Umm Kulthum: Star of the East is a picture book about the Arab world’s biggest diva and greatest singer. Nicknamed Al-Sit (The Lady), Kawkab al Sharq (The Star of the East), Al Haram al-Rabe’ (Egypt’s Fourth Pyramid), and, even, Umm al-Arab (Mother of the Arabs), Umm Kulthum was the daughter of an Egyptian village sheikh, who rose to prominence when few women dared to take the stage. For more than 50 years, she mesmerized the Arab world with her powerful voice and poetic songs that spoke of love, longing and Arab nationalism. Even today, decades after her death, her voice continues to fill coffee shops and living rooms across the Arab world.
explore umm kulthum
WHY UMM KULTHUM IS LOVED THROUGHOUT THE WORLD:
Young Arabs talk about Umm Kulthum 45 years after her death on TRT (Turkish Television)
Umm Kulthum at The Olympia, Paris, November 14, 1967. Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone/Getty Images
In 2023, Rolling Stone Magazine included Umm Kulthum as number 61 of the 200 GREATEST SINGERS OF ALL TIME.
“Umm Kulthum has no real equivalent among singers in the West: For decades the Egyptian star represented, and to an extent still does, the soul of the pan-Arab world. Her potent contralto, which could blur gender in its lower register, conveyed breathtaking emotional range in complex songs that, across theme and wildly-ornamented variations, could easily last an hour, as she worked crowds like a fiery preacher. Her death in 1975 brought millions into the Cairo streets to mourn, and while her influence among Arab singers is incalculable, it extended far beyond it. Dylan considered her “great.” Beyoncé prominently (and scandalously) used “Enta Omri” in her 2016 tour choreography. And Robert Plant conceded that “when I first heard the way [Umm Kulthum] would dance down through the scale to land on a beautiful note I couldn’t even imagine singing, it was huge: Somebody had blown a hole in the wall of my understanding of vocals.” —W.H.”
TIKTOK: UMM KULTHUM ROLLING STONE TOP 200 SINGERS OF ALL TIME By Yalla, Let’s Talk
LIVE INTERVIEW, AFTER HER CONCERT IN FRANCE:
WHAT IS ARABIC MUSIc?
Georges Collinet, host of NPR’s Afropop Worldwide on, WHAT MAKES ARAB MUSIC UNIQUE:
ARABIC MUSIC 101
This series is in German, with English subtitles. You have to read, but it’s excellent!
Four Part Series on Arabic Music,Produced by The Qatar Foundation International
PART 1: Countries of Origin
PART 2: Arab Music Instrument
PART 3: Rhythm in Arabic Music
PART 4: Tone Systems in Arab Music
PLAYLISTS/ VIDEO
UMM KULTHUM’S LIVE CONCERTS PLAYLIST
Umm Kulthum Singing ENTA OMRI (YOU ARE MY LIFE), at the Olympia Théâtre in Paris, November 1967.
ALF LAYLA WA LAYLA (One Thousand and One Nights) with Lyrical translation
Umm Kulthum Singing Ba’eed Anak (AWAY FROM YOU), at the Olympia Théâtre in Paris, November 1967.
Umm Kulthum appeared in many movies. This song, Ghaniley, Shway Shway (SING TO ME, A LITTLE, A LITTLE) has been remade by countless musicians since it first appeared in 1945 in the movie Salama. In the movie Umm Kulthum plays a shepherdess with a charming voice, who is in love with a man named Abdelrahman. When Ibn Suhail stands in their way, Salama runs away to protect herself and her love, leading to Abdelrahmans journey to find her.
Clip from the movie:
The song:
FULL BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Cormack, Raphael. Midnight in Cairo: The Divas of Egypt’s Roaring ‘20s. Saqi Books, 2021.
Danielson, Virginia. The Voice of Egypt: Umm Kulthum, Arabic Song, and Egyptian Society in the Twentieth Century. The University of Chicago Press, 1997.
Fernea, Elizabeth Warnock and Bezirgan, Basima Qattan. Middle Eastern Muslim Women Speak. University of Texas Press, 1977. (Excerpts from The Umm Kulthum Nobody Knows, as told by Umm Kulthum, Famed Egyptian Singer, to Mahmud ‘Awad, translated by the editors.)
Lohman, Laura. Umm Kulthum, Artistic Agency and the Shaping of an Arab Legend, 1967-2007. Wesleyan University Press, 2010.
Documentary Film:
Umm Kulthum: A Voice Like Egypt, Directed by Michal Goldman, based on the book by Virginian Danielson, The Voice of Egypt, Umm Kulthum, Arabic Song and Egyptian Society in the Twentieth Century, narrated by Omar Sharif. The Filmmakers Collaborative, 1996.
LINK TO UMM KULTHUM: A VOICES LIKE EGYPT
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLfONsv8BEI