Linda George ( syr, ܠܢܕܐ ܓ̰ܘܪܓ̰; born 11 February 1964 in

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon. I ...

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

) is an

Assyrian Assyrian may refer to: * Assyrian people, the indigenous ethnic group of Mesopotamia. * Assyria, a major Mesopotamian kingdom and empire. ** Early Assyrian Period ** Old Assyrian Period ** Middle Assyrian Empire ** Neo-Assyrian Empire * Assyrian ...

- American singer known for her

sentimental ballad A sentimental ballad is an emotional style of music that often deals with romantic and intimate relationships, and to a lesser extent, loneliness, death, war, drug abuse, politics and religion, usually in a poignant but solemn manner.J. ...

s and dance songs. The vast majority of her songs are sung in her native

language, though a few are in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

. George is one of the most well-known and ubiquitous Assyrian singers, having toured the continents of Oceania, Europe and Asia. Furthermore, she is the most liked Assyrian figure on

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...

. In 2010, ''Esquire'' magazine chose George as the representative from Iraq in a special, 194-nation edition of their Sexiest Woman Alive feature.

Musical style

Unlike many other comparative Assyrian artists, George has dabbled with popular American music genres such as R&B,

urban Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of people ...

and electronic dance music in her career. Her Assyrians songs generally range from lush romantic ballads to traditional folk dance and as well as

patriotic Patriotism is the feeling of love, devotion, and sense of attachment to one's country. This attachment can be a combination of many different feelings, language relating to one's own homeland, including ethnic, cultural, political or histor ...

music.

Biography

Linda has been singing since she was a little girl: her career began at the age of five. She was the church choir soloist in

, where she appeared on national television. She moved to Amman,

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

in 1979. Later that year, she migrated to the US, where her career started in the Assyrian community in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. She was discovered by Assyrian singer Sargon Gabriel. Sargon featured Linda on his track "Dalaleh". The track became a popular record in the Assyrian community and helped George land her own album. George's first album, ''Hal Eiman'', was released in 1983 and instantly was a success. George continued her success into the early 1990s, and became the first Assyrian singer to use contemporary beats with traditional Assyrian singing. After dabbling with different beats and contemporary mixes on her three previous albums, George changed the way of Assyrian Music on her seventh Album, "Khamra Tiqa" released in 1993. The album, featuring the song "Matlab D'Libba", featured the first rapping in Assyrian music. The song, dubbed the " Chapeh Chapeh Song" became successful. The album's other standout track however was "Barwar", released after the

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a Coalition of the Gulf War, 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Ba'athist Iraq, ...

in which the region of

Barwari Barwari ( syr, ܒܪܘܪ, ku, به‌رواری, Berwarî) is a region in the Hakkari mountains in northern Iraq and southeastern Turkey. The region is inhabited by Assyrians and Kurds, and was formerly also home to a number of Jews prior to the ...

in Northern Iraq was bombed and left in ruin. In the mid to late 1990s, George released two albums. Her last studio album of the decade was 1995's "Khoot Golpaneh D'Malakha". The album contained a little bit of everything that Linda's previous albums featured, such as traditional music, upbeat contemporary beats,

ballads A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or '' ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

and dance hits. On April 2001, in the

Assyrian New Year Assyrian may refer to: * Assyrian people, the indigenous ethnic group of Mesopotamia. * Assyria, a major Mesopotamian kingdom and empire. ** Early Assyrian Period ** Old Assyrian Period ** Middle Assyrian Empire ** Neo-Assyrian Empire * Assyria ...

, she made her historical tour to Northern Iraq, where she was welcomed by over 20,000 Assyrian fans. In 2005, after

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolutio ...

was deposed as the leader of Iraq, Linda released "I am Free", an EP sung in Arabic with four songs. The lead single, "Ana Hurra", was released worldwide as an anthem for the newly liberated Iraq. As she toured Australia for the 22nd time in 2010, she was able to finish videotaping one of her hits on this album, "Madeleey", which was filmed in the

Royal National Park The Royal National Park is a protected national park that is located in Sutherland Shire in the Australian state of New South Wales, just south of Sydney. The national park is about south of the Sydney central business district near the loca ...

. Linda George currently resides in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Discography

* 1983 – ''Hal Eiman'' ("''How Long?''") * 1984 – ''Kursia D'Malkoota'' ("''The Kingdom's Throne''") * 1986 – ''Melodies from North of My Country'' 'sic''* 1988 – ''Warda Bil Drananeh D'Khubba'' ("''Flower on the Shoulders of Love''") * 1988 – ''Kinara D'Roukha'' ("''Harp of the Soul''") * 1989 – ''Alahta D'Khubba, Shupra O Khaila'' ("''Goddess of Love, Beauty and Power''") * 1992 – ''Kuma W'Khwara'' ("''Black and White''") * 1993 – ''Khamra Tiqa'' ("''Old Wine''") * 1995 – ''Khoot Golpaneh D'Malakha'' ("''Beneath the Wings of an Angel''") * 1996 – ''Peace on Earth'' * 1997 – ''The Golden Collection'' * 1999 – ''Colors of My Country'' * 2001 – ''No Quarter'' (English single) * 2003 – ''Silence of a Valley'' * 2005 – ''Anaa Hurra'' ("''I Am Free''", Arabic EP) * 2007 – ''Doushi'' ("''My Honey''") * 2010 – ''Mokhneeten Minokh'' ("''I Miss You''") * 2010 – ''Pearls of The East'' * 2013 – ''Linda George & Friends'' * 2014 – ''Saariq al-Malakoot'' ("''The Thief of the Kingdom''", Arabic single) * 2015 – ''Poolada'' ("''Steel''") * 2017 – ''Lela Khteeta'' ("''It's Not a Sin''")

Notes

References

External links

Official Linda George siteOfficial Facebook page
{{DEFAULTSORT:George, Linda Assyrian musicians Iraqi emigrants to the United States 20th-century Iraqi women singers Musicians from Baghdad 21st-century Iraqi women singers Iraqi Assyrian people Syriac-language singers Living people Musicians from Chicago 1964 births