Abu Bakr Salem Belfkih

Abu Bakr was born in Tarim, a historic town situated in the Hadhramout Valley south of Yemen.[3] His family is from Ba 'Alawi sada. He lost his father at a young age and he was raised by his mother, grandfather, and uncles.[6] His grandfather Abdel Rahman Balfaqih was a famous poet in Hadramout as well.[7]

Abu Bakr was married to two women both of Hadrami origin. His son Aseel Abu Bakr Salem followed his steps and he made a strong entrance to the world of Khaleeji music when he joined his father in the song “A Sun Between You and Me.” The song immediately became a hit and remained in the top of charts for a long time.[3]

Abu Bakr's “golden larynx” was first discovered while he was a teenager and he was asked to perform the call of prayer in multiple mosques in Tarim.[6] When he became insightful about both poetry and Islamic studies, he started singing nasheeds (spiritual odes) locally.[6] Abu Bakr's poetic talents were noticed first when he was 17 years old when he wrote his first poem “You are the most beautiful among all roses.”[8] He started composing his folk songs when he moved from Tarim to Aden. At that time, Aden was living a cultural and musical boom as the city was home to rising artists such as the Yemeni poet Lutfi Jafar Iman, and the singers Ahmed Bin Ahmed Qasim and Muhammad Saad Abdullah.[6] Inspired by the situation, Abu Bakr began singing at organized parties and events. Eventually he was given the opportunity to perform on Aden TV. In 1956, he made his big hit through a broadcast with his first song using his first poem “Ya Ward Mahla Jamalak.”[6] Later in his career, Abu Bakr brought together all the poems that he turned into songs into one book that he called "A poet First, a Singer Afterwards.[3]" Inspired by the great amount of positive feedback that he received after his first appearance on TV and after his hit on the broadcast in Aden, Abu Bakr dedicated two years of hard work to focus on his music career. Within these two years, he regularly released songs including Lima Alqee Al Habib, Khaf Rabek and Ya habib, and Ya Kahef Al Rouh[6]

In 1958, Abu Bakr left to Beirut with the aim of finding more opportunities as Beirut was known at that time for having a well established regional music hub through its plethora of performance venues, radio stations, and well-designed recording studios. Abu Bakr did reach his aim when he released a series of popular singles such as 24 Saa’a (24 hours).[6] The song sold more than 1 million copies and became a hit in the Arab world in a relatively short time. It is still considered one of the classics of the Arabic music Tarab genre. Abu Bakr fled Beirut when the Lebanese civil war broke out in 1975[6]

After leaving Beirut, Abu Bakr settled in the capital city of Saudi Arabia: Riyadh. In Saudi Arabia, Abu Bakr established a close work relationship with the Yemeni poet Hussein Al’Mahdhaar. It was Hussein who would pen most of Abu Bakr's greatest songs and in return, it was Abu Bakr who would voice Hussein's greatest and most memorable compositions. Abu Bakr constantly held concerts across the Gulf countries during his musical career and he drew big crowds at each concert[2]