Elissa (Lebanese singer)

Elissa إليسا
Background information
Birth name	Elissar Zakaria Khoury
Born	(1971-10-27) October 27, 1971[1]
Origin	Deir el Ahmar, Lebanon
Genres	Arabic pop, romance, World
Occupation(s)	singer
Years active	1992–present
Labels	EMI (1998–1999) Dilara Music (2000–2003) Rotana (2004–present)
Associated acts	Ragheb Alama, Wael Kfoury, Christina Aguilera, Nancy Ajram, Nawal Al Zoghbi
Website	elissalb.com

Elissar Zakaria Khoury, commonly known as Elissa (Arabic: إليسا‎‎  [ʔeˈliːsa, ʔeˈlis.sa]), is a Lebanese recording artist.

Elissa was the highest-selling female Middle Eastern artist for 2005, 2006 and 2010. In 2005, 2006, and 2010 she received the World Music Award for Best Selling Middle Eastern Artist, and became first Lebanese singer to receive the World Music Award for Best Selling Middle Eastern Artist in 2006.^[2]She has currently sold over 30 million albums worldwide.^[3] Elissa is also among one of the richest celebrities in Lebanon with an estimated net worth of over $41 million dollars.^[4][5]

Since 2013, Elissa has also been a judge on the television show MBC The X Factor.

Early Life

Elissar Zakaria Khoury was born in 1971, Deir el Ahmar to a Lebanese father (Zakaria Khoury) and a Syrian mother (Youmna Suud). She was raised in the Beqaa valley with her other siblings. ^[6] She has three brothers (Ghassan,Kamil and Jihad) and one sister (Norma). She graduated from the Lebanese University with a degree in Political Science. After graduating she decided to pursue a professional career on the stage and in music.^[7]

Career

1992–99: Studio El Fan, and debut album Baddi Doub

Elissa's musical career began in 1992, when she won the silver medal in Studio El Fan, a Lebanese music competition. Her first album, Baddi Doub, was released by EMI Records in 1998.

2000–03: W Akhertha Maak and Ayshalak

Elissa released her second album, We Akhertha Maak, which included the duet, "Betghib Betrouh", sung with Lebanese Ragheb Alama. She was the only Arabic artist to perform in front of former United States President Bill Clinton at the Stars Charity show in Dubai. That year she won the Murex d'Or award for Best Female Artist. Her third studio album, Ayshalak, was released in 2002. In 2002 Elissa inaugurated Kuwait's Virgin Megastore with Sir Richard Branson. Her clip, "Ajmal Ihsas" won an Arabic Music Award for Best Video Clip in Dubai and in 2003 she signed a deal with Pepsi. Subsequently, she shot two advertisements with American pop star Christina Aguilera for Pepsi for the World Football Cup. Both advertisements were shot in Los Angeles. She collaborated with Irish singer Chris De Burgh in the duet, "Lebanese Nights."

2004–06: Ahla Donia and Bastanak

In 2004 she signed with the Saudi-owned Rotana, under which she released her fourth studio album, Ahla Donya, in May 2004. In 2005, Elissa received the World Music Awards for Best Selling Artist from the Middle East. The ceremony took place in Hollywood's Kodak Theater. In December 2005, Elissa received the Murex d'Or for Best Lebanese Artist and Best Video Clip for "Hobak Wajaa". In 2006, she released her fifth studio album Bastanak. On November 15, 2006, Elissa received the World Music Awards for the second year in a row for the sales of Bastanak.

2007–09: Ayami Beek and Tesadaa Bemeen

Elissa's sixth and seventh albums were Ayami Beek (December 20, 2007) and Tesadaa Bemeen (December 26, 2009). Elissa received her third World Music Award for Tesadaa Bemeen. In November 2010, she was awarded the prize for Best Arab Female Artist in the Jordan Music Awards, and a few days later she received the Big Apple Music Award for Best Female Artist in the Middle East.

2012–2015: As'ad Wahda, Halet Hob, and MBC The X Factor

Her eighth studio album, As'ad Wahda, was released in June 2012. In December 2012, Elissa was chosen to be one of the judges of The X Factor Arabia; It was on the air the first four months of 2013. On June 23, 2013 Elissa received two Murex D’or awards, for the Best Lebanese Singer and Best Arabic Song "Asaad Wahda". During the summer of 2014, Elissa released a song titled "Law".^[8] Elissa released her ninth studio album Halet Hob in July 2014. She released the first music video of "Hob Kol Hayati" on November 21, 2014. Elissa returned as a judge on The X Factor for its second season on March 14, 2015. Elissa released her cover version of "Mawtini" on April 29, 2015, along with its music video. The second video from her ninth studio album was released on May 14, 2015, for "Ya Merayti".

2016–2017: Saharna Ya Lail

Elissa released her tenth studio album Saharna Ya Lail during the summer of 2016.

During the summer of 2017, Elissa released a music video for the song "Aaks Elli Shayfenha"^[9][10] from the album Saharna Ya Lail. The aforementioned music video hit 3 million views during its first week of release^[11] and 7 million views after 2 weeks^[12].

During August 2017, Elissa was featured on Forbes Middle East English edition's August cover^[13] and gave a concert as part of Beirut Holidays 2017 festival^[14].

Personal Life

Elissa is a Christian. In 2014, she took to social media to condemn the atrocities committed by ISIS against minorities. Stating "I'm lebanese and i'm proudly Christian , shame on some such people #Da3esh".^[15]

Discography

• Baddi Doub (1999)
• W'akherta Ma'ak (2001)
• Ayshalak (2002)
• Ahla Dunya (2004)
• Bastannak (2006)
• Ayami Beek (2007)
• Tesadaa Bemeen (2009)
• As'ad Wahda (2012)
• Halet Hob (2014)
• Saharna Ya Lail (2016)

Videography

References

External links

• Official website
• Elissa Khoury biography