E-mail Us

     In seven decades, Umm Kulthoum moved from being a normal poor country girl to
a true legend. Her millions of fans all over the Arab world gave her many names.
They called her the Star of the Orient, Mistress of Arab Singing and Toomeh, but the most famous was Al Sitt. Her mere appearance on the stage, holding her famous
kerchief,was enough to captivate millions of her fans throughout the Arab World.

     Like all females born in the Egyptian Countryside, her background was a typical
one, but she was not a typical girl. Her father, al-Shaykh Ibrahim al-Sayyid al-Baltaji
was the imam of the local mosque, and the most reliable study confirms that her
birthday is May 4, 1904, in a small village called Tammay al-Zahayrah, Al
Daqhaliya Province.According to Umm Kulthum’s description, her village was "… a
humble village. The highest building in it did not exceed two stories. The greatest
display of wealth was the umdah's (Mayor) carriage pulled by one horse. And there
was only one street in the whole village wide enough for that carriage. I sang in the neighboring villages, all of which were small. I thought that city of al-Sinbillawayn
(the closest city to the village) was the biggest city in the world and I used to listen
to news about it the same way one would listen to news about New York or London
or Paris."

     Her father augmented his tiny income as an imam by singing religious songs
in weddings and other celebrations of religious nature in his own and neighboring
villages. At the age of five she joined other girls in the mosque’s Kuttab, where she learnt sections of the Holy Quran by heart and excelled in reading its verses.

     Umm Kulthum learned to sing from her father. She overheard him teaching songs
to her brother, who used to accompany his father at the celebrations, for which al-Sheikh Ibrahim sang. Umm Kulthum learned the songs by rote. When the
father discovered and heard the unusual strength of her voice, he asked her to
replace her brother on an occasion when he fell ill.

     In no time Umm Kulthum became the star of the small family band. The earnings
rose quickly from one Rupee per performance to 25 Rupees. By 1920, the band
was charging 10 Egyptian Pounds per evening. Around that time, a famous singer
& composer, Abu al-ila Muhammad heard the young singer by coincidence and
realized immediately the potentials of her strong voice. He succeeded where
others failed, and convinced the father to move to the capital, Cairo.

     She set out to improve her skills in all areas. Her father hired music teachers,
and Abu al-ila introduced her to poet Ahmad Rami who taught her poetry and
improved her command of literary Arabic. She emulated the dress and manners of
the elite ladies in whose homes she sang and even became personal friends with a
few of them.

     When Umm Kulthum began singing in Cairo, she used at the beginning to sing
the same songs performed by her father before, in addition to a few popular songs
that she had learned along the way. Her father's repertory was customarily, that
sung by a solo vocalist accompanied by a chorus of two to four men. But in
the twenties, this style of performance was viewed as old-fashioned; even the
older singers, were accompanied by an instrumental takht (musical band).

     The young singer adapted quickly to the new tastes, and in no time hired
 accomplished and prestigious instrumentalists for her own takht. Her religious
qasa'id (classical poetry) and tawashih (religious lyrics) gave way to new and
modern love songs composed especially for her. This change, together with her
elegant personal style, thrust her into direct competition with the city's leading
singers. She climber the ladder of fame ten steps at a time, and by 1928, rose to
the top of the ranks of Cairo's professional singers. And later on, when the National
Radio was established in 1934, she became its favourite singer; thus expanding her
base of fans to many millions all over the Arab World.

     Health problems, however, plagued
Umm Kulthum every few years for much
of her life beginning in the thirties.
She became ill resulting from some sort
of problem with the liver and gall bladder
in the late summer of 1937. She also
suffered from the thyroid and
Respiratory System most of her life.

     In keeping with changing popular
taste as well as her own artistic
inclinations, in the early 1940s she
requested songs from composer
Zakariya Ahmad and colloquial poet
Bayram al-Tunisi. This represented a dramatic departure from the modernist
romantic songs of the 1930s. The result was populist songs that had lasting appeal
for the Egyptian audience. Later in the decade, Umm Kulthum engaged the
young composer Riyad al-Sunbati to set a number of qasa'id by Ahmad Shawqi.
The result was different from Zakariya and Bayram's songs but as neo-classical
works that were very well received. These songs established al-Sunbati as the
foremost composer of qasa'id of his generation.

     Like many of her compatriots, Umm Kulthum welcomed the Egyptian Revolution
of 1952 with enthusiasm. The Revolutionary Government demonstrated eagerness
to continue public entertainments, especially radio broadcasting, in an
uninterrupted manner. Her improved health enabled her to resume her normal
schedule of appearances in about 1955. At the same time, Umm Kulthum sought
new modern love songs from the younger generation of composers.  Her cultivation
of this new modernity culminated in collaboration with premier composer Muhammad
abd al-Wahab. In 1964, they produced the very popular song, "Inta Umri," which
was the first of ten by abd al-Wahab for Umm Kulthum.

     The relation between the two was not in fact very cordial. In the early thirties
they competed to win more fans. Some historians claim that Umm Kulthum would
not have considered the cinema as an option if Muhammad abd al-Wahab had
not become active in that field. Consequently, she starred in six films between
1935-1945 as a counter-measure against Muhammad abd al-Wahab’s six films in
the same period.

     Cooperation of Umm Kulthum and Muhammad abd al-Wahab would have
remained a dream without the personal intervention of the President Jamal
Abdul Nasser, who brought the two together and compelled them to cooperate.

     In her golden era, thousands of her devoted fans used to attend her
regular appearances, the first Thursday of every month, where she used to sing
a new song in Al Azbakia garden theater. Most of the newer generations that
watch now her recordings at that era wonder how she used to perform so far
from the microphones, and yet everyone among the huge crowd present heard
her clearly.

     In addition to her various artistic endeavors, Umm Kulthum consolidated her authority in the entertainment business during the 1940s by joining the Listening Committee, which selected the music appropriate for radio broadcasting, and by assuming presidency of the Musician's Union. She proved to be the best public relations agent that she could have for herself. She methodically and patiently
built a wide base of friends in the media, kept a frequent appearance in influential newspapers, the radio and later on, The television

She cultivated the position of spokeswoman for various causes. She advocated governmental support of Arabic music and musicians, she endowed a charitable foundation and, most importantly, after the defeat in the 1967 war, she began a series of domestic and international concerts for Egypt. She traveled throughout Egypt and the Arab world, collecting contributions and donating the proceeds of
her performances to the government. These concerts were much publicized and
took on the character of state visits. Umm Kulthum was entertained by heads of state, she toured cultural monuments, and, in interviews, repeated her views concerning the importance of support for indigenous Arab culture. More than a musician, she became "the voice and face of Egypt".

     Her health problems worsened as she aged. Her eyes remained hypersensitive
to light and in her later years, she wore dark glasses almost all the time. Beginning
in 1971, Umm Kulthum's health deteriorated dramatically. In March of that year,
she suffered a gall bladder attack, which resulted in the postponement of her
March and April concerts. The following winter, she was struck with a serious
kidney infection that forced the cancellation of two more concerts in February
and March of 1972.

     The song "Hakam alayna al-hawa" was scheduled for premiere in the spring of
1973. As was her custom, Umm Kulthum planned to record it before its first
performance. She did so with great difficulty on March 13, 1973. The recording
went on for twelve hours. And for the first time, she sang while sitting in a chair,
quietly brought to her by a recording engineer who saw that she was too weak to
remain standing. The concert at which the song was to have been premiered
was cancelled and the recording was released. That song became actually the
only one that Umm Kulthum did not perform for a live audience. On January 21, 1975,
she suffered the final kidney attack that led to her death on February 3.