Alaa Wardi (Arabic: علاء وردي)(Persian:علا واردی) (born 13 January 1987) is an Iranian singer, songwriter,
a cappella
''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...
artist, and producer. He gained popularity through the online video sharing platform, YouTube, where he publishes covers of Middle Eastern, English, Bollywood and K-pop hits, and original ballads.
Wardi released his album ''Fi Ba7ri'' in 2015 and ''Madinat Al Salah'' in 2016. He is also part of the Arab rock and pop band
Hayajan
Hayajan (هيجان) is an Arabic independent Rock music, Rock and Pop music, Pop band formed in 2011. The group launched their first album ''Ya Bay'' in May 2013, and their second album ''Khusouf Al-Ard'' in 2019.
Band members
* Alaa Wardi ...
.
Career
Alaa Wardi studied music and sound engineering at the
University of Jordan
The University of Jordan ( ar, الجامعة الأردنية), often abbreviated UJ, is a public university located in Amman, Jordan. Founded in 1962 by royal decree, it is the largest and oldest institution of higher education in Jordan. ...
, and after graduating in 2008, he moved back to Riyadh to work and focus on his music.
He produced the popular English language musical video "No Woman, No Drive" in October 2013 with comedians
Hisham Fageeh and
Fahad Albutairi as a satirical comment on the Saudi Arabian ban on women drivers. It is sung a capella by Fageeh backed by Wardi and Albutairi to the tune of Bob Marley's "
No Woman, No Cry
"No Woman, No Cry" is a reggae song by Bob Marley and the Wailers. The song was recorded in 1974 and released on the studio album '' Natty Dread''.
The live recording of this song from the 1975 album '' Live!'' was released as a single and is ...
".
In June 2015, Wardi released his album ''Fi Ba7ri''. The lyrics for the album's songs were written by
Aziz Maraka
Aziz Maraka (Arabic: عزيز مرقة; born 22 June 1983), is a Jordanian composer, singer, performer, and producer. Maraka created a music style called "Razz", an Arabic Rock-Jazz fusion that garnered regional attention. He also released mater ...
, a Jordanian musician. His
Hindi
Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...
cover versions of
Bollywood
Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...
hits "
Pehla Nasha
''Pehla Nasha'' () is a 1993 Indian Hindi-language thriller film and the debut film of director Ashutosh Gowariker. The movie is a remake of Brian de Palma's 1984 thriller ''Body Double''. Deepak Tijori plays the lead role alongside Pooja Bhatt ...
" and "Jiya Re" became famous, as well as his mash-up "Evolution of Arabic Music" which is an a capella mash-up of 42 Arabic songs from the 1930s to 2010s. He has collaborated with a great number of other Arab and international artists including
Peter Hollens
Peter James Hollens (born March 4, 1980) is an American singer/songwriter, producer and entrepreneur. He has been involved with ''a cappella'' music since 1999 when he and Leo da Silva founded the University of Oregon's ''a cappella'' group, On ...
.
In August 2019, Wardi released an a capella medley of songs by Lebanese singer
Fairuz
Nouhad Wadie' Haddad ( ar, نهاد وديع حداد, ; born November 21, 1934), known as Fairuz ( ar, فيروز, ; also spelled Fairouz, Feyrouz or Fayrouz), is a Lebanese singer. She is considered by many as one of the leading vocalists a ...
, featuring Jordanian indie singer
Haifa Kamal
Haifa Kamal (Arabic: هيفاء كمال) (born December 1983) is a Jordanian singer and record producer of Palestinian descent.
Early life and career
Kamal started at the age of six to learn Arabic singing, under the supervision of her fat ...
. The song went viral, with the video reaching more than 800,000 views in 9 days. Wardi was then contacted by representatives of Rahbani family, to immediately remove the video or serious legal action would be taken.
Personal life
He was born to Iranian parents in
Riyadh
Riyadh (, ar, الرياض, 'ar-Riyāḍ, lit.: 'The Gardens' Najdi pronunciation: ), formerly known as Hajr al-Yamamah, is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of the R ...
, Saudi Arabia.
His family owns a furniture business in Riyadh. He married Sinem Güneş in 2015 in
Bodrum
Bodrum () is a port city in Muğla Province, southwestern Turkey, at the entrance to the Gulf of Gökova. Its population was 35,795 at the 2012 census, with a total of 136,317 inhabitants residing within the district's borders. Known in ancient ...
, Turkey.
Discography
Solo albums
Original singles
* "Sha3ri Yot3eboni"
* "Risala Ela..."
* "Ye5lef"
* "Garfan Bel-So3odia"
* "Fe Shi Makan"
(feat. Angie Obeid)
* " in Bed After a Good Day"
* "7aram"
* "Ma3gool"
* "Shalamonti Fel7al"
* "Wenti Mastaneti"
* "Evolution of Arabic Music"
* "Overpopulated"
Cover songs
External links
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wardi, Alaa
Saudi Arabian musicians
Living people
People from Riyadh
1987 births
A cappella musicians
Saudi Arabian people of Iranian descent