Legendary Arab singer Sabah Fakhri dies at 88

One of the Arab world’s most famous singers, Sabah Fakhri, who has entertained generations with traditional songs and preserved extinct forms of Arabic music, has died, Syria’s government said Tuesday. He was 88. It was not immediately clear what caused Fakhri’s passing.

Born Sabah Abu Qaws in the Syrian city of Aleppo in 1933, Fakhri got his stage name as an adolescent when he started performing. Fakhri was a world-class Tarab singer, an Arabic form of music associated with emotional evocation that could last for hours. He studied music and singing in Aleppo and Damascus. He earned various honours in the Arab world and was head of the Syrian Artists Syndicate.

Fakhri is survived by four sons, including Anas, a singer.

Comments