Chaba Fadela (born Fadela Zalmat, 5 February 1962) is an Algerian raï musician and actress.

Early life

Raised in a poor neighborhood in

Oran Oran ( ar, وَهران, Wahrān) is a major coastal city located in the north-west of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria after the capital Algiers, due to its population and commercial, industrial, and cultural ...

, Algeria and starred in the Algerian film ''Djalti'' at the age of 14. She launched her musical career as a singer in Boutiba S'ghir's band and began recording with producer

Rachid Baba Ahmed Rachid Baba Ahmed ( ar, رشيد بابا أحمد; 20 August 1946 – 15 February 1995) was an Algerian record producer, composer, and singer involved in the regional genre known as raï. He was credited with the international popularization of ...

in the late 1970s. She was the first woman to defy the ban on women singing in clubs, and she quickly reached great success in Algeria.

Personal life

She met and married

Cheb Sahraoui Cheb Sahraoui (born Mohamed Sahraoui, Tlemcen, Algeria, 1 April 1961) is an Algerian raï musician, the first to tour North America and the first to incorporate electronic synthesizers into his arrangements. Early life As a pianist, he studied m ...

, and the pair began recording together as a duo, starting in 1983 with "N'sel Fik (You Are Mine)", which became one of the first international raï hit records. An album, '' You Are Mine'', was released by Mango/Island Records in 1988. Fadela and Sahraoui toured internationally and recorded widely in the 1980s, with further success. While in New York in 1993, they recorded the album ''Walli'' with producer and multi-instrumentalist

Bill Laswell William Otis Laswell (born February 12, 1955) is an American bass guitarist, record producer, and record label owner. He has been involved in thousands of recordings with many collaborators from all over the world. His music draws from funk, ...

. They relocated from Algeria to France in 1994. In the late 1990s, the professional and personal relationship between Fadela and Sahraoui broke down, and since then Fadela has continued to work as a solo singer.

Further information and main sources

* AMG entrybr> Further information
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fadela, Chaba 1962 births Living people Island Records artists Rotana Records artists Musicians from Oran Raï musicians 20th-century Algerian women singers 21st-century French women singers Algerian emigrants to France Algerian film actresses Algerian television actresses