Ziad Rahbani, pioneering Lebanese musician and composer, dies at 69

Qatar Tribune

6 days ago

Lebanese musician and composer Ziad Rahbani, son of the iconic singer Fairuz and a pioneer of fusion jazz, has died at the age of 69 of a heart attack. 'On Saturday at 9:00am, the heart of the great artist and creator Ziad Rahbani stopped beating,' said a statement from the hospital where he was being treated in the capital, Beirut, on Saturday. Rahbani influenced generations of Lebanese people with his songs and especially his plays, whose lines are known by heart by both young and old. He was the son of Fairuz, the last living legend of Arabic song – and one of the most famous Arab women worldwide – and composer Assi Rahbani, who, along with his brother Mansour, modernised Arabic song by blending classical Western, Russian, and Latin American pieces with Middle Eastern rhythms. 'I admire the music of composers like Charlie Parker, Stan Getz and Dizzy Gillespie,' Rahbani once said. 'But my music is not Western, it's Lebanese, with a different way of expression.' Fairouz also became an icon for young people when Rahbani composed songs for her influenced by jazz rhythms – he called it 'oriental jazz'.(Agencies)