Alaa Wardi (, ; born 13 January 1987) is a Saudi-born singer, songwriter,

a cappella Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...

artist, and producer. He gained popularity through the online video sharing platform, YouTube, where he publishes covers of Middle Eastern, English, Bollywood and K-pop hits, and original ballads. Wardi released his album ''Fi Ba7ri'' in 2015 and ''Madinat Al Salah'' in 2016. He is also part of the Arab rock and pop band Hayajan.

Career

Alaa Wardi studied music and sound engineering at the

University of Jordan The University of Jordan (), often abbreviated UJ or JU, is a public university located in Amman, Jordan. Founded in 1962, and it is the largest and oldest institution of higher education in Jordan. It is located in the capital Amman in the J ...

, and after graduating in 2008, he moved back to Riyadh to work and focus on his music. He produced the popular English language musical video "No Woman, No Drive" in October 2013 with comedians

Hisham Fageeh Hisham Fageeh (Arabic: هشام فقيه; born October 26, 1987) is a comedian and actor from Saudi Arabia. Early life Fageeh was born in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Career Fageeh co-produced and starred in Saudi Arabia's submission to the Oscars f ...

and

Fahad Albutairi Fahad al-Butairi ( ''Fáhád al-Butáyry''; born 13 May 1984) is a Saudi stand-up comedian, actor and screenwriter. Albutairi became the first Saudi Arabian comedian to perform on stage professionally in Saudi Arabia and in the whole of the Ar ...

as a satirical comment on the Saudi Arabian ban on women drivers. It is sung a capella by Fageeh backed by Wardi and Albutairi to the tune of Bob Marley's "

No Woman, No Cry "No Woman, No Cry" is a reggae song performed by Bob Marley and the Wailers. The song was recorded in 1974 and released on the studio album '' Natty Dread''. The live recording of this song from the 1975 album '' Live!'' was released as a ...

". In June 2015, Wardi released his album ''Fi Ba7ri''. The lyrics for the album's songs were written by

Aziz Maraka Aziz Maraka (; born 22 June 1983), is a Jordanian-Lebanese composer, singer, performer, and producer. Maraka created a music style called "Razz", an Arabic rock-jazz fusion that garnered regional attention. He also released materials as Azis Mar ...

, a Jordanian musician. His

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

cover versions of

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

hits "

Pehla Nasha ''Pehla Nasha'' () is a 1993 Indian Hindi-language thriller film and the debut film of director Ashutosh Gowariker. The movie is a remake of Brian de Palma's 1984 thriller ''Body Double''. It stars Deepak Tijori, Pooja Bhatt, Raveena Tandon. Th ...

" and "Jiya Re" became famous, as well as his mash-up "Evolution of Arabic Music" which is an a capella mash-up of 42 Arabic songs from the 1930s to 2010s. He has collaborated with a great number of other Arab and international artists including

Peter Hollens Peter James Hollens is an American singer-songwriter, producer and entrepreneur. He has been involved with a cappella music since 1999 when he and Leo da Silva founded the University of Oregon's a cappella group, On The Rocks, known as the firs ...

. In August 2019, Wardi released an a capella medley of songs by Lebanese singer

Fairuz Nouhad Wadie Haddad (, ; born November 20, 1934 or November 21, 1935), known as Fairuz (, ), is a Lebanese singer. She is widely considered an iconic vocalist and one of the most celebrated singers in the history of the Arab world. She is pop ...

, featuring Jordanian indie singer Haifa Kamal. The song went viral, with the video reaching more than 800,000 views in 9 days. Wardi was then contacted by representatives of Rahbani family, to immediately remove the video or serious legal action would be taken.

Personal life

He was born to Iranian parents in

Riyadh Riyadh is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of the Riyadh Governorate. Located on the eastern bank of Wadi Hanifa, the current form of the metropolis largely emerged in th ...

, Saudi Arabia. His family owns a furniture business in Riyadh. He married Sinem Güneş in 2015 in

Bodrum Bodrum () is a town and district of Muğla Province, Turkey. About 200 thousand people live in the district, which covers 650 km2 and includes the town. It is a port town at the entrance to the Gulf of Gökova. Known in ancient times as Hal ...

, Turkey.

Discography

Solo albums

Original singles

* "Sha3ri Yot3eboni" * "Risala Ela..." * "Ye5lef" * "Garfan Bel-So3odia" * "Fe Shi Makan" (feat. Angie Obeid) * " in Bed After a Good Day" * "7aram" * "Ma3gool" * "Shalamonti Fel7al" * "Wenti Mastaneti" * "Evolution of Arabic Music" * "Overpopulated"

Cover songs

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wardi, Alaa Saudi Arabian musicians Living people People from Riyadh 1987 births A cappella musicians Saudi Arabian people of Iranian descent 21st-century Saudi Arabian musicians