On His 99th Birth Anniversary... Remembering ”King of Music” Baligh Hamdi

Today marks the 99th birth anniversary of the legendary late Egyptian composer Baligh Hamdi, the so-called ”King of Music”.

The iconic late composer made timeless music. Hamdi's fascinated songs are still relevant and somehow continue to touch our hearts. Be it “Alf Leila” or “ My Love Story”, with his music, Hamdi made us feel hurt, love and happiness all at once. With a couple of his tracks such as “Zay Elhawa,” “Ansak” or “Youm W Leila”, he even made us groove to his tunes.

The remarkable musician composed music for more than 30 films starring Abdel Halim Hafiz. Later, he went on to compose several popular songs, which were sung by renowned Algerian singer Warda, the gorgeous Nagat El Saghir, and Lata Shadia. He received an award nomination for 'Hekaity M'a'a Zaman'.

At age nine, he learned to play the violin and the oud two or three years later.

Moreover, he took music lessons with a variety of teachers throughout his childhood and teenage years. Thus, he became a professional musician in 1954 at age 22.

Later on, he became a law student, and he chose to not complete the studies for the law degree.

Although he is mainly known as a lyricist and composer, Hamdi was a man with perse qualities.

His songs centre on subjects like patriotism, devotion, love, and others.

The sufferings he experienced in life were reflected in his lyrics, which made his songs and music full of pathos.

The so-called ” King of Music” added a new dimension to Arab songs as he skillfully incorporated the fast-paced western genres alongside the Arab modern genres.

During his days in Egypt, he used to hold musical soirees almost every evening at his residence where musicians like  Abdel Halim Hafez, Shadia, Layla Murad, Najat Al Saghira, Fayza Ahmed, Warda used to sing together.

In the 1970s, the renowned composer married Algerian star Warda, and together they created some of their most famous work.

After a while, Hamdi got accused of a scandalous crime and moved away to Paris. In the 1900s, he returned home after being proved not guilty.

The remarkable composer is well known for his seminal works, such as ‘Khosara Khosara’, ‘Hob Ayeh’, ‘Ansak Ya Salam ‘, Rise people and the spirit and conscience, The transfer of the Nile, ‘Fat El Me’ad’, ‘Alf Leilah Wa Leilah’, ‘El Hob Kolloh’, ‘Hakam Alina El Howa’.