Umm Kulthum Annotated Bibliography

Umm Kulthum Umm Kulthum was the greatest singer of the 20th century’s Arab world. She was the model for Egyptian music. She was known as the “Voice of the People”. She starts singing at a time dominated by male but she could be the most popular singer in Egypt and in the Arab world .Although her extraordinary singing ability was enough. Her voice distinctive and magnificent performance delivers her to the perfection in the Arab world and the world to sing. Because of her style and lyrical upscale crossing she won the respect and appreciation of everyone.

Umm Kulthum was born in 1904; she had a very humble upbringing in a poor village in the Nile delta of Egypt. Her father a shaykh (Quranic reciter) was her first teacher. Umm Kulthum’s father was teaching her older brother songs and when he realized the power of his young daughter’s strong voice he began to include her in the lessons. Gradually Umm Kulthum started accompanied them at celebrations which they performed, she dressed in male Bedouin clothing so as not to know about her gender identity. Her early Quran learning and the fact that she knew all the rules

She suffered a lot until she reached this immortal success, and she carefully crafted her identity and the way that she wanted to be perceived by the public. At her death in 1975 she was passed through the streets by millions of ordinary Egyptians in lieu of a customary/traditional funeral. She was such a popular performer because she was readily available to the Arab world, whether you were female royalty sitting front row at a performance or a male villager listening to the community gramophone. She connected to all audiences. Her music lives on today through her recordings, present performers covering her music and through the study of her career. The Star of the East the Diva of Arabic Song, she will be remain a hard number in the world of Arab