Legendary Syrian star Sabah Fakhri passes away at 88

CAIRO – 2 November 2021: On November 2, the Syrian Artists Syndicate mourned the Syrian star Sabah Fakhri, who died at the age of 88.

Fakhri was born in Aleppo in 1933. He was awarded the Syrian Order of Merit of the Excellent Class in 2007, in recognition of his great and distinguished achievements in the service of art.

The late star  also held several positions and was elected Head of the Artists Syndicate in Syria, Vice-president of the Arab Artists Union and director of the Syrian Song Festival.

Moreover, Fakhri made a record when he sang in Caracas, Venezuela for 10 continuous hours in 1968.

Fakhri performed many concerts in Arab and foreign cities, and won many awards and honors. Also, Egypt established an art association in his name.

Fakhri was honored with Hean appreciation for his outstanding performance and entered the Guinness Book of Records for the longest continuous singing period.

Fakhri started singing in the Syrian radio in 1948, where he was famous for his melodious voice and his singing of the authentic tarab.

Despite his artistic success, Fakhri decided to pursue his academic studies, so he completed secondary school at the Arab Islamic Institute in Aleppo, and graduated in 1952, obtaining a qualification certificate to teach. He eventually worked as a teacher in 1953.

Fakhri became one of the figures of Arab singing and was famous in the international records of singers as one of the most important singers of the East. He composed and sang many Arabic poems for the poets Abu Al-Tayyib Al-Mutanabbi, and Abu Firas Al-Hamdani, among others.

He also composed and sang for modern poets including Fouad Yazigi, Antoine Shaarawy, and Galal Al-Dahhan.