Ali Birra
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Ali Mohammed Musa ( Oromo: Alii Birraa; 29 September 1950 – 6 November 2022), known professionally as Ali Birra, was an Ethiopian singer. He was regarded as the most popular Oromo icon, as well as an influential artist in the other regions and urban areas of Ethiopia. He had played a lot of songs in Amharic, Afar, Arabic and Somali languages. Ali was a celebrated as a poet and multi-instrumentalist.


Early life and career

Ali Birra was born in Ganda Kore,
Dire Dawa Dire Dawa (; , meaning"where the Dir (clan), Dir hit his spear into the ground" or "The true Dir", , Harari language, Harari: ድሬዳዋ, lit. "Plain of Medicine"; ) is a city in eastern Ethiopia near the Somali Region and Oromia, Oromo borde ...
on 29 September 1950. His parents separated when he was three years old, and was subsequently raised by his father. He attended Arabic school as a child, where he learned to write the language. Birra, however, was raised speaking the Oromo language. He also enrolled in a local public school and pursued his education until sixth grade. He then moved to America. In his early years, Birra would do small street-peddling in order to support his livelihood without begging people for money. When he was 13, he joined Afran Qallo, a cultural group which he was operating unofficially to promote the Oromo music and culture. The first time he sang on stage, he sang a song titled "Birra dha Bari'e". Due to this song, he was given the nickname "Ali Birra". "Ali" is his first name and "Birra" is the initial song name. By blending the two words, it creates the meaning "Ali the Spring". The government banned the Afran Qallo group in 1965 and arrested some of its members. Birra escaped arrest and moved to
Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; ,) is the capital city of Ethiopia, as well as the regional state of Oromia. With an estimated population of 2,739,551 inhabitants as of the 2007 census, it is the largest city in the country and the List of cities in Africa b ...
. After settling in Addis Ababa, he engaged in different activities alongside singing. On this occasion, Birra came to know the nationalist Ahmad Taqi, and the latter bought him a guitar so that Birra could sing more widely. Taqi may have influenced him that Ali himself has been one of the Oromo nationalists for the rest of his life. Though he had songs about his birthplace Dire Dawa and Oromia, he never uttered the word Ethiopia, as Oromo nationalists do. His fame increased dramatically throughout the city. In addition to Oromo, his mother tongue, Birra had the ability to sing in
Amharic Amharic is an Ethio-Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amhara people, and also serves as a lingua franca for all other metropolitan populati ...
, Arabic, Harari, and
Somali language Somali is an Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language belonging to the Cushitic languages, Cushitic branch, primarily spoken by the Somalis, Somali people, native to Greater Somalia. It is an official language in Somalia, Somaliland, and Ethio ...
s. He gained appreciation from different contemporary personalities, including Eyoel Yohannes, at the time the head of Kebur Zabagna, who then recruited him as a solo singer in Oromo. He joined other famous singers such as
Mahmoud Ahmed Mahmoud Ahmed (Amharic language, Amharic: ማሕሙድ አሕመድ; born 8 May 1941) is an Ethiopian singer. He gained great popularity in Ethiopian Golden Age of music, Ethiopia in the 1970s and among the Ethiopian diaspora in the 1980s, bef ...
, Tilahun Gessesse and
Bizunesh Bekele Bizunesh Bekele (; 1936 – 25 June 1990) was an Ethiopian soul singer who was popular in the 1960s and 1970s of Golden Age. She was referred to as "Aretha Franklin of Ethiopia" due to similitude of musical style. Her songs were released in her ...
. Birra traveled with the group through Ethiopia and
Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...
to sing with well-known celebrities like
Mohammed Wardi Mohammed Osman Hassan Salih Wardi (; 19 July 1932 – 18 February 2012), also known as Mohammed Wardi, was a Nubian Sudanese singer, poet and songwriter. Looking back at his life and artistic career, Sudanese writer and critic Lemya Shammat call ...
. When he was in Addis Ababa, he would perform in large venues such as the Hager Fikir Theatre and Ras Theatre. Following a discussion with his father, he left Addis Ababa. In the early 1970s, at the break of the
Ethiopian Revolution The Ethiopian Revolution () was a period of civil, police and military upheaval in Ethiopia to protest against the weakened Haile Selassie government. It is generally thought to have begun on 12 January 1974 when Ethiopian soldiers began a rebel ...
, Ahmad Taqi was killed in eastern Ethiopia while fighting the Ethiopian army. Birra continued his career both as a musician and a composer. He produced his first album in 1971, the first in the history of Oromo music. He then recorded successful hits such as "Hin Yaadin", "Asabalee", "Ammalelee", and "Gamachu". His albums included Sudanese songs such as "Al-Habib Ween" and Harari songs such as "Yidenqal". Birra married Birgitta Åström in 1985. In 1986, Birra's wife was transferred to
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...
, and Birra accompanied her to the country. But Birra faced difficulties in Saudi Arabia, and proceeded to Sweden, where he lived for two years. In 1988, he went to the United States to attend the Los Angeles Arts Academy. He graduated in 1990, and by 1992, he had released his first two albums outside of Ethiopia amid increasing international fame. He also conducted many concerts and festivals in many countries, including the 2005 Enkutatash (Ethiopian New Year) celebration at the Addis Sheraton.He celebrates his 50 years journey on the music in 2013.


Illness and death

In August 2009, Birra reported that he had recently been treated for
colon cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowel ...
, but planned to continue performing music, in spite of reports that his most recent album would be his last. In early 2022, Birra's health was in critical condition and he was hospitalized at Adama General Hospital. On 6 November 2022, the Oromia Regional State media announced his death in
Adama Adama ( Oromo: ', Amharic: አዳማ), formerly Nazreth (), is one of the cities of Oromia Region of Ethiopia. Located in the East Shewa Zone southeast of the capital, Addis Ababa, the city sits between the base of an escarpment to the west, ...
, at the age of 72. On 8 November, Ali Birra was given a state funeral. The funeral service was conducted at Muslim Cemetery in Dire Dawa, his birth place, after a farewell ceremony was carried out at a Sheger Park. Thousands of fans and notable people were present at the funeral.


Awards

In 1995, Birra received the Toronto African Merits Award. In 2010, Ali received an
honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...
from Jimma University. In 2019, Ali received another honorary doctorate (
DHL DHL (originally named after founders Dalsey, Hillblom and Lynn) is a multinational Import-Export Expert Company, founded in the United States and headquartered in Bonn, Germany. It provides courier, package delivery, and express mail service, ...
) from Dire Dawa University.


Selected discography

;Albums ;Singles and EPs


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Birra, Ali 1950 births 2022 deaths Ethiopian composers Ethiopian poets 20th-century Ethiopian male singers 21st-century Ethiopian male singers Oromo-language singers People from Dire Dawa Oromo people