Fairuz

Fairuz (also spelled Fairouz) (Arabic: فيروز, literally "turquoise") (born in Beirut in 21 November 1935) is a Lebanese singer greatly admired throughout the Arab world.

Related Topics:
Arabic - Beirut - 21 November - 1935 - Lebanese - Arab

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Fairuz was born Nouhad Haddad into a working-class, Christian Orthodox family in the town of Jabal Al Arz; she grew up in Beirut. In 1946, she became a student at the National Music Institute in Beirut. She began her musical career as a choir singer in the Lebanese Broadcasting Radio Station (al-Iza'a al Loubnaniah).

Related Topics:
Christian Orthodox - Beirut - 1946

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Shortly thereafter Fairuz began a long and fruitful collaboration with Assy and Mansour Rahbani, who wrote many songs for her. (Mansour wrote the lyrics and Assy, whom Fairuz married in 1954 at age 19, composed the music). They began to receive invitations to travel to Cairo, Damascus, and other Arab cities to perform.

Related Topics:
Cairo - Damascus

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In 1969, Fairuz?s music was banned in Lebanon by order of the government because she refused to sing at the honor of the Algerian president Howari Boumedianne.

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In 1971, Fairuz and the Rahbani brothers made a successful tour of the United States followed by visits to many other countries. Fairuz performed in Royal Albert Hall in London, Carnegie Hall in New York and the Paris Olympia. "Fairuz in America", a documentary about her US tour, was the highest rated television show in the Arab world when it was broadcast.

Related Topics:
United States - Royal Albert Hall - London - Carnegie Hall - New York - Paris Olympia

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During the Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990), Fairuz remained in the country, While she ceased performing, she made several international tours, performing to huge crowds with the trio of Ziad Rahban (her son), Joseph Sakr, and Philemon Wehbi. In 1998, she appeared again at the Baalbek festival after twenty years of absence.

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Fairuz's early recordings were an innovative mixture of Arab instruments and musical idioms with European instruments, such as violins, and dance rhythms, combining Fairuz's distinct vocal timbre with lyrics that expressed nostalgia for village life. Later recordings featured jazz-tinted compositions, some of which were written by Ziad Rahbani.

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Fairuz also starred in three motion pictures produced in the 1960s.

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In 2005, a Gulf-business magazine estimated her fortune at $36.9 million.

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