Fayza Ahmed's Birth Anniv.: Lesser Known Facts about Late Singer

The late Syrian singer Fayza Ahmed would have turned 88 today. Her contributions to the Arab music industry have been etched into our hearts. On the occasion of her birth anniversary, here are some of the lesser-known facts about Ahmed.

Born in Sham, she migrated to Egypt and became a leading singer in the Egyptian film industry. Ahmed is considered to be one of the most popular and acclaimed Syrian singers of her generation.

The remarkable singer, born Fayza Ahmed Bico Elrawas, first made waves in her music career at the tender age of 18, appearing on Syrian shows. Two years later, she signed to Egyptian Radio and ‘Sout Alfan’ Records.

Ahmed, better known as 'Estren Curlew' also made a name for herself as an actress. She starred in ‘Tamr Henna’ (1957) with Naima Akef, Ahmed Ramzy, and Rushdy Abaza and her breakthrough came in 1961 as the elder daughter and the obedient girl in “Me and my Daughters.”

After these major successes, she acted in six more film productions in addition to participating in theater performances.

The late prominent singer was born in the city of Saida in Lebanon in 1934 to a Syrian father and Lebanese mother. Later, she moved with her family to Damascus, where she grew up.

According to her authorized biography, Ahmed greatly enjoyed singing as a child, and would often perform songs by Laila Mourad and Asmahan at school. During her childhood, her mother encouraged her to pursue music and brought her a singing instructor.

After a while, she traveled to Egypt in order to release popular hits with the famous singer Mohamed el-Mogy, who worked with other great artists like Abdelhalim Hafez and Umm Kulthum. Their hits include “Ana Albi Leek Mayal” (My heart yearns for you), “Hayran” (Confused), and “Beit al-’Ezz” (House of Glory), among others.

Ahmed’s most famous relationship was undoubtedly with Egypt's actor Mohamed Sultan, with whom she has two sons, Tarik and Omar.

But she also married Adel Abdulrahman – an Egyptian officer – twice, each time for only a year. The pair were so on-off that she filed for porce in 1981, then again after they remarried in 1964, but changed her mind. She finally went through with it in 1982.

Ahmed was well known for her seminal works, such as “Ool Le Kol El Nas” (Tell Everyone), “Ta’ala Shoof” (Come See), “Gharib Ya Zaman” (Strange, Time).

Moreover, she received numerous prizes during her long successful career. She accumulated citizenship status in 1964 and took home Shield of the Second Army on May 1, 1974, and Tunisian President Habib Bourguiba order and other numerous prizes during her long successful career

According to Helmi Bakr, a well-known musical critic, Ahmed is actually still regarded as one of the most successful Arab singers in history.

Unfortunately, Fayza died in 1984 after a fight with cancer. Ahmed is still known today for her unique voice and presence and her musical impact in Egypt.

Lately, Ahmed’s entire music catalog has been made available digitally for fans to stream. In addition to this, physical copies of the records are also being made for purchase.