Faia Younan ( ar, فايا يونان; born 20 June 1992) is an
Assyrian-Syrian singer
Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...
, considered the first Middle Eastern artist ever to crowdfund her debut.
Early life
Younan was born on 20 June 1992 to an
Assyrian Christian family in the city of
Al-Malikiyah
Al-Malikiyah ( ar, ٱلْمَالِكِيَّة, al-Mālikīyah; ku, دێرکا حەمکۆ, translit=Dêrika Hemko; ) also known as Derik, is a small Syrian city and the center of an administrative district belonging to Al-Hasakah Governorate. ...
,
Syria, and grew up in the city of
Aleppo. At the age of eleven she moved to
Sweden with her family and settled there until she moved to
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
in 2010 to study Social Sciences; Economics and Business in the
Glasgow University
, image = UofG Coat of Arms.png
, image_size = 150px
, caption = Coat of arms
Flag
, latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis
, motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita
, ...
. After graduating she moved back to Sweden.
Faia identifies as an Arab, with Arabic also being her mother tongue, and she has stated that it feels like home when visiting the Arab world.
Younan was a volunteer in the
Swedish Red Cross
The Swedish Red Cross ( Swedish: ''Svenska Röda Korset'') is a Swedish humanitarian organisation and a member of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a humanitarian m ...
and sang in local events.
[
]
Career
In October 2014, inspired by the political atmosphere in her native Syria and its neighboring Arab countries which she described as "loaded and hopeless", Younan published a video that she created with her sister Rihan, titled "To Our Countries".[ The video, which addresses the political reality of the ]Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...
and features Younan's rendition of several songs by Lebanese diva 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 ...
,[ went viral on YouTube and received exceptional attention, encouraging Younan to continue pursuing a career in music. The success of the video had the biggest impact on her decision on turning singing from merely a hobby to a full-time commitment.
After a successful crowd funding campaign, Younan released her debut single "Ohebbou Yadayka" (I Love Your Hands) followed by two other singles. "Ohebbou Yadayka" crowd funding campaign got Younan, in association with her manager Houssam Abdul Khalek, to ]Guinness World Records
''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
as the first middle eastern artist to crowd fund her debut song. This makes Younan the first female artist from the Arab World to enter the Guinness World Records Book. "A Sea Between Us" was Faia's debut album and it contains 9 songs.[
She was featured on the single " Busted and Blue" (Faia Younan Special)" from virtual band Gorillaz' which appears on two versions of their '']Humanz
''Humanz'' is the fifth studio album by British virtual band Gorillaz. It was released on 28 April 2017 in the United Kingdom by Parlophone and in the United States by Warner Bros. Records. The album was announced on the band's official Instagr ...
'' album.
In March 2019, Younan started releasing her second album ”Tales of the heart” digitally. The album contains 8 songs, referred to as tales, since each song is unique in musical genre and topic.
Discography
Albums
Singles
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Younan, Faia
1992 births
Living people
Singers who perform in Classical Arabic
People from Aleppo
21st-century Syrian women singers
Alumni of the University of Glasgow
Naturalized citizens of Sweden
Syrian women activists
Assyrian/Syriac Syrians