Zahera Darabid ( ar, زهيرة درابيد ; born May 10, 1980), known by her stage name Zaho (), is an Algerian-Canadian R&B singer.

Biography

Zahera Darabid was born on May 10, 1980, in

Bab Ezzouar Bab Ezzouar (; ar, باب الزوار, link=no) is a suburb of the city of Algiers in northern Algeria. It is one of Algiers fastest growing municipalities and has seen many hotels and commercial malls being raised in the area. Bab Ezzouar is a ...

, a suburb of the Algerian capital

Algiers Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques ...

. At the age of 18, she and her family moved to

Montréal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-p ...

, Canada. Her father is an executive and her mother a mathematics professor at l'Institut national d'informatique of France. She has a brother and sister.

Career

Zaho learned the guitar when she was seven years old, and very quickly learned the répertoire of

Francis Cabrel Francis Christian Cabrel (; born 23 November 1953) is a French singer-songwriter, composer and guitarist. Considered one of the most influential French musical artists of all time, he has released a number of albums falling mostly within the real ...

within 10 years. In 1999, when she emigrated to Montreal, she discovered the world of professional music with its producers and its studios. She was seen with notable names in the French industry such as

Idir Idir may refer to: People * Ali Idir (born 1966), Algerian judoka * Idir (singer) (1949–2020), Algerian singer-songwriter and musician * Idir Khourta (born 1986), French-born Algerian table tennis player * Idir Ouali (born 1988), French-Alger ...

Tunisiano Bachir Baccour (born 19 May 1979), better known by his stage name Tunisiano, is a Tunisian rapper living in France. Prior to pursuing a solo career, he was a member of M, Sniper and other rap groups. Career Bachir Baccour's parents were born in ...

and

Soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

. In 2008, she released her debut album titled Dima, meaning ''Always'' in Arabic. Zaho also has a strong writing background, writing the song "Tout ce temps" for Idir. Upon hearing the song, Idir insisted that she sang the song along with him. In 2008, Zaho represented France in the 2008

MTV EMA The MTV Europe Music Awards (originally named MTV European Music Awards, commonly abbreviated as MTV EMA) are awards presented by Paramount International Networks to honour artists and music in pop culture. It was originally conceived as an al ...

's and won the Best European Artist award. She is well known in France and French Canada, and a lot of other places.

Discography

Albums

Mixtapes

*''Zaho: La Mixtape'' (2007)

Singles

*Did not appear in the official Belgian Ultratop 50 charts, but rather in the bubbling under Ultratip charts.

Other charting songs

Featured in

*Did not appear in the official Belgian Ultratop 50 charts, but rather in the bubbling under Ultratip charts.

Also featured in

* "Basta" by

La Fouine Laouni Mouhid ( ar, العوني محيد , ; born 25 December 1981), commonly known by his stage name La Fouine (, ; ), with additional aliases such as Fouiny Babe or just Fouiny (), is a French rapper and singer of Moroccan descent. He is own ...

, in "Bourré au son" (2005) * "Halili" by Cheb Mami, in "Layali" (2006) * "Un point c tout" by

Sefyu Youssef Soukouna (born 20 April 1981 in Goutte d'Or, Paris), better known by his stage name Sefyu (, his first name in ''verlan''), is a French rapper of Senegalese descent. He comes from Aulnay-sous-Bois, a city in the French department of Seine ...

, in "Qui suis-je?" (with Mina and Sana) (2006) * "Lune de miel" by Don Choa, in "Jungle de béton" (2007) * "Tout ce temps" by

, in "La France des couleurs" (2007) * "La France des couleurs" by Idir, dans "La France des couleurs" * "Citoyen du monde" by Tunisiano, in "Le Regard des gens" (2008) * "Je m'écris" by Kery James, in "À l'ombre du show business" (with also Grand Corps Malade) (2008) * "Quand ils vont partir" by Kamelancien, in "Le Frisson de la vérité" * "T'est chelou", remix by "C'est chelou", by D.Dy in "T'aimes ou t'aimes pas" (2008) * " Hold My Hand" (French Version), by

Sean Paul Sean Paul Ryan Francis Henriques OD (born 9 January 1973) is a Jamaican rapper and singer who is regarded as one of dancehall's most prolific artists. Paul's singles "Get Busy" and "Temperature" topped the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart in the ...

(2010) * " Heartless" by

Justin Nozuka Justin Tokimitsu Nozuka (born September 29, 1988) is an American singer, songwriter and actor. His debut album ''Holly'' has been released in Europe, Canada, Japan and the United States. He has licensed the album to indie label Coalition Enterta ...

(2010) * "Fais doucement" by

Rohff Housni M'Kouboi (; born 15 December 1977), better known as Rohff and at times stylized as Roh2f, is a French rapper. Born in Antananarivo, Madagascar, to a family of Comoran origin, he immigrated in 1985 to France living in Vitry-sur-Seine, in ...

, in "La cuenta" (2010) * "Elle venait du ciel" by

in "La fouine vs laouni" (2011) * "Indélébile" -Christophe Willem ft. Zaho (2011) * "Ma Meilleure" – La Fouine feat Zaho (2013) * "Shooting Star" –

Tara McDonald Tara Jane McDonald (born September 9, 1986) is an English singer-songwriter. She is signed to Play Two/Warner Records. McDonald achieved success working and co-writing with Armand van Helden and Axwell on the chart hits " My My My" and " Feel ...

feat Zaho (2013) * "Du rêve" - TK feat Zaho (2020)

Awards and nominations

* MTV Europe Music Awards 2008 : Meilleur artiste français * NRJ Music Awards 2009 : Révélation francophone de l'année * NRJ Music Awards 2011 : Groupe/Duo/Troupe francophone de l'année feat Justin Nozuka * Prix de La Création 2011: Chanson international 2011 feat Sean Paul * Trace Urban Music Award 2013 : Meilleure artiste féminine * Trace Urban Music Awards 2013 : Meilleure collaboration feat La Fouine

References

External links

Zaho Official web site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zaho 1980 births Living people Algerian emigrants to Canada Canadian contemporary R&B singers French-language singers of Canada People from Algiers Province 21st-century Canadian women singers MTV Europe Music Award winners 21st-century Algerian women singers