Amr Abdel Basset Abdel Azeez Diab (; born October 11, 1961)
In his analysis of The Very Best of Amr Diab album, Victor W. Valdivia of Allmusic said: "His music melded traditional Arabic sounds and textures with Western rhythms and instruments. The mesh was dubbed Mediterranean music, and The Very Best of Amr Diab displays Diab's superb skill in creating it."
"Habibi" from Diab's 1996 album, Nour El Ain became a hit worldwide, and was remixed by many of the world's top DJs at the time. A special CD named Habibi: The Remix Album was released later with all of these remixes. Since then, Diab has remained at the top of the Arabic music scene, expanding reach to all parts of the Mediterranean with his 1999 release, Amarain, that featured duets with Algeria's king of rai Khaled in a song called "Qalbi" and Greece's Angela Dimitriou in "Ana Bahibak Aktar" and "Eleos". "Tamally Maak" from Diab's 2000 album became a huge success. Leily Nahari, Diab's first album with Rotana Records, was released in 2004. Diab's album El Leila De was released in the summer of 2007 and topped the Arabic music charts for 22 weeks. Diab received a World Music Award for Best Selling Middle Eastern Artist for the album. In 2008, Diab renewed his contract with Rotana for five more years.
In 2009, Diab released a new album Wayah.
233255/23. Omar soudan
Influences and contributions
Diab revolutionized Egyptian show business in several respects, and some of his biographers have referred to him as rebellious, because he challenged everything in Middle Eastern show business, from hairstyle and appearance to music style, presentation, and the financial scale of his projects.
Diab’s blending of Western rhythms with Mediterranean and Middle Eastern music styles created a new music style, referred to as Mediterranean music. His song “Tamalli Ma’ak”/“Always With You,” wherein he introduced classical guitar, is a good example of the genre.
The world's perspective
Diab is one of the most popular and acclaimed Arab pop singers of the modern age. In 1997 he won three awards at the Annual Arabic Festival; one for Best Video, for Best Song, and for Best Artist of the Year. The following year Diab received a Triple Platinum Award for the sales of
Nour El Ain and also received a World Music Award in Monaco.
Albums
Nour El Ain
In 1996,
Nour El Ain (Light of The Eye – Sight) was released, becoming a tremendous success not only in the Middle East but throughout the entire world. The song was composed by
Nasser el-Mizdawi, lyrics were written by Ahmed Sheta and it was arranged by Hameed Elshaery. The title track, and its English version "Habibi", was an international phenomenon, becoming a massive crossover hit in countries such as
Pakistan,
India,
Afghanistan,
Sri Lanka (performed by Sangeeth Wickremasinghe) and
Malaysia (
Malay version sung by
Datuk Sharifah Aini). The song was copied and remade with
Malayalam lyrics, a south Indian language, in the Malayalam movie
Chandralekha staring the South Indian actor
Mohanlal. In a style reminiscent of the
Aldo (musician) Franco-Arabic style, the song was remixed by several top European arrangers and has become a big pull on the dance floors of Europe. The video clip, also
produced by Alam El Phan for the song "Nour El Ain", was one of the most lavish and expensive productions in the field of Egyptian song, and set a new standard for his contemporaries to aspire to. This album sold 3 million copies.
In 1997, Amr Diab won three Awards at the Annual Arabic Festival (for Best Video, Best Song and Artist of the Year). In the following year, he received a Triple Platinum Award for the sales of
Nour El Ain, and received a
World Music Award in Monaco on 6 May 1998, under the patronage of H.S.H. Albert II, Prince of Monaco, and attended by
Gloria Estefan,
Céline Dion,
Mariah Carey,
The Backstreet Boys,
Steven Seagal and others. This award was the first of its kind for an Egyptian artist, emphasizing that his appeal is not just confined to the Middle East unlike the majority of his contemporaries.
Awedooni
His follow-up studio album entitled
Awedooni (they made me used to...) was released in July 1998, and as with
Nour El Ain (the light of the eye) it was
produced with
Hamid El Shaery and recorded in
Cairo, Egypt. The first video from the album, the title track "Awedooni" (they made me used to...), was shot by the river Nile in Egypt and directed by Tareq Al Aryan. Like its predecessor, this album was a huge success for Amr and reinforced his popularity in the Arab world and abroad.
Amarain
Diab released his July 1999 new studio album
Amarain (two moons), which is hailed as the best work of his career to date. Amr is working on eagerly anticipated duets with the France-based international Rai superstar,
Khaled of "
Didi" fame, and with the Greek singer,
Angela Dimitrou, whose crossover smash "Marguerites" was a huge hit across the Middle East in 1998. The title track "Amarain" was the first video to be broadcast.
Tamally Ma'ak
In 2000, Diab revolutionized Arab music when he issued
Tamally Ma'ak (I'm Always With You). The song was composed by Sherif Tag, a modern Egyptian Composer. He introduced the Spanish guitar in his song "Tamally Ma'ak" and in other songs. The clip of this song was made in the
Czech Republic with much success. The album contained songs like "El Allem Alla" (Only God Knows), "Ba'terf" (I Confess), "Sa'ban Alaea" (It Makes Me Feel Sorry) and "We Heya Amla Eih" (And How Was She?). The song "Tamally Ma'ak" was even copied in the hit
Bollywood song "
Kaho Na Kaho" from the film
Murder
and also "i am calling u"
Aktar Wahed
Aktar Wahed was released on August 1, 2001. The album's name is short for one of the songs, "Aktar Wahed Beyhebbak" (One loves you the most). It contains 10 tracks and received the
World Music Award for the best selling album in the
Middle East for 2001.
Allem Albi
In February 2003, Diab released
Allem Alby (Teach My Heart). The album's release date was arranged to be with the debut broadcast of Alam El Phan's (Allem Alby's production company, owned by Mohsen Gaber) music channel "Mazzika".
The album was a great success, with the release of the video "Ana Ayesh" (I'm Alive) which was directed by Stuart Gosling. The video was intensely broadcast on Mazzika. The album contains other songs, like the R&B;-influenced hit, "Allem Albi". Others that tend to be more distinctively Arabic-sounding are songs like "Kolohom" (All of Them), "Law Ash'any" (If You Adore Me), and "Alli El Wadaa'" (Goodbye To Me).
Leily Nahary
In late summer 2004, Diab's first album with
Rotana was released, titled
Leily Nahary (My Nights, My Days). The album's cover was from the promotional photo shoot of
Pepsi. The video "Leily Nahari" directed by Cameron Casey provided aid to give Diab his space in the record-exclusive music channels. It was criticized because of its similarity to his previously unreleased video for "El Alem Allah" from the album
Tamally Ma'ak. This album sold over 1.5 million copies.
Kammel Kalamak
Diab's album
Kammel Kalamak, released on December 14, 2005, was the follow up to
Leily Nahary. The album cost a reported $4 million to record, and was Rotana's biggest album of 2005. The love ballad "We Malo" was released as the single of the album,
Kammel Kalamak. The music video was shot in
London and was released on a late notice after the release of the album. Rumors surfaced in late 2005 and early 2006 stated that Amr is considering terminating his contract with
Rotana due to the poor promotion of his latest album,
Kammel Kalamak.
El Leila De (Tonight)
The album
El Leila De was originally set to be released after
Ramadan 2006. However, it was pushed back several times due to Diab's repeated changes in the
musical producers he was dealing with. Diab attributes the changes to the producer's lack of new and strong styles. In early 2006, Music
Arranger Fahd was supposed to work on this album; however, later that year
Tarek Madkour joined Amr Diab, and they started together to work on it. On March 25, 2007, Madkour's official website announced that Amr Diab and Madkour had decided jointly to skip the collaboration on the album due to the lack of time and conflicting working schedules. Fahd and a new producer called Hasan Al Shafei are elected to produce the music in the album, which is supposed to hit the markets in July 2007. The title of the album was changed from
Khaleek Ma'aya to
El Leila De. After the release Amr, shot a new Pepsi advertisement in Europe. On June 21, 2007, two of the biggest sites (AmrDiabWorld.com & AmrDiab.info) for Amr Diab announced that the album, now entitled
El Lilady, would hit the market on July 7, 2007. The album would contain 10 tracks; AL Shafei and Fahd shared the production Al Shaei 7 songs & Fahd 3 Songs. Before releasing his album, Diab traveled to Portugal to shoot the new Pepsi ad choosing "Inta El Ghaly" song from his upcoming album
El Leila De as the ad music. Amr then traveled to the USA to film the music video for his upcoming album.
The album master copy was given to Rotana, Amr Diab's CD production company, on the last week of June to meet the July 7, 2007 release date he had planned earlier. Rotana, however, has delayed the release of the new CD for a couple of days for unknown reasons. The album has also been leaked.
The album was officially released on July 11, 2007. The album has already become a huge hit in Egypt and all over the Middle East. The album sold over 1,000,000 copies in only 5 days of release. The video clip has been slated for a July 27 release. The song that Diab chose to film was "N'eoul Eih", which is in the new style of House Music mixed with oriental Arabic music. The video clip was filmed in Santa Monica and Malibu, and also near Hollywood.
On July 27, Rotana News announced that El Leila De had sold over 5 million copies in less than two weeks in the Middle East, which gives the album a good chance to surpass Kammel Kalamak's 3 million copies only.
On October 30, 2007, the management of the World Music Awards announced that Amr Diab was to receive an award for best selling artist in the Middle East for this album. Amr Diab received the award in the festival that was held in Monaco, Monte-Carlo, on the November 4, 2007.
Wayah (With Her) (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 June 27; 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 With the exception of his very early albums, all of his albums have had at least one song shot as music videos. Diab has collaborated with a variety of music video directors in the Middle East, including
Tarek El-Erian and
Sherif Sabri.
The most anticipated video clip of 2007, "N'eoul Eih", was released on August 14, 2007. Released on Rotana TV for the first time, the video was a great success. It was released minutes later on an Egyptian program named "El Beit Betak", on Egyptian television.
August 6, 2009 witnessed the release of Amr Diab's latest video clip for his smashing hit Wayah. Working alongside Cameron Casey [Leily Nahari] for a second time, Amr Diab presented a fresh video clip. The video clip was filmed mostly on Green Screen and in Amr Diab's personal villa in Cairo, Egypt. The biggest surprise was the appearance of Amr Diab's children alongside his niece, who represented the younger generation of children who are still inspired by the music of Amr Diab.
Diab also filmed "Ba2dem Alby" which is set to be released on Valentine's Day.
El Helm/The Dream
The Dream or
El Helm is a TV production produced by Amr Afefy that gives viewers the story of Amr Diab's life. The show consists of 12 episodes and began airing on December 24, 2008.
El Helm is narrated by actor Ezzat Abou Ouf and includes interviews with Diab and people he worked with throughout the span of his career. The show, which aired on Rotana TV, saw great success and was preceded by one of the biggest advertising campaigns in the history of Middle Eastern music.
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. The film also starred
Madiha Kamel. His second film
Ice Cream in Gleam (
Ays Krim fi Glym), the 1992 movie in which Diab starred, was chosen as one of the best five Egyptian musical films by the
UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television. The film was also 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, UCLA, April 6, 8 and 10. David Chute of the Los Angeles Weekly termed the film "observant" and "a big leap".
External links
http://www.diabcafe.com/ - Fans Website
Category:1961 births
Category:Living people
Category:Egyptian actors
Category:Egyptian singers
Category:People from Port Said
Category:World Music Awards winners
