Rahma Abdulredha Mezher Al-Sibahi ( ar, رحمة عبد الرضا مزهر السباهي; born 19 January 1987), better known as Rahma Riad (), is an Iraqi singer and actress. Her father, Abdulredha Mezher Al-Sibahi, better known as , was a well known singer from Iraq. As of August 2020, her song "Waed Menni" is among the top ten most streamed songs on
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
by a female Arab artist with more than 148 million views.
Life and career
2004: Career beginnings
Riad has been a contestant in a number of music contests in the
Arab world
The Arab world ( ar, اَلْعَالَمُ الْعَرَبِيُّ '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, refers to a vast group of countries, mainly located in Western A ...
. She first completed in the ''Super Star'' program when she was seventeen years old and reached the second stage, but she did not reach the finale. She later joined the ''Gulf Star'' competition, which featured individuals who perform Gulf music. She remained in the contest until the finals, and in cooperation with the Iraqi artist
Haitham Yousif
Haitham Yousif (born Haitham Abed Yousif Sadiq, ( ar, هيثم عبد يوسف صادق, syr, ܗܝܬܡ ܥܒܕ ܝܘܣܦ), November 29, 1969) is an Iraqi people, Iraqi singer, composer and songwriter. He is referred as the Prince of Love in the M ...
, famously performed the song "Er7moni Ya Alem" in dedication to the Iraqi people and her father.
2010: ''Star Academy''
Riad became a recognizable name in the
Arab world
The Arab world ( ar, اَلْعَالَمُ الْعَرَبِيُّ '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, refers to a vast group of countries, mainly located in Western A ...
through her participation in ''
Star Academy
''Star Academy'', called ''Operación Triunfo'' ("Operation Triumph") in Spanish-speaking countries, is a highly successful television pop music talent contest with viewer voting and reality show elements.
Format
There are many versions of t ...
''. She performed on stage with many Arab artists, including
Assala
Assala Mostafa Hatem Nasri ( ar, أصالة مصطفى حاتم نصري; born 15 May 1969), commonly known as Assala ( ar, أصالة), is a Syrian musical artist. She is one of the most popular and famous Arab singers.
Early life and career ...
Nawal El Zoghbi
Nawal El Zoghbi ( ar, نوال الزغبي, also spelled Nawal Al Zoghbi; born 29 June 1972) is a Lebanese pop singer.
She achieved popularity first by dancing and singing traditional Arabic music with a pop sensibility, and later singing in ...
. She managed to reach the finale, together with Nassif Zeytoun, who was voted the winner, and Muhammad Ramadan, who took third place, while Riad became the runner-up. Riad reached a very large audience through her appearance on the program and got the highest percentage of votes cast for a contestant in danger of elimination in earlier stages.رحمة تعود بأعلى نسبة تصويت بستار اكاديمي 7
2011–2020: Breakthrough and ''Waed Menni''
Her first work after the ''Star Academy'' was the single "Khlesna", which was in
Lebanese Arabic
Lebanese Arabic ( ar, عَرَبِيّ لُبْنَانِيّ ; autonym: ), or simply Lebanese ( ar, لُبْنَانِيّ ; autonym: ), is a variety of North Levantine Arabic, indigenous to and spoken primarily in Lebanon, with significant ...
and for which a music video was filmed in Lebanon. This was preceded by a special song for the AFC Asian Cup.رحمة رياض تصوّر في لبنان وتغني لقطر She also released a song in the
Gulf Arabic
Gulf Arabic ( ' local pronunciation: or ', local pronunciation: ) is a variety of the Arabic language spoken in Eastern Arabia around the coasts of the Persian Gulf in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, southern Iraq, eastern Sa ...
dialect titled "Moo Galata".رحمة رياض تطلق أغنيتها الخليجية موغلطته
On 22 August 2018, she released the song "Waed Menni", written by Ramy Al-Aboudi and composed by Ali Saber. The song achieved great success, and its music video garnered about 150 million views in the two years after its release, thus becoming one of the most watched music videos on a YouTube channel for an artist from the Persian Gulf region and Iraq.
2021–present: ''Iraq Idol'', ''Athadakom'' and ''Al Kawkab''
In January 2021, she joined the music contest ''Iraq Idol'' on
MBC Iraq
MBC Iraq ( ar, إم بي سي العراق) is a TV channel for Iraqi viewers which was launched on 17 February 2019. The channel is owned by the Middle East Broadcasting Center.
Programming
Play
*''Aleial kaburat''
*''Fananees''
*''Cocomel ...
as a member of the judging panel. On 15 January 2021, Riad released the song "Athadakom", written by Aqil Al-Ard, composed by Ali Saber, and distributed by Maitham Alaa El-Din.
On 29 July 2021, Riad released the song "Al Kawkab", which garnered more than a million views on YouTube less than 24 hours after its release. The song was written by Maher Al-Azzawi, composed by Ali Saber, and distributed by Moheeb Al-Rawi.
In July 2021, MBC renewed Riad's contract for an additional season of ''Iraq Idol'', which started in September.
In October 2022, she was chosen to feature in ''Light The Sky'', a song for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, collaborating with artists, RedOne,
Manal
Manal was an Argentine rock group. Together with Almendra and Los Gatos, they are considered founders of Argentine rock.Balqees and
Nora Fatehi
Nora Fatehi (born 6 February 1992) is a Canadian actress, model, dancer, singer, and producer who is predominantly known for her work in the Indian film industry. She has appeared in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam films.
She made her debut ...
.
Personal life
On 23 May 2021, she announced her engagement to Iraqi actor Alexander Uloom. On 6 August 2021, they got married in a simple ceremony in the presence of their family and relatives.
Discography
* Er7moni Ya Alem
* Moo Galata
* Khlesna (2011)
* Ella Gillilhom (2012)
* Allah Kareem (2013)
* Bosa (2014)
* Anoudi (2015)
* Weinak (2016)
* Hade Hwe (2016)
* Waed Menni (2018)
* Mako Menni (2020)
* Ahki Maa Hali (2020)
* Athadakom (2021)
* Al Kawkab (2021)
* Asaad Lel Goumar (2022)