Umm Kalthoum (Star of the East)
Published: 12/23/2009
Umm Kalthoum was born in the village of Tumay al Zahayra in the delta's Gharbiya province. Talented from an early age, she starred in six films from 1936. But it was for her extraordinary voice that she stood out, and she gave up films in 1947 to concentrate on singing. She was a social phenomenon. At a time when Egyptians didn't talk about love, emotions or sexual pleasure, she provided them with a vocabulary to do so, using ambiguous lyrics to avoid offending public morals. In the process she liberated both men and women.
On the first Thursday of each month Umm Kolthum would give concerts that became an institution attracting dignitaries from around the Arab World. They were also broadcast live to millions on radio.
Like western celebrities, Umm Kolthoum life was often controversial; her success aroused the jealousy of singers and critics, who accused her of being domineering and of stifling younger talent. Her passionate songs also provoked rumours about her love life and she was romantically linked to several people, but she married a doctor and university professor called Dr Hassan Hefnawy in 1953.
Umm Klothoum was feted around the world, but attained the status of a guru in Egypt. A firm supporter of the 1952 revolution, she influenced public opinion and had the ear of Presidents Nasser and Sadat.
Millions of fans attended her funeral in 1975, one of the largest and most dramatic ever seen in modern Egypt.
Many of Umm Kolthoum's songs are now available on tape and CD, and sales rose by 40 per cent after a TV series about her life, shown during Ramadan 1999.
Among her best live recordings are
- Alf Layla Wa Layla (The Thousand and One Nights)
- Enta Omri (You are My Life)
- Al-Atlal (The Ruins) which was voted one of the top 100 songs of the 20th century by French newspaper Le Monde.
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