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Fans Lend Their Voices to Fairouz, the Silenced Diva
Fans of Fairouz, the Arab world’s most famous singer, are up in arms about a bitter legal row that has stopped her performing live. From Beirut to the Gulf – and as far away as Australia – the diva’s supporters are making their voices heard to complain that she is being cruelly silenced.
Hundreds of self-styled “Fairouziyoun” led by prominent Arab artists and assorted beautiful people gathered on the steps of the museum in the Lebanese capital on Tuesday to play her greatest hits and express their solidarity and adoration. “The voice of the angels is confronting greed,” read one placard.
A protest concert was also held by fans in Egypt. “Today is a day of silence,” declared the star’s director daughter Rima. “Let us hold our peace and hear only the voice of Fairouz.” Al-Ittihad, a newspaper in the United Arab Emirates, headlined its story simply: “Shame!”
Fairouz’s crystalline voice – her stage name means “turquoise” in Arabic – and her haunting lyrics about love, life, Lebanon and Jerusalem, have made her an icon second only to the legendary Egyptian singer Umm Kulthum, mourned by millions when she died. Like her, Fairouz, who is Lebanese by origin and is now 75, is loved and feted as a national treasure across the Arabic-speaking world – and known and admired far beyond it.
The problem arose last month when a Beirut court banned the star from performing one of her classic operettas, Ya’ish, Ya’ish (Long Live, Long Live) because of a wrangle over royalties.
Many of Fairouz’s works were co-written and composed by her late husband Assi al-Rahbani and his brother Mansour. When Mansour died, his children filed a suit against Fairouz, triggering a court order stopping her performing material that involved his contribution.
But if the legal issues of the case are complex, the emotions it has aroused are simple and powerful. “Fairouz is not an ordinary singer,” declared the Egyptian film star Ilham Shaheen, who flew to Beirut to join the museum sit-in. “She is a great artistic personality who has entertained millions for decades. We cannot keep silent over this humiliating attitude to her, and to art and artistes in general. Fairouz to me is above all laws. She is like the mother whom, even when she errs, we are eager to forgive.”
Elias Harfoush, a commentator for the pan-Arab newspaper al-Hayat, lamented how a sordid financial dispute “leaves wounds in our hearts because of what this angelic voice is being subjected to”. Julia Boutros, another Lebanese star, said: “Nothing can stop or silence Fairouz because she is a symbol of freedom.”
Lebanese of all communities are fiercely proud of the woman they call “our ambassador to the stars” or “neighbour to the moon”. Unusually, Fairouz faced criticism at home for performing in Damascus when it was the capital of Arab culture in 2008, when memories of the Syrian occupation were still fresh. Thousands of fans screaming her name greeted her as she drove across the border – and she still received a rapturous reception when she next sang, at an Orthodox mass in west Beirut.
Outrage over her silencing has been a reminder of the extraordinary loyalty she still inspires across the region. Wael al-Semary, an Egyptian journalist, announced the formation of a global fan club which would use its revenues to buy out or compensate the Rahbani heirs. Judging by the comments on Fairouz’s official Facebook page – which has more than half a million members – it shouldn’t be too hard to raise the cash. “There’s no one like you on earth,” wrote one fan, Christina. Fatima called her: “Queen of art and beauty.” Mohammed Samy’s message was a succinct model of blind adulation: “Fairouz is my life.”
Ian Black
guardian.co.uk