Wadih El Safi Passes Away
Wadih El Safi, a famous Lebanese singer, songwriter, and actor died Friday at the age of 92, according to the Lebanese media.
A Lebanese cultural icon, El Safi is often called the “Voice of Lebanon”. Born in Niha, Shouf of Mount Lebanon , Wadih El Safi started his artistic journey at the age of seventeen when he took part in a singing contest held by Lebanese Radio and was chosen the winner among fifty other competitors.
Wadih El-Safi, (born Wadi’ Francis), is considered a pillar of Lebanese music and one of the most prominent figures in Arab music, nicknamed “the man with the golden throat” whose name and voice were associated with the mountains of Lebanon.
El Safi’s health severely deteriorated about this time last year, following a surgery to a broken leg.
Wadih El Safi is a classically trained tenor, having studied at the Beirut National Conservatory of Music. He began composing and performing songs that drew upon his rural upbringing and love of traditional melodies, blended with an urban sound, and creating a new style of modernized Lebanese folk music.
El-Safi was known of his love to Syria and the Syrian people. He always said that the Syrian and Lebanese peoples are considered as one people and that Syria, represented by its leadership, and people, was a key sponsor for art and artists.
His song “Syria, the Home of Peace” was his last work dedicated to glorify Syria as cradle of peace and coexistence and to thank the country for the care it has accorded to Arab artists.
The Syrian Information Ministry and the Artists’ Guild offered their sincere condolences to the late singer’s family.
In 1947, El Safi traveled to Brazil, where he remained until 1950.
El Safi toured the world, singing in many languages, including Arabic, Syriac, French, Portuguese and Italian.
He helped give the Lebanese song its identity by developing folk and country singing, stirring homesickness to country and countryside in expatriates.
El Safi has written over 3000 songs. He is well known for his mawawil (an improvised singing style) of ‘ataba, mijana, and Abu el Zuluf. He has performed and recorded with many well-known Lebanese musicians, including Najwa Karam, Fairouz, and Sabah. His songs are as famous as Lebanon and the Cedar tree.
El-Safi reportedly received medals from many countries and participated in several major festivals, “dedicating his art to God and uniting people’s heart, with his music reviving humane, national and religious values for 75 years.”
His Funeral will be held Monday afternoon October 14 at the St. George Cathedral in downtown Beirut.
Wadih El Safi will be greatly missed by his Lebanese and Arab fans, but his songs will live on forever.
H.M