Warda

Warda Al-Jazairia (commonly referred to as just Warda), is a French-born Algerian singer. She is well known in the Arabic music community for her Egyptian songs and music. Warda was born in Puteaux on July 1939. She started singing only eleven years later in 1951. She quickly became well-known for her singing of patriotic Algerian songs. When she married in 1962, however, her husband forbade her to sing. In 1972, Algerian president Houari Boumédienne asked her to sing to commemorate Algeria's independence, and she performed with an Egyptian orchestra. As a result her marriage broke up, and she dedicated her life to music. She moved to Egypt, where she married the composer Baligh Hamdi. She performed many of his songs and those of other Arabic composers, quickly rising to fame and releasing several albums per year. Additionally, she has starred in a few films. At the height of Panarabism, Jamal Abdel Nasser requested that Warda to be given a part in a production of Mohammad Abdelwahhab entitled My Great Homeland (Watani Al-Akbar). The song was performed by the biggest stars at the time including Abdel Halim Hafez, Shadia, Sabah (singer), Najat Al-Saghira and Fayza Kamel. The song denounced Colonialism and urged for a united Arab People to defeat foreign occupation.