Amr Diab

Amr Abdel Basset Abdel Azeez Diab (, ; 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.

Early life

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 countryside of Menia Elamh in Sharqia Governorate. Diab graduated with a bachelor's degree in music from the Cairo Academy of Arts in 1986.

Music career

Diab released his first album entitled ' in 1983. Diab's second album, ' (1984), was the first of a series of records he released with Delta Sound; including ' (1986), ' (1987), and ' (1988). His later releases include ' (1989), ' (1990), ' (1991), ' (1992), ' (1993), ' (1994), and ' (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 ', 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 ' (1999). Diab also collaborated with Khaled (on the song "") and with Angela Dimitriou (on the song "Bahebak Aktar").

According to research by Michael Frishkopf, he has created a style in the song "", 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, '','' which he followed up with the hugely successful ' (2005), and ' (2007).

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.

On 18 October 2009, Diab won four 2009 African Music Awards in the categories of best artist, album, vocalist and song for ""; Diab had been nominated by the Big Apple Music Awards.

In February 2011, Diab released his hit single "" ("Egypt spoke"), followed by the release of his album ' 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, Diab released his album ', which topped his last album ' (2013) and again became the best-selling album in Egypt on iTunes and peaked at No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' World Albums Charts, making him the first Egyptian and Middle Eastern performer to accomplish such a feat. In July 2015, Diab released a music video for his song "" from his album '. In March 2016, he released ', his first album since he left Rotana Music. The album was produced by the record label Nay For Media. His new album ' was released in July 2017 with Nay Records.

In October 2018, he released a new album called '. In 2019, he released a mini-album, ', and in February 2020, he released his 30th album, ', which included 16 songs. In the same year, Amr Diab released another album, ''Ya Ana Ya La,'' at the end of the year, December 31, 2020.

From April 2021 to July 2023, Amr Diab released a huge amount of singles, many of which topped the charts on digital listening platforms until his album release in 2023.

In February 2022, Anghami announced an exclusive partnership that will see the Diab's entire Nay Label audio and video catalogue and future releases available only on Anghami.

In December 2023, Amr Diab released an album called “''Makanak''” which contains 12 songs on all Platforms.

Then released two singles called ''El Kelma El Helwa'' it was an Ad for Vodafone MUSIC (Egypt) and ''Hekyatna Helwa'' for Hyde Park both of them on the same March 11, 2024.

In April 2024, Rolling Stone picked Tamally Maak to top the Best Arabic Pop Songs of the 21st Century. In July of that year, his exclusive contract with Anghami expired.

On June 12 2024 Amr Diab Released El Ta’ama and on June 15 2024 Released Tethabi both of which are singles on all platforms

Musical style

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, "". Moreover, Diab is known as a composer, having composed more than 97 of his own songs.

Amr Diab revolutionized the profiling and production of music videos across the Arab world, becoming one of the first Arab artists to consistently feature in high-quality, cinematic clips . Throughout the 1990s, as the region embraced satellite TV and music channels, Diab raised the bar with expensive, professionally directed music videos—complete with polished visuals, dynamic stagecraft, and narrative elements—creating the standard that other artists would soon follow . His approach transformed music videos from simple performance recordings into stylized visual storytelling, effectively launching a new era in Arab pop culture where visual appeal became as critical as the music itself.

Film career

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, ', which was released in 1989. It also starred Madiha Kamel. His second film was Hussein El-Imam's production ''Ice Cream in Gleam'' ('), 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 ' (''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.

Amr Diab in movies

Diab's songs have been used in several films, including:
* "" in ''Divine Intervention'' (2002)
* "" in '' The Dancer Upstairs'' (2002)
* "" and "" in '' O Clone'' (2001)
* "" in '' Double Whammy'' (2001)
* "" and "" in ''Coco'' (2009)
* "" in '' The Dictator'' (2012)

Egyptian Revolution

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, "" (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 "" ("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.

Discography

Main Studio Albums

Singles

Famous Songs

Awards

He has been awarded the World Music Award for Best Selling Middle Eastern Artist four times: 1996 for album ', 2001 for album ''Akter Wahed'', 2007 for album ''El Lillady'' and 2013 for ' 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 reaching No. 1 in 2014, the first for an Arabic performer. Alongside that accomplishment, two of his albums (2014's and 2016's ) 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".

List of awards received by Amr Diab

* Seven World Music Awards (1997/2001/2007/2014)
* Six African Music Awards (2009/2010)
* Two All Africa Music Awards (2016/2017)
* Guinness World Record (2016)

Program "Al-helm"

A program produced by Amr Afifi, consisting of 12 parts aired on Rotana Music, Rotana Cinema and Egyptian Channel 1 station. The program detailed the biography of Diab and was scheduled to be launched simultaneously with the release of Amr Diab's new album, but the album's release was postponed to a later date.

References

External links

*

Official Biography

Youtube Channel

Amr Diab World (archive)
*

Amr Diab
on Apple Music

{{DEFAULTSORT:Diab, Amr
1961 births
Living people
Actors from Port Said
Egyptian male film actors
Egyptian male television actors
Egyptian composers
20th-century Egyptian male singers
21st-century Egyptian male singers
Egyptian Muslims
Egyptian singer-songwriters
Musicians from Port Said
Singers who perform in Classical Arabic
Singers who perform in Egyptian Arabic
World Music Awards winners
Arabic-language singers of Egypt
20th-century Egyptian male actors