Haifa Wehbe

Haifa Wehbe (هيفاء وهبي ; born 10 March 1972) is a Lebanese singer and actress.

She is considered one of Lebanon's most famous and successful singers, and one of the best-known artists in the Arab world.

Haifa Wehbe was born on March 10, 1972, in Mahrouna, Tyre District, South Governorate, Lebanon to a Lebanese Shia Muslim father, Muhammad Wehbe, and an Egyptian mother, Sayeda Abd al-Aziz Ibrahim.

Haifa grew up in the capital, Beirut.

She has three sisters and one brother.

Her half-sister Rola Yamout posted a leaked document indicating that she was born in 1972.

Wehbe won the title of Miss South Lebanon at the age of sixteen, and was a runner-up at the Miss Lebanon competition, but the title was withdrawn later from her after it was discovered that she violated the competitions law, as she was married and a mother.

At one point, she mentioned that she is three years younger than her ex-husband Ahmed Abou Hashima, who was born in 1975.

Wehbe claimed once that she was born in 1976, a date repeated by numerous sources.

In the 1990s, Wehbe married her cousin Nasr Fayyad when she was 18 and traveled with him to Nigeria where he worked.

During her pregnancy, she returned to Lebanon and separated from Fayyad, with whom she had one daughter, Zeinab.

In 1991, at the age of eighteen, she was chosen as Miss South Lebanon, and the holder of the title of Miss Lebanon for the year 1992, but the title was withdrawn from her because of her violation of the laws of the competition, as she was married and a mother.

She began her life as a model and also participated as a model in several video clips and television commercials, then worked as a broadcaster on the Arab Radio and Television Network in 1999, and presented her first albums in 2001 and presented many albums and performed several concerts in many Arab countries.

Wehbe released her second studio album Baddi Aech (Arabic: بدي عيش, English: "I Want to Live") in early 2005, following the success of lead single "Ya Hayat Albi."

Released after the assassination of Lebanese politician Rafik Hariri, the title single of the album is about "freedom, considered to be among the most basic of human rights".

Follow-up single "Aana Haifa" (Arabic: أنا هيفاء, English: "I Am Haifa") became her biggest hit to date.

In Summer 2005, she participated as a guest in Al Wadi, a local version of The Farm.

She has been among the highest-selling and most successful Middle Eastern woman in the world, She was ranked 8th on the list of the "99 most desirable women” in 2006 by Askmen.com. During her career, she won many awards in the category of actresses, singers and performers. She has released seven studio albums, and made her acting debut in the 2008 Pepsi-produced film Sea of Stars. In 2006, Wehbe was on People Magazine's 50 most beautiful people list. Wehbe is also the second richest Arab celebrity, with a reported estimated wealth of over $57 million.

In 2006, she released the kids song "Bus al-Wawa" (Arabic: بوس الواوا, English: "Kiss the Booboo"), the song was later used in a Pepsi advertisement.

It was also voted Song of the Year in 2006 by Radio Scope and Sawt Al Musika.

On June 25, 2007, Wehbe survived an accident while filming a music video for the song "Hasa Ma Bena" in Lebanon.

In the video, a single engine airplane was to chase Wehbe as she drove a car.

She entered the field of acting as a guest of honor in the film Bahr Al Nojoum in 2008, and in 2009 she was chosen to star in the film Dokan Shehata, which was directed by Khaled Youssef.

Wehbe starred in the Pepsi-produced film Sea of Stars released in early 2008, along with Carole Samaha, Ahmad el Sherif, Wael Kfoury, Brigitte Yaghi, and Ruwaida al-Mahrouqi.

On July 4, 2008, Wehbe released her third studio album Habibi Aana (Arabic: حبيبي أنا, English: "My Love") which contains 15 songs including the lead single "Moush Adra Estana".

Wehbe released a children's album Baby Haifa in March 2010 under Rotana Records.

The song on the album "Baba Fein" became a big hit around the Muslim world, and is considered one of the most popular Arabic nursery rhymes, having 38 million views on YouTube.

In April 2010, Wehbe was featured on French DJ David Vendetta's album Vendetta on the song "Yama Layali".

In September 2011 Al Bawaba reported that Wehbe was threatening to leave her label Rotana "for neglecting her and not paying any attention to her work".

"Malikat Jamal Al Kawn" (MJK; English: "Miss Universe") was released on May 8, 2012 under Rotana Records, where she worked with Aphex Twin.

During summer 2013, Webhe released her new song "Ghala Ghala".

In 2014, she signed with Tarik Freitekh's label and Wehbe shot her new song "Farhana" on June 21, 2014 in “Your Face Sounds Familiar” 2014 (Arabic translation: شكلك مش غريب).

In August 2014, she announced that she would be releasing a new song titled "Breathing You In" along with a video clip featuring Casper Smart.

In 2018, she starred in an Egyptian drama Lanaat Karma.

In September 2018, Haifa released her seventh studio album, Hawwa.

The album features 15 songs, and debuted at No. 1 on iTunes charts.

The album was produced independently by Wehbe herself, without a record label.

In 2020, she accused her ex-business manager, Mohamed al-Waziry, of stealing $4m from her bank account, including also her fees from producers and party organizers.

In 2021, Haifa Wehbe released a new duet song entitled “Law Kont” with Egyptian artist Akram Hosni, and it exceeded millions of views in a few hours and remained number one on various charts across the Middle East.

The music video was popular all over the world on YouTube.