Nawal El Zoghbi

Nawal El Zoghbi (نوال الزغبي, also spelled Nawal Al Zoghbi; born 29 June 1971) is a Lebanese singer and actress.

She is Queen of Arab Pop, She achieved popularity first by singing traditional Arabic music with a pop sensibility, and also embracing newer trends in different music genres and scenes.

In 1988 she participated in the Lebanese talent show Studio El Fan.

In 1988, El Zoghbi participated in the talent show Studio El Fan in which she demonstrated a great voice singing "Tarab" songs especially songs of her muse and diva Warda and was noticed by then director of the show Simon El Asmar.

However, El Zoghbi decided to withdraw from the talent show.

El Zoghbi became the number one female star of the nineties, with revolutionary video clips, looks and style.

She was among the most popular Arab artists during the 1990s, which propelled her to stardom in the Arab world.

Born to a Maronite Christian family in the coastal small town of Jubeil (Byblos), El Zoghbi holds both Lebanese and Canadian citizenship.

She is the oldest born, and has two brothers and one sister.

She began singing at an early age, despite familial opposition to the lifestyle of a musician.

Members of her family changed their minds when they realized she was serious in her ambitions.

In 1990 she married Lebanese music manager Elie Deeb and went on to have three children with him.

From 1994 to 2002, she released an album almost every year, reigning as the number one female pop star of the Arab world for eight consecutive years.

Each year between 1994 and 2002 had at least one huge hit by El Zoghbi.

After her breakthrough hits "Ayza El Radd" in 1994 and "Balaee Fi Zamany" in 1995, she sang in 1996 a famous duet with Lebanese singer Wael Kfoury called "Min Habibi Ana"; this duo became the song of the year and of the decade.

In 1998, El Zoghbi released her biggest selling album Mandam aleik followed by the album Maloum in 1999.

After a two-year break, her next album, Eineik Kaddabeen, was released in the summer of 2004.

It was accompanied by two singles: "Eineik Kaddabeen" and "Bi'einek".

The "Bi'einek" video was directed by Nadine Labaki and featured El Zoghbi dancing and singing on a fantasy stage among her fans.

The video and the song became hugely popular, proving the continuing success of the "Golden Star" as the fans and media named El Zoghbi.

Immediately after promoting that album, El Zoghbi began work on her next project, Yama Alou, while releasing internationally a compilation album of her greatest hits to date through the EMI Music Distribution label on 24 November 2005.

She released the first single from her forthcoming album Rouhi Ya Rouhi in August 2005, marking the end of her five-year contract with Pepsi as she advertised the brand for the last time in this song's video clip.

The next single released from Yama Alou was "Shou Akhbarak" in February 2006 which was a big hit in Lebanon.

Yama Alou was intended to be released throughout the Middle East on 17 July 2006; however, due to the Israeli attacks on Lebanon, its release was postponed.

It was released on 26 July 2006 in Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

In the following weeks, it was made available in other countries around the Middle East and was finally released in Lebanon on 14 September 2006, once the war was over.

On 23 March 2007, it was announced that El Zoghbi would be producing her next album with the production company Rotana.

She officially joined Rotana at a press conference at the Movenpick in Beirut on 28 March 2007.

At a press conference held by LG Global at Dusit Dubai on 25 April 2007, it was announced that she would be the face to advertise LG cellular phones which the company will put out in 2007–2008 in the Middle East.

The conference was attended by a large crowd from over 100 various media outlets.

On 12 June 2007, El Zoghbi released the music video of her song "Aghla El Habayib" from the album Yama Alou, which was a continuation of the song "Shou Akhbarak" from the same album, and in which she promoted the new LG mobile.

On 8 August 2007, El Zoghbi notably returned to the Carthage Festival after an eight-year absence.

The couple legally separated in 2008, and El Zoghbi waited three years for the Maronite Church to recognize their divorce.

Khalas Sameht was released on 22 January 2008 in El Zoghbi's native Lebanon.

It was released internationally the next day.

It reached #1 on the Lebanese charts the first day, and sold extremely well the first week.

The first music video from the new album, titled "Albi Esalou", was first shown on TV channels on 5 February 2008.

The album was then officially launched at a press conference in Cairo, Egypt, on 12 February 2008 while staying on the top of the Egyptian charts for almost three months.

"Leih Moushtalak".

In late 2009, El Zoghbi was granted custody of her three children and in March 2011, her divorce was officially legalized.