 is an Egyptian multi-award-winning pop singer-songwriter.[2] born on 11 October 1961 in Port Said, Egypt [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 Arab artist to start making high-tech music videos.[4]

Amr Diab with his 7 World Music Awards

Early life

Amr Diab was born on 11 October 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 suez 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 23 July 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 (1985), 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 "Bahebak 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. In 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."in March 2016 he released his last and current album "Ahla w ahla" which was produced for the first time by "Nay Records", after leaving Rotana Music.His new album "Maadi el Nas" will be released in July 2017 with "Nay Records"

[5]

Musical style

Diab is known as the father of Mediterranean Music.[6] David Cooper and Kevin Dawe refer to his music as "the new breed of Mediterranean music".[7] 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." In 1994, Diab remarried to Saudi Arabian Zeina Ashour, with whom he has three children: Abdallah, Kenzy, 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.[8] Amr Diab is the only Middle Eastern artist to have received 7 World Music Awards.[9]

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.

On September 28, 2016 Diab announced that he achieved a Guinness World Records title for Most World Music Awards for Best Selling Middle Eastern Artist [10]

Adjudicator Ahmed Gabr presenting the certificate to Amr Diab at his office in Cairo

Albums

Tamally Ma'ak

"Tamally Ma'ak", 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.

Wayah (2009)

Wayah (With Him) 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.[11]

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.[12]

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

Ahla Wa Ahla (2016)

It is the newest album of Amr in 2016 after leaving Rotana

This album is produced by NAY company

The album consists of 12 songs.


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".[13] 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.[14] A few days after former President Hosni Mubarak stepped down, Amr Diab composed and sang a memorial song, "Masr A'let" (Egypt Said),[15] 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.[16]

Amr Diab in movies

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

List of awards received by Amr Diab

WatsUp TV Africa Music Video Awards

Year Nominee/work Award Result Ref
2016 Al Qahira "Cairo African Video of the Year Nominated [22]
Best North African Video Nominated [23]
Best African Male Video Nominated [24]

Discography

Official Albums

Unofficial Albums

Notes

    References

    1. ↑ Frishkopf, Michael (22 November 2002), Plastino, Goffredo, ed., Mediterranean Mosaic: Popular Music and Global Sounds, Routledge, p. 170, ISBN 0415936551
    2. ↑ Lesswing, Bryan (October 2009). "Sounds of the Middle East, Minnesota provide options for listeners". The DePauw. Retrieved 20 December 2009.
    3. ↑ "Bio". IMDb.
    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. ↑ "Egyptian veiled women banned from Amr Diab concert".
    6. ↑ 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.
    7. ↑ Cooper, David; Kevin Dawe (2005). The Mediterranean in music: Critical perspectives, common concerns, cultural differences. Scarecrow Press. p. 117. ISBN 0-8108-5407-4.
    8. ↑ http://amrdiab.net/diab/awards/item/264-wma2014.html
    9. ↑ Egyptian singer Amr Diab recognised by Guinness World Records for Most World Music Awards wins
    10. ↑ http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/439460-most-world-music-awards-for-best-selling-middle-eastern-artist
    11. ↑ "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.
    12. ↑ 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.
    13. ↑ 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.
    14. ↑ "Egyptian celebrities face protesters' wrath in post-Mubarak Egypt". Asharq al-awsat, 18 February 2011. Retrieved 7 May 2013.
    15. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsxyHbWY71s
    16. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20110428082422/http://diabfm.com/masry-begad/. Archived from the original on 28 April 2011. Retrieved 14 April 2011. Missing or empty |title= (help)
    17. ↑ "Soundtracks for Yadon ilaheyya". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 11 June 2009.
    18. ↑ "Soundtracks for The Dancer Upstairs". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 11 June 2009.
    19. ↑ "Soundtracks for O Clone". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 11 June 2009.
    20. ↑ "Amr Diab Filmography". Yahoo! Movies. Archived from the original on 20 May 2009. Retrieved 11 June 2009.
    21. ↑ "Malcolm in the Middle, Season 4, Episode 4 notes". CNET Network: TV.com. Archived from the original on 6 September 2009. Retrieved 12 October 2009.
    22. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 17 January 2017. Retrieved 2017-01-01.
    23. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 17 January 2017. Retrieved 2017-01-01.
    24. ↑ https://www.bellanaija.com/2016/10/yemi-alade-wizkid-diamond-platnumz-cassper-nyovest-others-nominated-for-watsup-tv-africa-music-video-awards-set-to-hold-this-december/
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