Kadim Al Sahir

At 66 years old, Kadim Al Sahir has this physical status:

He later moved to Lebanon, where he met and formed a songwriting partnership with Syrian poet Nizar Qabbani in 1996; Qabbani wrote lyrics to his music before settling permanently in Cairo. Qabbani, who previously wrote lyrics for superstars of the 1960s and 1970s like Abdel Halim Hafez and Najat Al Saghira, wrote the lyrics to more than 30 of Al Sahir's songs. In addition to Qabbani's poems, Al Sahir sang both political and romantic songs for Iraq and Baghdad, highlighting the feelings of the citizens of Iraq as well as their tragedies.

Al Sahir continued to release albums and tour, having become a big name in Middle Eastern music. His ballads grew bigger and more romantic, but he would also write classically influenced works, even when they might hurt his popularity.

By 1998, he had ten albums under his belt and was lauded as an artist, not just a pop star. That prestige brought him wider fame and a growing international reputation that won him a UNICEF award for his song "Tathakkar", which he performed in the U.S. for Congress and the United Nations–one of the first real post-Gulf War cultural exchanges. The following year, he recorded a tribute to the Pope with the Italian Symphony Orchestra.

Releasing numerous albums and touring extensively, Al Sahir has become both a high-grossing superstar and a respected musical artist. His reputation has continued to grow through collaborations with European and North American artists, including Sarah Brightman and Lenny Kravitz. He continues to live abroad, residing alternately in Cairo, Dubai, Paris, and Toronto.

Following the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, Al Sahir's music changed to reflect new regional and global attention to Iraq during wartime. As scholar Christopher Phillips writes in Everyday Arab Identity (2012):

In 2004, Al Sahir collaborated with Lenny Kravitz and released an anti-war song at Rock The Vote, titled "We Want Peace", and shortly afterward released a song entitled "The War Is Over" (Entahat al harab) with Sarah Brightman, which was released on her album Harem and his album Hafiat Al-Kadamain. Both of these international duets were executive produced by Dergham Owainati, of EMI Music Arabia, for Kadim's part.

In 2004, Al Sahir continued to work with various international artists including Grammy Award-winning producers KC Porter, and Quincy Jones. His collaboration "Love & Compassion" (Hob Wa Haneen) was the title track for the Arab American National Museum Collector's edition honoring the artists that have made the most significant difference with international audiences. The track features Grammy winning singer/songwriter Paula Cole, Def Jam recording artist Karina Pasian, and Luis Conte and was produced by KC Porter and Dawn Elder.

In 2004, he participated in the worldwide broadcast concert special "We are the Future" produced by Quincy Jones and coordinated by Dawn Elder at the Roman Maximos Stadium in Rome for the benefit of the children of the world. In December 2004, he participated in the opening of the Gulf Football Championship (Khaleeji 17) in which he performed the return of Iraq Operette which was broadcast live on 10 satellite channels. Additionally, in 2004, he was the first Arab artist to participate in Unity, the official album of the 2004 Summer Olympics.

Releasing his album Ila Tilmitha on November 11, 2004. The album contains collaborations with the Moroccan Asma Lamnawar whom Kadim Al Sahir discovered earlier and introduced to the Arab world in her first due song with Kadim "ashko ayaman". The album also included the song "Ahbeni," written by poet Nizar Qabbani, shot as a video clip by Husien Duibes; it became a major hit in the year 2004 alongside the song "Ila Tilmitha."

UNICEF named Al Sahir as the new Goodwill Ambassador for Iraq for the year 2011. For Al Sahir, this was a compelling reason to visit his country after 14 years

He sang Bokra ("Tomorrow"), a charity single that was released on November 11, 2011, at 11:11 pm, along with Rim Banna, Akon, Tamer Hosni, Diana Karazon, Marwan Khoury, Latifa, Souad Massi, Hani Mitwassi, Saber El Robai, Wa'ed, Sherine, and other Arab artists. The single distributed the proceeds of its donations to various organisations, especially institutions and charities with arts and culture programs. The eight-minute song was written by Majida Al-Roumi and was produced by Quincy Jones and RedOne.

He debuted as a coach for MBC The Voice Kids, and his team member Lynn Hayek from Lebanon was the winning contestant in the Season 1 Finale held on March 5, 2016.

In collaboration with an Abu Dhabi cultural foundation, he performed solo in his first virtual hybrid concert in 2020 due to the pandemic.

In 2020, he was the cover start of Vogue Man Arabia.

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