Amr Diab

Amr Abdel Basset Abdel Azeez Diab (Arabic: عمرو عبد الباسط عبد العزيز دياب, Egyptian Arabic pronunciation: [ˈʕɑmɾe ʕæbdelˈbɑːsetˤ ʕæbdelʕæˈziːz deˈjæːb], born 11 October 1961) is an Egyptian singer, composer and actor. He has established himself as a globally acclaimed recording artist and author.

He is a Guinness World Record holder, the best selling Middle Eastern artist, a seven-times winner of World Music Awards and five-times winner of Platinum Records. Named the "King of Arabic Pop", Rolling Stone ranked his song "Tamally Maak" first on their list of the "50 Best Arabic Pop Songs of the 21st Century".

Diab was born as Amr Abdel Basset Abdel Azeez Diab on 11 October 1961 in Port Said to a middle-class Egyptian Muslim family from the Nile Delta countryside of Menia Elamh in Sharqia Governorate. Diab graduated with a bachelor's degree in music from the Cairo Academy of Arts in 1986.

Diab released his first album entitled Ya Tareeq (Oh Road) in 1983. Diab's second album, Ghanny Men Albak (Sing from your heart) (1984), was the first of a series of records he released with Delta Sound; including Hala Hala (1986), Khalseen (We're finished) (1987), and Mayyal (1988). His later releases include Shawa'na (1989), Matkhafesh (1990), Habibi (1991), Ayyamna (Our days) (1992), Ya Omrena (1993), Weylomony (1994), and Rag'een (1995).

By 1992, he became the first Egyptian and Middle Eastern artist to start making high-tech music videos.

In 1996, Diab released his first album with Alam El Phan entitled Nour El Ain, and he won the World Music Award for the first time, 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").

According to research by Michael Frishkopf, he has created a style in the song "Nour El Ain", termed as "Mediterranean music", a blend of Western and Middle Eastern/Egyptian rhythms.

In the summer of 2004, Diab, having left Alam El Phan, released his first album with Rotana Records, Leily Nahary, which he followed up with the hugely successful Kammel Kalamak (2005), and El Lilady (2007).

Diab is known as the "father of Mediterranean music". David Cooper and Kevin Dawe refer to his music as "the new breed of Mediterranean music". According to author Michael Frishkopf, Diab has produced a new concept of Mediterranean music, especially with his international hit, "Nour El Ain". Diab is known as a composer, having composed more than 97 of his own songs.

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.

Diab's fame in the music industry has led him to experiment with other forms of media, such as film. Diab played himself in his first film, El Afareet, which was released in 1989. It also starred Madiha Kamel. His second film was Hussein El-Imam's production 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 University of California, Los Angeles (ULCA) 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 LA Weekly termed it "observant" and "a big leap". 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. Diab 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.

Diab's songs have been used in several films, including:

"Wala Ala Baloh" in Divine Intervention (2002)

"El Alem Alah" and "Nour El Ain" in O Clone (2001)

"Tamally Ma'ak" and "Nour El Ain" in Coco (2009)

Diab has an elder daughter from his first marriage to Egyptian actress Shereen Reda. In 1994, he was married to Saudi businesswoman Zeina Ashour. They have three children. In 2018, he went on to marry Egyptian actress, Dina El Sherbiny, .However Amr & Zeina Are not yet divorced still appearing together sometimes and visits his family in London.. However, Diab and El Sherbiny separated in late 2020.

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

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. Amr Diab is the only Middle Eastern artist to have received 7 World Music Awards. 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. 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.

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".

Seven World Music Awards (1997/2001/2007/2014)

Rolling Stone: Tamally Ma'ak - Song of the century (2024)

Top Male Artist - Billboard Arabia Music Awards (2024)

Top Male Artist – Egyptian Dialect - BBAMAs (2024)