Sami Yusuf: biography, personal life and family, musical career, photo

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Stunning young looking guy with good looks and also knows how to carry himself on stage. "Who are we talking about here?" you ask. This is said about Sami Yusuf, whose biography this article will be devoted to. This name sounds in almost all corners of Egypt and the countries of the Middle East.

Walk through the bustling streets of Cairo and you will, of course, hear talk about Sami Yusuf's biography, personal life and work.

Huge popularity

In Eastern countries, even unfamiliar passers-by talk about it with each other. The star smiles from posters and TV screens. Employees of newspapers and magazines follow his every move and put their observations on the front pages of issues. He is the advertising face of the cell phone company Vodafone in Egypt.

Unlike many of his Western colleagues, Sami Yusufdoes not like to spread his personal life and biography.

Representative of Oriental culture in Britain

Singer Sami Yusuf strikes the imagination of lovers of Eastern romance with the performance of nasheeds (Muslim songs). He calls his compositions "A mixture of Western and Asian art." The hero of this article was born and raised in the UK. Graduated from the Royal Academy of Music.

Sami made a tourist trip to Cairo a few years ago with childhood friends from London who work for the Muslim information campaign Awakening and preach Islam through literature, music and other arts. This organization is also known for publishing discs with religious songs.

"Our goal was to learn Arabic. Therefore, we chose Cairo. After all, this city is famous throughout the world as a source of Islamic knowledge and a place where they are excellently taught. It is also the musical capital of the Arab world," says Sami Yusuf. Speaking there, he soon felt like a real star of the eastern stage.

Cairo is considered the birthplace of the best musicians and composers in the Muslim world, such as Umm Kulthum and Abdel Wahhab. "The rest of the Arab world takes a cue from this city in the field of art. So I am proud that I received recognition here," says the hero of this article. When the British Embassy in Cairo hosted an English Islamic art festival, Yusuf was asked to be the main guest of the event.

Festival conceptexpressed in the slogan "Art with a Purpose". Sami Yusuf says: "We have a unique approach to organizing this event. We try to focus on non-political areas of life in order to overcome disunity wherever we go."

Everyone who has ever watched the clips of Sami Yusuf remembers a young man with an oriental appearance in a classic suit who sings songs with religious content.

In one of the videos, he rides around London on the famous red double-decker bus. A real Brit, but with oriental roots! In the West, Sami Yusuf is called the greatest Islamic rock star. He was born in the capital of Iran, Tehran, to a family of Azerbaijani origin. The singer's grandparents left Baku after the Bolsheviks came there during the civil war.

Introducing Music

From an early age, Sami Yusuf showed great interest in music. Many genres have influenced him. When he moved to west London with his parents, what he loved most was listening to recordings of Western classical music and ethnic masterpieces from the Middle East.

He learned to play the piano and violin as well as the national instruments oude, setar and tonbake.

When a young man graduated from school, he faced the question of choosing a future profession. Among other things, he considered the possibility of becoming a lawyer. In 2003, Sami Yusuf recorded his first album, produced by the artist himself. This album became an international success. This circumstanceprompted the young singer to decide to pursue a professional music career.

Albums

Spiritique (spiritual) - this is how the hero of this article calls his own style.

His first album Al-mu'allim is in English but contains some fragments of Arabic poetry. This record is a big hit, especially in North Africa and the Middle East.

After 2 years, the second album was released. Each of these discs has sold over 10 million copies. All songs were written and performed by Sami Yusuf. He is also the producer of the disc. The last piece of the second album was included in the soundtrack of the film "The Kite Runner", directed by Mark Forster in 2007.

This artist's work is distinguished by the simultaneous use of Eastern and Western instruments. The album was enthusiastically received by a predominantly young audience due to the predominance of topics close to this circle of listeners in the verses.

Sami Yusuf's third disc was called "a well-produced album" by the American magazine Rolling Stone. The hero of the article says that a new chapter in his work begins with him.

As already mentioned, the singer does not like to talk about his personal life in an interview. Therefore, photos of Sami Yusuf's wife are usually absent in biographies. Some sources indicate that the artist's wife's name is Mariam, and they have been married for over 10 years. It is known that, going on tour, the singer sometimes takes his wife with him. So, giving an interview to one of the sites after a speech inKyrgyzstan, he admitted that he and his wife had long dreamed of visiting this country.

When talking about biography and personal life, Sami Yusuf never talks, but she remembers her childhood with pleasure.

Music Family

In the family of the hero of this article, for several generations, they have been exclusively engaged in music. The first teacher of playing the instruments was his own father for the boy. Answering questions about his biography, Sami Yusuf says that he is infinitely grateful to his parents for the long hours spent on his education and upbringing.

The singer once said that he has two nephews and over 60 brothers and sisters, all of whom are professional musicians.

About songs

Speaking about his creative biography, Sami Yusuf mentions which artists have had the greatest influence on him. He usually names Yusuf Islam (Kat Stevens) and Dawood Wornsby. And when a singer wants to cheer up and relax, he usually listens to Ahmad Bukhatir.

The hero of this article believes that the lyrics should not contain anything that is contrary to moral standards.

He says that if music is written properly, it can become a real medium of communication between people of different nationalities and cultures.

Conclusion

This article was devoted to the biography of Sami Yusuf. The singer is very popular in Asia and Africa, as well as among Western lovers of oriental music. In this short biography, photos of Sami Yusuf were alsopresented. Most of the chapters are devoted to the work of the musician. The singer, as befits a real artist, is more willing to talk about his albums.