Sabah

Hailed as the Empress of Lebanese Song, flamboyant vocalist and actress Sabah recorded 50 albums and appeared in over 98 movies during an iconic 50-year career in which she continually broke taboos for women in the Middle East. Born Jeanette Gergis Al-Feghali in the small mountain town of Bdadoun in Greater Lebanon in 1927, Sabah experienced a difficult childhood, suffering abuse at the hands of her violent, controlling father, and also witnessing the murder of her mother by her own brother. Sabah first started to find an escape from her tragic home life when she made her recording debut at the age of just 13, and subsequently attracted the attention of Egyptian film producer Asia Dagher, who brought her to his homeland to star in three films. Her first role as Sabah in El-Qalb Louh Wahid not only gave her the stage name that she would forever become known as, but also launched her as one of the biggest stars of her generation. Sabah went onto build an extensive filmography, receiving her highest level of acclaim for her roles in "Ataba Square" (1959), "The Second Man" (1960) and "Soft Hands" (1964), and starring opposite several legends of Egyptian cinema including Abdul Halim Hafez, Kamal Al Shennawi and Ahmad Mahzar. As well as dominating the world of crime dramas and romantic sagas, Sabah also carved out a hugely successful career as a singer where she worked with some of the Arab world's leading composers including Baligh Hamdy, Sayyed Mekkawi and Assi Rahbani, and became the leading purveyor of the Lebanese folk tradition known as the Mawal with songs such as "Zay el-Assal" ("Your Love is Like Honey on my Heart") and "Akhadou el-Reeh" ("They Took the Wind"). Sabah also became the first Arabic singer to perform at Paris' Olympia, New York's Carnegie Hall and London's Piccadilly Theatre, and alongside Fairuz, Wadih El Safi and Zaki Nassif, was one of four Lebanese musical stars credited with embodying "joie de vivre a la Libanaise." Sabah continued to court attention well into her 80s, largely thanks to her dyed blonde hair, garish costumes and extensive use of cosmetic surgery, but largely spent her final years living quietly at the Brazilia Suites Hotel in the Beirut suburb of Hazmieh before passing away in 2014 at the age of 87.