King Mohamed Mounir turns 63

CAIRO – 10 October 2017: October 10 marks the birthday of the legendary international Egyptian singer and actor King Mohamed Mounir.

Egypt Today celebrates his birthday and introduces to you a profile about his music career.

Mounir was born in Aswan, and came to Cairo with his family after the immigration of Nubian people during the High Dam construction.

He graduated from the photography, cinema and TV department, Faculty of Applied Arts, Helwan University, and he started his musical career in the late 1970s.

He started his career by singing with his brother Fouad, who has supported Mounir throughout his journey.

Mounir’s real beginning happened when he met the prominent Egyptian poet Abdel Reheem Mansour and the Nubian musician and singer Ahmed Mounib.





The meeting heralded a cooperation between international jazz legend Yehia Khalil and Mounir, Mansour and Mounib, which changed the shape of Egyptian music and constructed an influential chapter in Arabic music history.

Mixing Nubian music with the scale of fifth, which is also known in Arabic as “Al-Selem Al-Khomasy” with jazz music, made Mounir the first Arabic singer to introduce jazz music to Arab listeners.

“Shababek” was listed as one of the best Arabic/African music albums.

Singing in a mixed Egyptian/Nubian accent is one of the definitive features of Mounir's musical style. Mounir sang in a pure Nubian accent in the song "Shamandoura," and in a Moroccan accent in "Hikmet Al-Aqdar" [The Wisdom of Fates].

Believing in the cultural role of music and cinema; Mounir acted in many films and series such as “Al-Youm Al-Sades” [The Sixth Day] and “Al-Maseer” [The Fate] with the legendary international Egyptian director Youssef Shahin.



He also played the role of the singer in “Al-Malek Howa Al-Malek” play.



The last role Mounir played on screen was in 2016 in “Al Moghani” [The Singer]; a documentary series tackling Mounir’s own biography.




Peace, love, hope, Egypt, and childhood are the main themes of Mounir's songs.

“Al Ard We Al Salam” [The Land and Peace] was a religious spiritual album by Mounir, released in 2002; which brought him CNN’s Prize of Peace.

He won MEMA in 2008 for Best Singer.



He also won the Platinum Award for Best Arabic Egyptian singer from the international music production company Universal. His song "Yasmina," which featured Adel Al Tawel and Ich Und Ich band, sold 700,000 copies in Germany.

“El Laila Ya Samra” was listed as one of the best 50 African songs of the 20th Century by BBC.

He was awarded the Diamond Award by BAMA Awards.

Mounir also sang the official theme song of one of the most famous Egyptian cartoons ever; "Bakkar."

Acting spontaneously on stage, following certain body language, and using remarkable casual outfits; are all distinguishing features of Mounir's live concerts.




He released a number of music videos such as "Shetta" [Winter], "Belad Tiba" [Tiba's Lands], "Madad Ya Rasoul Allah" [Help me, Prophet of God].






Mounir became the first voice of the January 25 Revolution through his song "Ezay" [How]; which carried political innuendos.

He is one of the most beloved Egyptian artists by the Egyptian youth and elite at the same time.

Cooperating with a number of leading artists, Mounir released “Aa'lam Gadeed” [New World] with Hamid al-Sha'ery, "Belad Tiba" [Tiba Lands] with Anoushka, "Leh ya Donia El Wahed" [Why Life] with Khaled Aggag, and "Al-Qahera" with Amr Diab.



In 2017, Mounir cooperated with Adel Al Tawil in "One World;" a song that tackles the issue of refugees.



Mounir’s career comprises more than 30 albums including: "Momken" [Maybe], "Wist Al-Dayra" [In the Center of the Circle], "Shababek" [Windows], and "Etkalemi" [Speak Up].


Mounir is still capable of introducing innovative music and performing live, and he is still enriching the music scene locally and internationally.