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Culture

In rare appearance, Fairuz mourns son Ziad Rahbani as Lebanon bids farewell

Legendary Lebanese singer Fairuz attended the funeral of her son, renowned composer and playwright, Ziad Rahbani, at a church in a town north of Beirut, in her first public appearance in years.

Protesters hold signs during a rally protesting against a death sentence given to Toomaj Salehi, a famous Iranian rapper, in Berlin, Germany, on April 28, 2024.

Culture

Iranian rapper Toomaj, who supported protests, released from prison

Toomaj Salehi was sentenced to death earlier this year after releasing a song in support of the Mahsa Amini protests, though the ruling was overturned by the supreme court.

Image of Toomaj Salehi.

Culture

Iranian rapper Toomaj sentenced to death over protest support

Toomaj Salehi is the latest musical artist to be sentenced in relation to the 2022 anti-government protests in Iran.

A general view during MDLBEAST SOUNDSTORM 2021 on Dec. 19, 2021, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia's SRMG invests in music streamer Anghami, Spotify’s Middle East rival

Beirut-founded Anghami is the most popular music streaming platform in the MENA region, with 120 million registered users, up from 75 million in 2021.

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Culture

What's behind removal of Palestinian Mohammed Assaf's song from Spotify?

Arab Idol Winner (2012) Mohammed Assaf conducts interviews for The Idol co financed by the Doha Film Institute on day 2 of the Ajyal Youth Film Festival 2015 on November 30, 2015 in Doha, Qatar. (Photo by Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images)

Culture

Egypt hopes Colombian superstar's song will draw tourists

Karol G attends the 23rd Annual Latin Grammy Awards at Michelob ULTRA Arena., Las Vegas, Nov. 17, 2022.

Culture

Lebanese band Mashrou’ Leila quits after years of harassment over sexual orientation

Musicians Haig Papazian, Carl Gerges and Hamed Sinno of Mashrou' Leila pose for a picture , New York, Nov. 1, 2017.

Turkish megastar comes under fire for centennial concert in Izmir

Turkish pop singer Tarkan performs March 3, 2007, during his concert in Rotterdam.

In the Studio Project’s live performance in Istanbul on June 30.

Culture

Syrian musicians carve out small space in Istanbul’s live music scene

Istanbul’s Syrian-run small art spaces have become a conduit of connection between locals and the refugee population through music amid high running anti-refugee sentiment across the country.

Shiite Muslim clerics march with a banner saying that alcohol is the root of all sin, during a demonstration in Baghdad on Dec. 3, 2020.

Conservative groups seek to shut down concerts in Iraq

Iraqis fear that Islamic parties and armed religious groups are trying to impose their fundamentalist views on social and personal freedoms.

Mobile billboards urging Justin Bieber to cancel his upcoming concert in Saudi Arabia near the Microsoft Theater on Nov. 21, 2021 in Los Angeles, California.

Khashoggi's fiancee urges Justin Beiber to cancel Saudi performance

Hatice Cengiz called on the Canadian pop star to choose "justice and freedom over money."

A woman plays the piano on stage during the opening of the "Red Carpet" cinema festival in Gaza City, Gaza Strip, May 12, 2016.

Japanese grand piano, gifted to Arafat in 1997, plays on in Gaza

The Yamaha grand piano that Japan gave to the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in 1997 returns to make music again after being exposed to three devastating wars.

A Yemeni artist sitting atop the rubble of a collapsed buiding plays the guitar during a street performance, Taez, Yemen, Dec. 6, 2019.

Houthis under fire for arresting wedding singer in Yemeni capital

There are calls in Sanaa to form a union to defend the rights of singers, amid ongoing abuses and arrests targeting them by the Houthi rebel authorities.

Jin of BTS performs onstage during 102.7 KIIS FM's Jingle Ball 2019 Presented by Capital One at the Forum on Dec. 6, 2019 in Los Angeles, California.

Turkey’s Family Ministry moves to turn down K-pop

Turkey is full of young fans of Korean pop music, angering conservatives who claim the K-pop movement encourages homosexuality.

Provocative music video leads to arrests in Iran

Iran has arrested two music producers for working on Sasan Heidari Yafteh's new music video, "Tehran Tokyo."

A Chinese dancer warms up before performing at a belly dancing school in the Egyptian capital Cairo on December 12, 2012. This picture was taken during a belly dancing festival with international performers from China, Russia, Lebanon, Tunisia and Britain. The festival organisers said they had received phone threats during the event, while some people, dreading the rise of Islamists to power, have expressed concern over restrictions to public freedoms posing a threat to Egypt's national dance. AFP PHOTO/PAT

Egyptian dancers call for protecting belly dance

Several belly dancers in Egypt are leading a campaign to preserve their traditional dance from whom they describe as intruders that have sexualized the dance performance.

Fans of Iranian singer, instrumentalist and composer Mohammad-Reza Shajarian gather outside the Jam hospital in Tehran where he has died on October 8, 2020. - Singer, instrumentalist and composer Mohammad-Reza Shajarian, who died today aged 80, embodied traditional and classical Iranian music for more than half a century both at home and abroad. A national treasure in his homeland, Shajarian nevertheless maintained difficult relations with the authorities in Tehran throughout his career, first under the rei

Protests break out in Iran after death of famed singer

Mohammad Reza Shajarian was a renowned singer and composer of classical music. He also notably supported the 2009 protests in the country.

ISTANBUL, TURKEY - JULY 26: Atmosphere at the J Balvin concert sponsored by Guess at Kucukciftlik Park on July 26, 2019 in Istanbul, Turkey. (Photo by Levent Kulu/Getty Images for Guess)

Turkish music sector in hot water due to pandemic, arbitrary restrictions

The coronavirus pandemic has wreaked havoc on Turkey's music industry that is already experiencing tough times due to a ban on alcohol advertising that has prevented companies from sponsoring events and festivals with their brand names.

Gazan child raps about broken dreams under siege

Abdel Rahman Salih al-Shanti, an 11-year-old rapper from the Gaza Strip, has made international headlines, with English rap songs evoking Gaza’s wars and sufferings under the Israeli blockade.

Maestro Harout Fazlian conducts rehearsals ahead of the Sound of Resilience concert inside the Temple of Bacchus at the historic site of Baalbek in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley, on July 4, 2020. - The Lebanese philharmonic orchestra performed to spectator-free Roman ruins in east Lebanon, after a top summer festival downsized to a single concert in a year of economic meltdown and COVID-19 pandemic. The Baalbek International Festival was instead beamed live on television and social media, in what its direc

Lebanon's Baalbeck Festival moves world audience with dramatic online performance

Lebanon's beloved Baalbeck Festival has survived various challenging times, and this year was no exception.