Amr Diab (Arabic: عمرو دياب‎) (born Amr Abdel Basset Abdel Azeez Diab on October 11, 1961) is an egyptian singer and composer of jil music. Diab has become one of the highest-selling middle eastern artists of all time. He was awarded "The World Music Award" 3 times (1998, 2002, & 2007), as being the best-selling Middle Eastern singer.

His father worked for the Suez Canal Corporation as a porter in the marina, and was a part-time sheepherder. He possessed a fine singing voice and encouraged the young Diab to sing and dance at the "Mawaled" (street festivals) in this early age.

When Diab was just six years old, his father took him to the 23rd July Festival at Port Said, where they visited the local broadcasting station and Amr made his first singing appearance on Egyptian Radio performing the National Anthem "Bilady, Bilady, Bilady." He was praised by the Governor of Port Said who awarded him with a guitar as a prize.

In due course, Diab began his musical studies at the music faculty of the Cairo Academy of Art, from which he graduated in 1986. His first album Ya Tareeq followed shortly and was an instant success. There have been since then sixteen top-selling albums in a prolific recording career which has established him as a superstar in Egypt and the Arab world.

Diab has toured widely throughout his career organizing galas and performing concerts in Australia, Canada, Europe, and the United States.

In 1990, Diab was chosen to represent Egypt at the 5th Tournament of African Sports where he sang in English and French as well as Egyptian Arabic. This concert was televised by satellite throughout the Arab world and highlighted on CNN. He became the first Egyptian artist to make a video clip and in a parallel career, has acted in several films including Deahk We La'ab ("Laughter & Fun"), a film which opened the Egyptian Film Festival in 1993. In this film, directed by Tarek Al Telmasani, Diab played opposite the world famous Egyptian actor Omar Sharif. In the film Ice Cream fi Gleem directed by Khairi Bishara, Diab played the role of the main hero. The singer has already been the subject of three biographies – Amr Diab, the Owner of My Heart, The Rebellious, and Amr Diab, Star of the 20th Century. He is nicknamed the Rebellious due to comparisons made with his contemporaries in his clothes, hairstyling, the performance and execution of his music, the melodies he composes, and his many appearances at parties.

Diab became known for the new style of his music which people throughout the Middle East and the Mediterranean world came to call "Mediterranean music," referring to its blend of Western and Middle Eastern/Egyptian rhythms. He was named, by most satellite and TV stations, as the Best Singer in the Arab World throughout the nineties and continually sets new sales records with successive album releases.

Wayah (2009)

Work on Amr Diab's follow up to El Lilady (This Night) began in late 2007, and continued for over a year and a half. Diab has promised his fans that this new album will be "very different", and will "open yet another revolutionary page in his history". In late January 2009, four songs were leaked on the internet from the new album, they were "Makontsh Nawi - I had no intention", "Be'edt Leih - Why did you leave?", "Youm Ma'abeltak (Leih?) - The day I met you (Why?)" and "Kollo Ella Habiby - All, but my love". The song "Makontsh Nawi - I had no intention" has received tremendous success throughout the Middle East and North African region, but has been axed from the upcoming album along with "Be'edt Leih - Why did you leave" and "Youm Ma'abeltak (Leih?) - The day I met you (Why?)". Diab announced that "Kollo Ella Habiby" will be included and stated that "it will be one of the major surprises in the new album" which is released on June 27, 2009.

Recently Diab shot two advertisements featuring 45-second samples of two tracks from the upcoming album, "Allah Ala Hobbak Enta!" (How great is your love!) and "Tammeny" (Let me know). The following tracks are expected to appear on the album's final track-list: "Yehemmak Fi Eih" (Why do you care?), "Kollo Ella Habiby" (All, But My Love), "Allah Ala Hobbak Enta!" (How Great is your Love!) and "Tammeny" (Let me know).

The album now is in the biggest megastores all over the Arab World, on the following days it will be distributed outside the Arab World. June 27th the album was leaked on the internet; on the other hand, Rotana (The distributing company) and individuals near to Amr have denied the album leakage rumor. Nevertheless, Diab decided to release it by the end of the day so fans could enjoy and buy the original copies.

More news to come soon.

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