Fairouz - Biography
By J Poet
Fayrouz (also spelled Fairuz and Fairouz) is one of the most popular singers in the Arabic world. The Lebanese born singer is Catholic, but sings all types of Arab music, Islamic and Christian hymns, and pro Palestinian songs. She’s made almost one hundred albums and 74 CDs, and her repertoire includes over 1,500 popular songs in her 50 years in the spotlight. At 74, she still retains her supple voice and thrilling high end, and although she’s slowed down her touring schedule, her concerts are still major cultural events throughout the world. She is known in the Arab world as Neighbor to the Moon, Our Ambassador to the Stars, the Soul of Lebanon, and The Poet of the Voice. Her popularity is linked to the Rahbani brothers, Assi and Mansour, who wrote the lyrics and melodies for many of her greatest hits. Her many honors include Lebanon’s Cavalier Order Medal of Honor in 1957, the Syrian Order of Merit First Class, in 1968, her picture on a Lebanese Stamp in 1970, a Gold Medal of Honor, awarded by King Hussein of Jordan in 1988, and a French Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur in 1998.
Fayrouz was born Nouhad Haddad in Beirut in 1935, the oldest of four children. The family lived in one room in a communal house and shared kitchen and bathroom facilities with other families in the building. As a child she would sit in the open window of the family’s room and mimic the sounds she heard coming from the radios of neighbors. While still a child she was singing and entertaining family and friends with the songs made popular by the Egyptian female singers Laila Murad and Asmahan.
In school, Nouhad was known as a strong singer and during a school performance in 1947, just 12, Muhammad Fleifel, a teacher from the Lebanese Conservatory of music, heard her and took her in as a voice student. He taught her to chant verses from the Quran in tajweed, a classical style of Quranic intonation and helped her develop her range and presence. She was singing in Fleifel’s choir when the head of the music department at the new national Lebanese Radio Station, Halim al-Rumi, heard her and offered her a job singing on the radio for 100 Lebanese pounds a month.
Her father was opposed to her radio job, but gave in provided she was always in the presence of her mother and younger brother. She impressed the musicians with her vocals and an uncanny ability to memorize the lyrics and melodies of complex songs. After delivering two new songs successfully on the radio, she met Assi Rahbani, a young songwriter. She had success with two of the early tunes he wrote with his brother, light dance tunes. Then in 1951, the Eduardo Bianco band from Argentina came to Lebanon and asked Nouhad to sing on the tango “La Boheme.” This inspired the Rahbani Brothers to write in a mode combining Arab and Western music and led to “Itab,” the hit that established them and Fayrouz as major stars in the Arab world. Halim al-Rumi, another composer, suggested the name Fayrouz (“gem” or “turquoise,”) because of the precious quality of her voice. The name stuck.
Fayrouz was a star on radio, even though her songs were not yet being recorded. She planned to be a teacher eventually, but by 1953 she was major singing star. She married Assi Rahbani in 1954 and the next year, they were invited to perform in Cairo, over Egyptian national radio, then the center of Arab musical culture. They stayed in Cairo for five months.
In 1957, back in Lebanon, Fayrouz gave her first public (non radio) performance, at the temple of Jupiter in Baalbeck, to a sold out audience. Her first LP was Songs from Baalbeck (1959 GVDL.) She followed it with Fayrouz (1960 GSTP) with music by Mohamed Abdel Wahab, Jesr Elqamar – Pont de la Lune Vol. 1 (1962 GVDL), Jesr Elqamar – Pont de la Lune Vol. 2 (1962 GVDL), Christmas Hymns (1965 GVDL), and Andaloussiyat (1966 GVDL.) Fayrouz also stared in many popular musicals written by the Rahbani Brothers including al-Baalbakiyya (1961 GVDL), which toured Canada, the US, Brazil and Argentina, Jisr al-Qamar, and Ayyam Fakhreddin (1966 Voix de l’Orient France) She also starred in three films Biyya’ Elkhawatem (1965 Hellas), Safar Barlek (1967 GVDL), and Bunt Elhares (1968 GVDL). She made one of her most popular recordings Orthodox Good Friday Prayers in 1965 for the Hellas label and became the first woman Arab singer to match Umm Kalthum’s sales of 10 million records.
Soon the best poets and songwriters in the Arab world were asking Fayrouz to sing their songs. He albums and cassettes were wildly popular and millions of bootleg recordings made her music available to even the poorest fans. In 1969, Fayrouz was asked to sing for Algerian president Houari Boumédienne during an official visit to Lebanon; she refused saying she sang “only for the people” not for politicians. Her music was banned, but her popularity soared. In 1971, Fayrouz made her first American tour and headlined Carnegie Hall; her show at the MGM Grand drew Arab fans from all over the world. Her husband, Assi Rahbani, died in 1974 just after she completed her run in Al Mahatta (1974 Voix de l'Orient,) the last musical they collaborated on.
Other albums from the 70s include Reminiscing with Fayrouz (1971 GVDL), Fayrouz in San Francisco (1971 GVDL) recorded at the Masonic Auditorium, Mais El Rim (1972 GVDL) a two LP set, Return of the Soldiers (1974 GVDL), and B'Hebbak Ya Loubnan (1976 GVDL.) During the Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990), Fayrouz seldom left Lebanon and never sang in Lebanon as her own way of protesting the violence. She continued appear on the stages of the world, however, breaking the attendance record at the Olympia in Paris and continued recording and scoring major hits. Fairuz in Concert at the Olympia – Paris (2008 EMI Arabia) collects 31 songs recorded over her three day run in 1979. Her son Ziad Rahbani wrote many hits for her, as did the team of poet Joseph Harb and composer Philemon Wehby. She began blending Arab music with jazz and western arrangements and remained Lebanon’s best selling artist. In 1993, Fayrouz sues Madonna for unauthorized sampling of her Orthodox Good Friday Prayers album in her songs “Erotica.” Madonna settled out of court for an undisclosed sum.
Her first concert after the war, at Baalbek in 1998 drew another record breaking crowd. That year she also donated $750,000 to groups working with refugees displaced by the war. Since the 90s, Fayrouz has slowed her touring and recording schedule, working mostly with her son Ziad Rahbani. CDs they’ve made together, all with a strong jazz accent, include Kifak Inta (2000 EMI), Wahdon (2001 Virgin France), Maarifiti Feek (2001 EMI Arabia) and Wala Kif (2002 EMI Arabia.) Fayrouz Live in Dubai 2002 (2009 Enja Germany DVD) gives you a contemporary look at the diva.
A 2008 performance in Syria caused controversy because of the strained relations between Syria and Lebanon, but her first Syrian concert in 20 years was a huge success. Songs by Fayrouz played on Syrian radio night and day for almost a week, preempting even religious programs. Ya Rayeh (2008 Hellas) finds Fayrouz in fine voice as she nears her 75th birthday.
A quick overview of the 87 Fayrouz CDs in print can be found on The Very Best of Fairuz, Vol. 1 (1992 DPH Lebanon,) The Very Best of Fairuz, Vol. 2 (1997 DPH Lebanon), Legendary Fairuz (1998 EMI Hemisphere), The Lady and The Legend (2005 Manteca) with songs from earlier in her career, and The Legend (2006 EMI Arabia.)
