Amal Hijazi

Amal Hijazi (أمل حجازي; born 20 February 1977) is a Lebanese actress and singer.

Her first single Halan ("Right Away") was released in 2000 and acted as a catalyst for Hijazi to establish herself as a major female artist in Lebanon.

The single was well received in Lebanon and gained generally positive reviews in countries like Egypt and Jordan.

In addition, it received moderate radio airplay in the rest of the Middle East.

Surprised by the success of "Halan", Hijazi's managers asked her to record another.

Hijazi's second single Rayyah Balak ("Put Your Mind at Ease") was released a year later, for which she also shot a music video.

Rayyah Balak was a surprising success.

The single was charted strongly around the Middle East and the music video gained extremely positive reviews from both critics and fans.

On the same year her debut album Akher Gharam was released followed the lead single of the same name.

The album was produced by Dilara Master Production and distributed by Music Master.

She released her debut album, Akher Gharam, in 2001, followed by her second album, Zaman in mid-2002.

The latter included four number one hit singles, "Zaman", "Oulhali", "Einak" and "Romansyia".

She lived in France for ten years during the Lebanese Civil War, studied Architecture and graduated in 2001.

Hijazi made history in 2001, when her album became the highest selling debut album ever released by a female artist.

It was ranked as the eighth highest selling Arabic album of 2001 by Chart Magazine.

Akher Gharam released three hit singles, "Akher Gharam", "Habibi Oud" and "Ghanniet" which helped her to stay at the number one spot for more than six months.

In addition, Hijazi broke the record of having all her four singles debut at number one in countries like Lebanon, Egypt, Syria, Morocco and Tunisia.

The title track, "Zaman" (cover of the Turkish song "Zaman" from Bendeniz, released in 2001) went on top become one of the biggest hits ever in the Middle East and to date is still considered to be Hijazi's signature song.

Another single "Romansiya" was also a big hit for Hijazi, continuing the streak of hit singles off of her second album.

Akher Gharam was also a considerable success outside the Middle East especially in Malaysia, which led her to perform at the Malaysian Popular Star Award in October 2002.

Riding a wave of publicity and hype, Hijazi released her second studio album, Zaman (Long Ago).

Preceded by the single of the same name, the album proved to be an instant bestseller.

It debuted at number one in a number of countries like Lebanon, Egypt, Syria, Morocco and UAE.

Concerning both musical content and lyrics, the album was very similar to Hijazi's debut, although it fared better with critics.

According to Hijazi's production company Dilara Master Production, the album has in fact surpassed expectations in the number of breaking figures in the music market all over the world, despite of the heavy competition Hijazi had had with a number of other Arabic female singers like Elissa.

The music video for "Romancia" was one of the most popular of 2003 under the direction of Mirna Khayat.

By the end of the year it was announced that Zaman was one of the highest selling albums ever released by a female artist.

It was also in fact the album's huge success that made Hijazi sign her multimillion-dollar promotional deal with Panasonic.

Due to the album's noted achievement, Hijazi was personally invited by the Jordan River Foundation to hold a special concert under the patronage of Queen Rania Al-Abdullah.

In 2003, she re-sang "Zaman" with Turkish singer Bendeniz for her album "Demedim Mi".

A music video was released for the song and aired on Turkish as well as Arabic channels

Her third album Bedawwar A Albi was released in early 2004 followed by the release of her fourth album Baya Al Ward in 2006.

The album's opening song of the same name caused some negative publicity and controversy.

After an absence that lasted for more than two years, Hijazi released her fourth, studio album, Baya Al Ward in 2006.

The album generated extremely negative reviews due to its bold lyrical content and unusual artwork.

Hijazi had returned with an extremely sophisticated look that generally attracted negative publicity and controversies where she appeared with short, pixie blond hair and clothes that "promoted homosexuality and lesbianism" according to critics.

The music video of Baya Al Ward heavily criticized and caused huge controversies that Hijazi was promoting homosexuality.

Amal Hijazi remained at the forefront of pop music with the release of her Gulf single "Nefsy Tefhamny" in 2007.

She released her fifth studio album, Keef el Amar, in 2008.

Amal Hijazi was born in Beirut, Lebanon, to a family originally from Kfarfila, a town in the Nabatieh Governorate, southern Lebanon.She has five siblings, and her father died when she was ten years old.