October 10 marks legendary singer Mohamed Mounir’s birthday

CAIRO – 10 October 2018: Legendary Egyptian singer and actor Mohamed Mounir celebrates his 64th birthday on Wednesday, October 10.

Egypt Today celebrates his birthday and brings to all his fans 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 supported Mounir throughout his journey. Mounir’s had his real debut when he met prominent Egyptian poet Abdel Reheem Mansour and Nubian musician and singer Ahmed Mounib.

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

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

“Shababik” 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 veteran late 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 Wal Salam” [The Land and Peace] was Mounir's spiritual album, released in 2002; the album brought him CNN’s Prize of Peace. Mounir also won MEMA in 2008 for Best Singer.



It is worth mentioning that Mounir won the Platinum Award for Best Arab Egyptian singer from the international music production company Universal and was awarded the Diamond Award by BAMA Awards.

His song "Yasmina," which featured Adel al-Tawel and Ich Und Ich band, sold 700,000 copies in Germany, while “El-Laila Ya Samra” was listed as one of the best 50 African songs of the 20th century by BBC.

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

Acting spontaneously on stage, and using remarkable casual outfits are the 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 alike.

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], "Shababik" [Windows], and "Etkalemi" [Speak Up]. He is still capable of introducing innovative music and performing live, and he is still enriching the music scene locally and internationally.