Amr Abdel Basset Abdel Azeez Diab (, , born 11 October 1961) is an Egyptian singer, composer and actor. He has established himself as a globally acclaimed recording artist and author.
He is a Guinness World Record holder, the best selling Middle Eastern artist, a seven-times winner of World Music Awards and five-times winner of Platinum Records. Named the "King of Arabic Pop", Rolling Stone ranked his song "Tamally Maak" first on their list of the "50 Best Arabic Pop Songs of the 21st Century".
Early life Diab was born as Amr Abdel Basset Abdel Azeez Diab on 11 October 1961 in Port Said to a middle-class Egyptian Muslim family from the Nile Delta countryside of Menia Elamh in Sharqia Governorate. Diab graduated with a bachelor's degree in music from the Cairo Academy of Arts in 1986.
Music career Diab released his first album entitled in 1983. Diab's second album, (1984), was the first of a series of records he released with Delta Sound; including (1986), (1987), and (1988). His later releases include (1989), (1990), (1991), (1992), (1993), (1994), and (1995).
By 1992, he became the first Egyptian and Middle Eastern artist to start making high-tech music videos.
In 1996, Diab released his first album with Alam El Phan entitled , and he won the World Music Award for the first time, which proved an international success and gained Diab recognition beyond the Arabic-speaking world. Diab recorded four more albums with Alam El Phan, including (1999). Diab also collaborated with Khaled (on the song "") and with Angela Dimitriou (on the song "Bahebak Aktar").
According to research by Michael Frishkopf, he has created a style in the song "", termed as "Mediterranean music", a blend of Western and Middle Eastern/Egyptian rhythms.
In the summer of 2004, Diab, having left Alam El Phan, released his first album with Rotana Records, , which he followed up with the hugely successful (2005), and (2007).
was released for sale on the internet on 27 June 2009; however, the album was leaked online and was downloaded illegally amid complaints of slow download speed on the official site. Diab's fans initiated a massive boycott of the sites with the illegal copies.
On 18 October 2009, Diab won four 2009 African Music Awards in the categories of best artist, album, vocalist and song for ""; Diab had been nominated by the Big Apple Music Awards.
In February 2011, Diab released his hit single "" ("Egypt spoke"), followed by the release of his album in September, produced by Rotana. In 2012, Diab hosted the first Google Hangout in the Middle East during his performance in Dubai. In October 2014, Diab released his album , which topped his last album (2013) and again became the best-selling album in Egypt on iTunes and peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard World Albums Charts, making him the first Egyptian and Middle Eastern performer to accomplish such a feat. In July 2015, Diab released a music video for his song "" from his album . In March 2016, he released , his first album since he left Rotana Music. The album was produced by the record label Nay For Media. His new album was released in July 2017 with Nay Records.
In October 2018, he released a new album called . In 2019, he released a mini-album, , and in February 2020, he released his 30th album, , which included 16 songs. In the same year, Amr Diab released another album, Ya Ana Ya La, at the end of the year, 31 December 2020.
From April 2021 to July 2023, Amr Diab released a huge amount of singles, many of which topped the charts on digital listening platforms until his album release in 2023.
In February 2022, Anghami announced an exclusive partnership that will see the Diab's entire Nay Label audio and video catalogue and future releases available only on Anghami.
In December 2023, Amr Diab released an album called Makanak with 12 songs.
Then he released two singles called "El Kelma El Helwa", an advertisement for Vodafone Music (Egypt), and "Hekyatna Helwa" for Hyde Park, both on 11 March 2024.
In April 2024, Rolling Stone picked Tamally Maak to top the Best Arabic Pop Songs of the 21st Century. In July of that year, his exclusive contract with Anghami expired.
In 2024 Amr Diab won top male artist and top male artist in Egyptian dialect. Awarded by Billboard Arabia.
A program produced by Amr Afifi, consisting of 12 parts aired on Rotana Music, Rotana Cinema and Egyptian Channel 1 station. The program detailed the biography of Diab and was scheduled to be launched simultaneously with the release of Amr Diab's new album, but the album's release was postponed to a later date.
Musical style Diab is known as the "father of Mediterranean music". David Cooper and Kevin Dawe refer to his music as "the new breed of Mediterranean music". According to author Michael Frishkopf, Diab has produced a new concept of Mediterranean music, especially with his international hit, "Nour El Ain". Diab is known as a composer, having composed more than 97 of his own songs.
Diab is one of the first singers to popularize music videos in the whole MENA region and is the first Egyptian singer to appear in music videos.
Film career
Diab's fame in the music industry has led him to experiment with other forms of media, such as film. Diab played himself in his first film, , which was released in 1989. It also starred Madiha Kamel. His second film was Hussein El-Imam's production Ice Cream in Gleam (), in which Diab starred in 1992, was chosen as one of the best five Egyptian musical films by the University of California, Los Angeles (ULCA) School of Theater, Film and Television. The film was featured in the UCLA Film and Television Archive's new program "Music on the Nile: Fifty Years of Egyptian Musical Films" at James Bridges Theater at UCLA on 6, 8 and 10 April 1999. David Chute of the LA Weekly termed it "observant" and "a big leap". His third movie was released in 1993, and was named (Laughter and Fun). The film premiered in the Egyptian Film Festival in 1993. Diab played alongside international Egyptian movie star Omar Sharif (Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago) and Yousra. Overall, Diab did not experience the same level of success in film that he had with his music career. Since 1993, Diab has focused on his singing career.
Amr Diab in movies Diab's songs have been used in several films, including: "" in Divine Intervention (2002) "" in The Dancer Upstairs (2002) "" and "" in O Clone (2001) "" in Double Whammy (2001) "" and "" in Coco (2009) "" in The Dictator (2012)
Personal life Diab has an elder daughter from his first marriage to Egyptian actress Shereen Reda. In 1994, he was married to Saudi businesswoman Zeina Ashour. They have three children. In 2018, he went on to marry Egyptian actress, Dina El Sherbiny, .However Amr & Zeina Are not yet divorced still appearing together sometimes and visits his family in London.. However, Diab and El Sherbiny separated in late 2020.
Egyptian Uprising 2011
During the 2011 uprising, some protesters criticized Diab for staying silent, and for fleeing Egypt for London. A few days after former President Hosni Mubarak stepped down, Diab composed and sang a memorial song, "" (Egypt Said), and released it in conjunction with a music video showing pictures of the martyrs who died in the uprising. He initiated a charity campaign "" ("Truly Egyptian"). His online radio station Diab FM often presents talks and discussions about what the Diab FM team can offer to the community as well as applying it practically by being present in different sites across Egypt with a new humanitarian project each week.
Discography
Studio albums Year Original Title Translation Label 1983 O Road Sawt Al Madina 1984 Ghanni Min Albak Sing From Your Heart Delta Sound 1986 Welcome Welcome 1987 We're Done 1988 Mayal Leaning 1989 Make Us Miss You 1990 Don't Be Afraid 1991 Baby 1992 Ayamna Our Days 1993 Ya Omrena O Our Life 1994 Let Them Blame Me1995RageinWe're Coming Back 1996 Light of the Eye Alam El Phan 1998 Awedony Made Me Used To You Delta Sound 1999 Two Moons Alam El Phan 2000 Tamally Maak Always With You 2001 Aktar Wahed The One That Loves You The Most 2003 Allem Alby Teach My Heart 2004 Lealy Nahary Night and Day Rotana 2005 Keep Talking 2007 Tonight 2009 With Her 2011 Come I'm Calling You 2013 El Leila This Night 2014 I saw the days2016 Ahla W Ahla Prettier and Prettier Sony Music 2017 Meaddy El Nas Greater than People 2018 All My Life2020 Up All Night Ya Ana Ya La Either Me or No One2023MakanakYour Place2025EbtadenaWe Started2026HabeitekI Loved You
Singles Year Original Title Translation Label1999Eleos - with Angela DimitriouMercyEMIAna Mahma KibirtWhatever I Get Old, I Still YoungAlam El Phan2000El Quds De Aredna Quds is Our "Arabs" LandRotanaEl Helm Da HelmenaThis Dream is Ours2002Bahebak Nefsi AaolhalakI Hope to Say I Love YouAlam El Phan2003Rouh AlbySoul of My Heart2005Elly Beiny We BeinakThat Between You and MeRotana2007Allah Aliha God Bless Her2008Oldies Singles2009Leh Youm Ma Abeltak Why That Happened When I Met You?Makontsh NawyI didn't intend to2010Nokia 5800 ReleasesAslaha Betefre’aIt's different2011Masr AletEgypt SaidSony Music La' YestaheilShe deservesRotana2012Fe Haga FeekThere's Something With YouWe Redet I'm SatisfiedAyesh Maak I Spend Days With You2013Dawam El Haal What Goes around Comes around2014Mesh Kol WahedNot EverybodyYa Hob DawebnaOh love, Melt us in you2015Balash Teb'edDon't Go FarNay for Media2016Al Qahera - ft. Mohamed MounirCairo2017El Farha El LeilaThe Joy is tonight2018Bahebak AnaMe, Love You2019Maa'darsh Al NesyanI cannot afford to forgetGamaa HabybakGather Your Loved OnesAfrica (2019 Edition)Aha Gheir I'm Different2020Ya Baladna Ya HelwaOur Country is BeautifulAmaken El SaharNightlife places2021Inta El HazYou're the Luck2022El Ser The Secret2023Shokran Min Hena Le Bokra Thank you from here on out
Famous songs