Sabah Passes Away Aged 87
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
Famed Lebanese singer and actress Sabah whose seven-decade career made her one of the Arab world's best-known entertainers passed away at dawn on Wednesday aged 87.
Born Jeanette Gergis al-Feghali, known as Sabah, the diva was famous across the Arab world for her powerful voice, musical talent and joyful brazenness and is considered among the last of the "giants" — a crop of celebrated Lebanese singers that represent a golden age, including Fayrouz, Wadih el-Safi, Nasri Shamseddine and others.
She was born in the small Lebanese village of Bdadoun, and produced more than 3,000 songs and appeared in more than 90 films and over 20 stage plays.
Sabah was the first Arabic singer to perform at Sydney Opera House, Albert Hall in London, Carnegie Hall in New York and Olympia in Paris.
She brought out her first song in 1940, while her parallel screen career began three years later in Egypt, the center of the Arabic film industry.
She held Egyptian, Jordanian and U.S. citizenship as well as Lebanese, and continued to perform and make television appearances into her 80s.
Sabah was nicknamed "shahroura," Arabic for "singing bird" and "the Sabbouha," a diminutive for "Sabah" by millions of fans across the Middle East.
She was universally admired for her love of life and positive outlook even in her old age.
Prime Minister Tammam Salam said that the “our only condolences is that Sabah's legacy will remain engraved in our hearts.”
Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat was the first official to express sadness in a tweet over the news, considering that an “entire beautiful past of Lebanon passes away” with the death of Sabah.
“She was a great singer of a Lebanon that my generation knew and that will never come back,” he continued.
The funeral procession will be held at 11:00 am on Sunday at the St. George Greek Orthodox cathedral in downtown Beirut while condolences will be accepted at the cathedral on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.
H.K.
G.K.
26 November 2014, 20:30
00
Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat was the first official to express sadness in a tweet over the news, considering that an “entire beautiful past of Lebanon passes away” with the death of Sabah.
“She was a great singer of a Lebanon that my generation knew and that will never come back,” he continued.
a powerful statement in that how true it is that many of us will never experience the lebanon that many knew and that will never come back!
27 November 2014, 00:28
11
I had dinner with her in may of 2012 in LA.
God bless her soul.
26 November 2014, 08:33
66
Rest in peace and thank you for the years of wonderful music. You will never be forgotten!
26 November 2014, 08:41
23
The death of Sabah had deeply saddened the Nation. Indeed, the loss of those whom we love and treasure makes it hard to find the right words to bring comfort to those who are left behind.
We brought nothing to this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out
(1 Tim. 6.7).
May God, the comfort of the sad, and the strength of those who suffer let
the lights of His Power perpetually shine upon the soul of Sabah and work
in her the good purpose of His perfect Will.
26 November 2014, 09:09
95
Your passing away made me sad, Sabbouha. Sabbouha, this alias made her close to all our hearts.
She will remain entangled with the Lebanon that I love. She was the good life. The myth of pre-war Lebanon. The belief that everything will be alright and that the war will end and Lebanon will be rebuild.
She was Lebanon’s Venus and Aphrodite, a real goddess. She was a bond between us Lebanese. She was our girlfriend, our wife, our mistress. Our pretty sister, our funky grandma.
It didn’t matter what god you prayed to, what politics you followed, how poor or rich you were, if you were Lebanese, you had Sabah imprinted like an invisible tattoo on your subconscious mind.
But now she left us in very uncertain, dangerous and desperate times. She took with her a part of the Lebanon that I loved; a part that will never come back.
26 November 2014, 09:09
95
Sabah was more than a diva. She incarnated the positive, happy, joyful and our beautiful Lebanon.
She was bright, flashy, hard working and a real star. She was a smile, a breeze, eternal youth, the Lebanon of my youth.
She was a symbol of goodness, love and giving. She was everything beautiful that Lebanon had to give.
The Lebanese spirit that refused to die even during the darkest days of the civil war. But now she is no more.
I never knew she was so entrenched in my psyche. I felt like I lost someone very close although I do not remember meeting her.
If I had to choose between Sabah and Fairuz. Sabah would win every time, although it is Fairuz’ songs that I hear and enjoy. But just seeing Sabah on magazine pages made me happy, gave me hope.
26 November 2014, 12:03
46
My dear friends Sabah was indeed an Iconic singer that is irrespective whether we enjoyed listening to her songs or not. The singer represented the beautiful image of Lebanon's past that can never be compensated again. RIP Sabah.
This song is a tribute to great singer Sabah.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YjYT60Yq_w
26 November 2014, 12:17
54
Lebanon's Princess of hearts has left us now and with her a golden era of glory. Rest in Peace princess you will be sorely missed.
26 November 2014, 13:15
45
I do apologize to all for being acidic with this remark, but here we are paying tribute to a real lady, a lady who has done very much for Lebanon, given us immeasurable moments of joy with her songs, a charitable lady who has given so very much to the poor and needy. This thread has absolutely no attachments to politics, yet apparently there is an absolute IMBECILE here doing it his business to down thumb posts. I care less for his stupidity, but at some stage one can't ignore that it does taint somehow the spirit given to the tributes given to Sabah on Naharnet. If this imbecile can read, buzz off, you're being silly.
27 November 2014, 03:11
00
with her passing so goes the Golden era of Lebanon. May she rest in peace and I know she will always be remembered
