Majida El Roumi (; born 13 December 1956) is a Lebanese soprano singer, songwriter, actress, and former United Nations Goodwill Ambassador.
Early life Majida El Roumi Al Baradhy was born on 13 December 1956 in Kfarshima. Her father, Halim El Roumi, was a Melkite Christian born in Tyre, South Lebanon, and her mother was Egyptian. Her father's family moved to Haifa in 1921 to avoid the hardships of World War I. The El Roumi residence was a meeting place for many cultural figures and singers.
At the age of 14, El Roumi appeared on Télé Liban with Najib Hankash, where she performed songs for Umm Kulthum and Fairuz. At the age of 16, her cousin Raymond Safadi, urged her to pursue singing as a profession. She participated in the talent show Studio El Fan in 1974 after sneaking out of the house with her brother and cousins. She performed for Layla Murad and Asmahan and won the gold medal for oriental singing.
Her success prompted her father to change his mind and give her his blessings to pursue singing as long as she continued her higher education. Later on, Majida graduated from the Lebanese University, receiving her BA in Arabic Literature. In 1975, Majida released her first single "Am Behlamak" (I'm dreaming of you, Lebanon) with collaboration with the Lebanese poet Said Akl and musician Elias Rahbani. The song, released at the outbreak of the Lebanese Civil War in April 1975, was very popular.
After releasing her first album Wadaa (Farewell) in 1976, Majida got the attention of Egyptian filmmaker Youssef Chahine. She starred alongside Hisham Saleem in her first and only movie Awdat Al Ibn Al Dal (The Return of the Prodigal Son) and performed three of the soundtrack's songs.
Personal life She married Antoine Dafone, and after years of marriage she separated from him, and publicly announced her divorce in 2003, following rumors about his relationship with a young singer. She and Dafone had two daughters and a son together, Alah and Noor and Ranush.
Musical career 1970s In 1974, she was a contestant in the talent show Studio El Fan on Télé Liban and performed songs by Asmahan and Layla Murad at the age of 16.
1980s–1990s When she performed at Hunter College in May 1989 accompanied by a 19-piece orchestra, music reviewer Peter Watrous said: "she wandered between near-European pop and Middle Eastern pop".Peter, W. "Review/Pop; Songs of a Lebanese Star", New York Times, 2 May 1989. Retrieved on 14 October 2012.
2001–2004 In 2001, Majida El Roumi released a single titled "Nachid El Hobb" (The Hymn of Love) with lyrics from Dam'a wa Ibtisama (A Tear and A Smile) written by the Lebanese artist and writer Gibran Khalil Gibran. El Roumi chose this text after the UN ceremony in 2001, when she was named Goodwill Ambassador, and declared it to be the theme message for her mission of peace around the world. In 2001, Majida's sister Maha had to be transported to the US for better medical care, as she was suffering from cancer.
2011–present
Majida wrote the lyrics of "Bokra" (Tomorrow), a charity opérette that was released on 11 November 2011. The single's proceeds were donated to various charitable initiatives with arts and culture programs aiming to raise funds for education projects in the Arab World. In an interview with Rima Maktabi in the CNN program – Inside the Middle East, Majida told the story of the new song which was produced by Quincy Jones and RedOne. In a surprising and unexpected decision, Majida announced that she had pulled herself out of the project. She said that the producer, Quincy Jones, did not meet her conditions and the team supervising and overlooking the project was not professional. Majida already put her voice on the operate, but when they asked her to record again in Qatar, she announced her withdrawal and waived her authorship rights when she backed out of the project.
"Ghazal" Majida released her new album "Ghazal" on 22 June 2012 having worked on it for 6 years with many composers and poets.
"Biladi Ana" (My Country) is a duet between Majida and Senegalese singer Youssou N'Dour. Arabic lyrics are taken from Cadmus, Said Akl's theater play and French lyrics are freely inspired from the same theater play by Lebanese novelist Alexandre Najjar. Musical composition is accomplished by Joseph Khalifeh and Jean-Marie Riachi. This song describes Lebanon "the peace", "the beauty", "the creativity" and encourages fraternity, unity between people worldwide and calls for loving each other by surpassing all human differences. Majida and Youssou N'Dour have already performed it during the VIe annual Jeux de la Francophonie in 2009, hosted in Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium in Beirut accompanied with more than 150 dancers.
"Nour Men Nour"
Nour Men Nour (A Light from Light) is the fourteenth studio album by Majida released in December 2013 produced by V. Productions. The album explores 12 Christmas carols exploring a wide set of musical genres including classical music and Opera preserving the same musical track that Majida had sung over the years.
The album peaked at the top of the music charts in Virgin Megastores in Lebanon from the day of its release for several consecutive weeks.
Nour Men Nour was promoted majorly online and on Lebanese radio stations by two singles, Sahrit Eid and Min lli Tall, as well as a teaser on Majida's official Facebook page. Majida also filmed a Christmas special episode aired on Christmas Eve on MTV Lebanon which included a live recital from Collège du Sacré-Cœur catholic cathedral in Gemayzeh, Downtown Beirut, and scenes from a visit she had to "Mission De Vie" charity center. As Majida stated, Christmas is an occasion to celebrate as a one big Arabic family, while she added that all sales income and profits went to charity to encourage the spirit of sharing in the Arab World during the unstable periods.
Performances
Majida graced the Paris Olympia stage twice, the first time in 1993 and the second time in 1998, sponsored by the Lebanese First Lady at that time, Mrs. Mona Herawi, Palais des Congrès de Paris in 1987, Palais des festivals et des congrès de Cannes, Salle Gaveau, the opening of Damascus Opera House in 2004, Athens Concert Hall in Greece and the Royal Albert Hall in London which knew a huge success and was the first sold-out concert after The Beatles' concert in 1965. Also, later in the 90s, Majida welcomed Shirley Bassey in the presidential palace in Lebanon for a private concert, she opened in one song before giving Shirley the stage whose orchestra members stood up, astonished by Majida's spectacular soprano performance.
Majida has also performed at Avery Fisher Hall in Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall and Hunter College in New York City as well as the Place des Arts in Montreal, Quebec, Canada in November 2003 attended by more than 3000 people with incredible standing ovations, then headed to Côte d'Ivoire in 2003 for two concerts which proceeds were returned as benefits to civil war orphans. The concert was attended by the country's president and First Lady. In 2007, Majida toured the US and performed in Fox Theatre (Detroit, Michigan) and the tour included nights in Paris Hotel in Las Vegas.
Majida was also part of the annual Mawazine Festival in Morocco in June 2010, and Jounieh International Festivals on 25 June 2011. She also held a concert in Royal Opera House of Muscat in Shati Al-Qurm district in Oman in November 2011.
In December 2006, Majida performed "Light The Way", a duet with the international opera star, the tenor José Carreras at the 2006 Asian Games opening ceremony in its 15th edition in Doha. In 2009, she performed "Nous sommes les amis du monde", a duet with Senegal artist Youssou N'dour, on the inauguration of the "Jeux Olympiques de la Francophonie" in Beirut, Lebanon.
Majida had a special TV appearance in Christmas time during a recital hosted in the Lebanese Presidential Palace. President Michel Sulaiman and First Lady Wafaa hosted many public figures, politicians and artists in this occasion. The recital was broadcast live on the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation.
Majida El Roumi's concerts included a tour in the Arab world in 2012–2013; she was part of the Batroun International Festival 2012 and hosted a concert in the amphitheatre of the Katara Cultural Village, Doha. The summer of 2013 was very active with Majida's sold-out concerts. After her concert is Megarama Centre in Casablanca, Morocco, she was part of the 49th edition of Carthage Music Festival; she worked for the first time with the Tunisian Symphony Orchestra. It was a one of a kind concert for her in Carthage and M. Mourad Saqli, president of the festival confirmed that Majida's night ranks first in terms of income among the whole performances. She also visited Chokri Belaid's shrine to pray for this person who gave for his country so much, and "Ben Saadoun" children hospital checking up how could their hard cases be treated and taken care of, after hosting a press conference explaining how exceptional this visit is. Following her continuous success, concerts in Morocco were more demanded that she was part of the 9th edition of Twiza Festival in Tangier. and Timitar Music Testival in Agadir in its 10th year. Her visit to Tanger also included a visit to the children's orphan hospital in "Al Qortobi" center and give the kids some presents. Majida opened the Bahrain Summer Festival in August 2013, too; a full house concert with a wonderful performance with songs for love and peace on the Bahrain National Theater.
The Batroun International Festivals in Lebanon won Majida over one more time for another performance for the end of August in 2013. The country's political situation was unstable as her concert followed two consecutive explosions in Beirut suburbs. People attended the sold-out concert leaving with moments filled with Majida's voice. It was also the only concert ever that Majida sang "Kalimat" twice with historical standing ovations between each and every song of the program. Majida's first concert in 2014 and after 40 years of her career debut was for the closing season of Dubai Classics in February, it was held in Dubai World Trade Center. The festival opening was with international artist Sarah Brightman performing her Dreamchaser World Tour. Majida broke her 8 years of absence and went back to Egypt for a concert in March on the stage of Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Alexandria. Although Majida's Alexandria concert tickets were criticised for being overpriced, the event sold-out and was (as expected) a raging success. She opened her concert by a mix of both the Egyptian and Lebanese national anthem then sang most of her oldies and hits . In her press conference a day before the concert, Majida affirmed that the aim of this visit was just to encourage the tourism in Egypt after the crises the country has been through. She also pointed out she has nothing but respect for the June 2013 Egyptian protests emphasizing that she has no political intentions whatsoever. At the end of the concert, the mayor of Alexandria, Mr. Tarek Mahdi gave majida the golden key of the city in the presence of the minister of tourism in Egypt Mr. Hicham Zaazouh. A Day after her concert, Majida spent a touristic tour in the city and visitied Montaza Palace where she planted in its garden the first Lebanese Cedar since King Farouk's era, she also cried over Youssef Chahine's tomb as a loyal memory for the maker of her first movie.
In September 2021 Majida El Roumi fainted on stage while performing at Jordan's Jerash Festival, she returned minutes later to complete her set during the event's opening night.
Public positions