Amr Diab

Amr Diab was born on 11 October 1961 in Port Said,[6] to a middle-class Muslim family originally from the Egyptian country side of Menia Elamh, in Sharqia Governorate, Egypt. His father, Abd Elbaset 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, in the early stages of Diab's 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 in the presence of the late Gamal Abdel Nasser. 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.

Diab has released his first album entitled Ya Tareeq in 1983. Diab's second album, Ghanny Men Albak (1984), which was the first of a series of records he released with Delta Sound; including Hala Hala (1986), Khalseen (1987), and Mayyal (1988), with the title track becoming one of the top 10 songs in the world at the time. His later releases include 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 with Alam El Phan, including Amarain (1999). Diab also 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).

Wayah (With [Her]) was released for sale on the internet on 27 June 2009; 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.[7]

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.[8]

In February 2011, Amr Diab released his hit single Masr Allet ("Egypt spoke"), followed by the release of his album Banadeek Taala in September, produced by Rotana. 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 on iTunes. In July 2015, Amr Diab released a music video for his song "Gamalo" from his album Shoft El Ayam. In March 2016, he released Ahla w Ahla, his first album since he left Rotana Music. The album was produced by a record label known as "Nay For Media". His new album Maadi el Nas was released in July 2017 with "Nay Records".[9]

In October 2018, he released a new album called Kol Hayaty. In 2019, he released a mini album, Ana Gheir, and in February 2020 he released his 35th album, Sahran, which included 16 songs.

Diab is known as the "father of Mediterranean music".[10] David Cooper and Kevin Dawe refer to his music as "the new breed of Mediterranean music".[11] According to author Michael Frishkopf, Diab has produced a new concept of Mediterranean music, especially with his international hit, "Nour El Ain".[4]

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

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".[12] 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.

During the 2011 uprising, some protesters criticized Diab for staying silent, and for fleeing Egypt for London.[18] A few days after former President Hosni Mubarak stepped down, Amr Diab composed and sang a memorial song, "Masr A'let" (Egypt Said),[19] 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.[20]

Diab has an elder daughter called Nour from his first marriage to Egyptian actress Shereen Reda. In 1994, he was married to Saudi businesswoman Zeina Ashour. They have three children: one son, Abdallah, and two daughters, Kinzy and Jana. In 2018, he went on to marry another Egyptian actress, Dina El Sherbiny, after his relationship with Ashour ended.[21] It is unknown whether they were separated or divorced.[22] However, news emerged that he has only a customary marriage with El Sherbiny, and his still wife Ashour would gain half of his fortune whether he would make his marriage official.[23]

Official albums

• 1983: Ya Tareeq (يا طريق – O Road)
• 1984: Ghanny Min Albak (غنّي من قلبك – Sing From Your Heart)
• 1986: Hala Hala (هلا هلا – Welcome, Welcome)
• 1987: Khalseen (خالصين – We're Even)
• 1988: Mayyal (ميّال – In Love)
• 1989: Shawaana (شوقنا – Missing You)
• 1990: Matkhafeesh (متخافيش – Don't Worry)
• 1991: Habiby (حبيبي – My Love)
• 1992: Ayamna (أيامنا – Our Days)
• 1992: Ice Cream Fi Gleam (أيس كريم في جليم – Ice Cream in Gleam)
• 1993: Ya Omrena (يا عمرنا – Our Life)
• 1993: Zekrayat (ذكريات – Memories)
• 1994: W Ylomoony (و يلوموني – And They Blame Me)
• 1995: Ragaeen (راجعين – We'll Be Back)
• 1996: Nour El-Ain (نور العين – Light of the Eye)
• 1998: Awedoony (عوّدوني – They Got Me Used To)
• 1999: Amarein (قمرين – Two Moons)
• 2000: Tamally Maak (تملي معاك – Always With You)
• 2001: Aktar Wahed (أكتر واحد – The Most One)
• 2003: Allem Alby (علم قلبي – Teach My Heart)
• 2004: Leily Nahary (ليلي نهاري – My Night, My Day)
• 2005: Kammel Kalamak (كمّل كلامك – Keep Talking)
• 2007: El Leila De (الليلا دي – This Night)
• 2009: Wayah (ويّاه – With Her)
• 2010: Aslaha Btefre' (اصلها بتفرق – Because it Makes A Difference)
• 2011: Banadeek Ta'ala (بناديك تعالى – Come, I'm calling for you)
• 2013: El Leila (الليلة – Tonight)
• 2014: Shoft El Ayaam (شفت الأيام – I've seen the days)
• 2016: Ahla w Ahla (أحلي و أحلي – More & More Beautiful)
• 2016: Min Asmaa Allah Al Hosna (من أسماء الله الحسنى – Among the names of God the Most Beautiful)
• 2017: Meddy El Nas (معدي الناس – Above the people)
• 2018: Kol Hayaty (كل حياتي – All my life)
• 2019: Ana Gheir (أنا غير – I'm Different)
• 2020: Sahran (سهران – Awake)
• 2020: Ya Ana Ya La (يا أنا يا لاء - Oh Me Oh No)

Unofficial albums

• 1984: Forsan Asia ( Asia Horsemen – فرسان آسيا )
• 1986: Menin Ageeb Nas (Where Can I Get People – منين أجيب ناس ) – ( Yanabee' El Nahr TV series – مسلسل ينابيع النهار )
• 1986: Ya Helwa ( Sweetie – يا حلوة )
• 1987: Assef ( Sorry – آسف ) – ( Assef la yogad hal akhar TV series – مسلسل آسف لا يوجد حل آخر )
• 2004: Amr Diab Greatest Hits (1986–1995)
• 2005: Amr Diab Greatest Hits (1996–2003)
• 2005: Mateftekrish ( Don't Even Think – ماتفتكريش )
• 2016: Ahla Ma Ghanna Amr Diab 2004–2015 ( The best of Amr Diab 2004–2015 – أحلى ما غنى عمرو دياب )

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.[24] Amr Diab is the only Middle Eastern artist to have received 7 World Music Awards.[25] Five of his albums reached the top 10 of Billboard's World Albums chart, with Shoft El Ayam reaching No. 1 in 2014, the first for an Arabic performer.[26] Alongside that accomplishment, two of his albums (2014's Shoft El Ayam and 2016's Ahla W Ahla) both peaked at 29 and 14 respectively on Billboard's Heatseekers charts.[27]

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

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Amr Diab.

• Official website
• Amr Diab World (archive)
• Amr Diab at IMDb