Diana Haddad

Her parents moved to Kuwait in the 1970s where she received her education at the national school in Fahaheel District.

Due to the Lebanese Civil War which began in 1975 (one year prior to her birth) and lasted over fifteen years, Haddad spent her early years in the more stable Arab states of the Persian Gulf.

Diana Haddad (ديانا حداد; born 1 October 1976) is a Lebanese actress, singer, and television personality who also holds Emirati citizenship and is based in the United Arab Emirates.

During her teen years, specifically in 1988, Haddad performed in multiple Kuwaiti national events.

Haddad never received a college degree even though she was interested in archeology.

Haddad is one of the most popular Arabic pop musicians in the Arab World and has been so since the mid-1990s.

These include songs like "Saken" and "Ammanih" in the 1990s, "Mani Mani", "Mas & Louly", and "Ya Aibo" in the 2000s, "La Fiesta" and "Ela Hona" in the 2010s.

Haddad was born to a Maronite Christian father, Joseph Haddad (originally from Maghdouché, Sidon District), and a Muslim mother, Mouna Haddad, in a small Lebanese village called Bsalim.

In 1990, Kuwait was invaded by Iraq, which forced Haddad's family to move back to Lebanon.

During this period, Haddad lived between Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates where she met her Emariti husband Suhail Al-Abdul.

Haddad was raised in her father's religion along with her four siblings, Lolita, Danny, Fadi, and Sameer.

In terms of age, Haddad ranks third.

As a child, Haddad was known to be a "tomboy" in her family.

Haddad's musical talent was discovered in an early age when she was only eight years old.

In 1992, she received a diploma in computer science before she joined a popular singing competition called Studio El Fan in Beirut.

With the help of Studio El Fan, which was broadcast nationally on LBC in 1993, Haddad was able to come to fame at sixteen.

Her debut album Saken (1996) was one of the best selling albums of 1996, being certified platinum by Haddad's label Stallions Records.

The album also introduced Haddad and her Bedouin music style to the public.

She joined the competition with an original song entitled "Tayr El Yammameh", which was later included on her debut record Saken in 1996.

Haddad was listed under the category of traditional Lebanese folk song.

The song was written and produced by Elias Abou Gzale.

At the beginning of her career, Haddad was best known for her Bedouin music style which also incorporates modern beats and instruments.

Thus, she has been compared to Lebanese musician Samira Tawfik.

Haddad's music is considered an update of Tawfik's early work.

Haddad's debut album also included other hits such as "Lagaitek", a cover of Issam Rajji's classic hit, and "Al-Sahra".

Following the release of her first two albums, Saken and Ahl Al Esheg in 1996 and 1997, respectively, Haddad had to plan her third album more carefully in order to sustain her success.

Haddad's biggest breakthrough came in late 1997 when she released her third album Ammanih accompanied with a major hit single of the same title.

Her second album, Ahl Al Esheg produced the hit single "Ahl Al Esheg" in early 1997 and the moderate hit "Bizal Minak" in summer 1997.

"Ahl Al Esheg" is considered one of Haddad's signature songs and is still performed in most of her concerts.

"Bizal Minak", while not as successful as "Ahl Al Esheg", had a controversial music video which was shot in London.

The song's chorus can be translated to "I showed you the right way, but you're still walking in the wrong direction".

Hence, the black and white music video, which was directed by Haddad's then-husband, shows padestrians in London walking backwards while Haddad is the only person walking in the correct direction.

Haddad claimed that she memorized the lyrics of the song backwards in order to make the video works.

The video also shows Prince Charles walking backwards in reference to his marriage problems.

Ironically, Princess Diana died few months after the shooting of the video.

After careful planning of a third album, radio stations around the Arab world started airing "Ammanih", the lead single of her third studio album, in late 1997 which later became Haddad's biggest breakthrough.

Haddad also stepped out of her comfort zone when she started performing in dialects other than Lebanese and Bedouin in her fourth studio album Yammaya (1998) which included songs in Khaliji, Iraqi, and Egyptian dialects.

Hadded's career saw ups and downs, but overall she was able to produce memorable hit singles.

For this reason, Haddad enjoyed shooting the song "Yammaya" in the Giza pyramid complex in 1998.

During this time, Haddad formed a successful team with her Emirati ex-husband Suhail Al-Abdul who directed all of her music videos up until 2005 when she decided to work with new directors.