Ahmed Adaweyah
Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox musical artist
Ahmed Adaweyah (Template:Langx; 26 June 1945 – 29 December 2024) was an Egyptian actor and singer of Sha'abi music. He also starred in 27 Egyptian films.
Early life and career
Adaweyah was born on 26 June 1945 in Minya Governorate, Egypt, to a livestock dealer, and he lived with 14 siblings.<ref name="sasapost">Template:Cite web</ref> He later moved to Cairo and started his career as a cafe waiter, while he also performed songs in Cairo in 1969, full of working class slang and double entendres. His recordings outsold many others and were circulated via audiocassette in the streets. Among them, "Salamit Ummih Hassan" referred to Egypt (as Umm Hassan) and its defeat in 1967; "Zahma ya Dunia, Zahma" lamented the crowded and hectic conditions in Cairo, "Ya Bint el-Sultan" became a favorite song performed for dancers. Like many Sha'abi singers, Adaweyah was capable of delivering a strong mawal (vocal improvisation).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Despite the disapproval of the music establishment and the exclusion of his songs from television or radio, they became popular as they spread on audiocassettes. He advanced to singing in five-star hotels and the best nightclubs of the time.<ref>Sayed Mahmoud, "Singing in the Shadow". Al-Ahram Weekly Online. 16–22 October 2008. http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/Archive/2008/918/sc2.htm</ref> He also had some copyright issues with his song "essah eddah embo" with other performers.<ref name="sasapost"/>
In 1989, Adaweyah was drugged and attacked by a jealous Kuwaiti emir, Talal bin Nasser.<ref>Andrew Hammond Popular Culture in the Arab World: Arts, Politics, and the Media 2007 9774160541 "On the streets a rhyming phrase was coined, Ahmed Adawiya, ba'd al- 'amaliya (Ahmed Adawiya, after the operation')."</ref> Officials claimed that he was found comatose after an overdose of heroin administered by person(s) connected to the jealous husband.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Adawiyya recovered sufficiently to sing again, although he was partially paralyzed. He has since appeared on various music programs. In 2009, he had a duet with Ramy Ayach, singing "Elnas Elray'a".<ref name="sasapost"/> In 2018, he released a new song "El Helw Wesel". meaning (The Sweet Reached) with Ukrainian dancer Alla Kushnir appearing in the music video for the song.<ref>Template:Cite youtube</ref>
Personal life and death
Adawuyyah married in 1976, he had a daughter, Warda, and a son, Mehammad, who was also a singer.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> His wife, Wanisa Ahmad, died in May 2024.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
On 29 December 2024, Adaweyah died from a long illness in Cairo. He was 79.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Egyptian folk legend Ahmed Adaweya passes away at 79</ref>
References
External links
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