Wafah Dufour (born Wafah bin Ladin, May 23, 1975) is an American singer-songwriter, socialite, and model.
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Biography

Wafah bin Ladin was born on May 23, 1975 (although some reports have given 1978 or 1980) in Los Angeles, California. Her father, Yeslam bin Ladin (paternal half brother of Osama bin Laden), is a Saudi of Yemeni and Iranian origin and her mother, Carmen bin Laden, is of Swiss father and Iranian mother from the princely family (mother's name: Mirdoth/Sheybani). She has Swiss nationality by her mother and United States nationality by birth. Wafah Dufour spent the early part of her life in Los Angeles, then Jeddah,

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

, but later moved to

Geneva , neighboring_municipalities= Carouge, Chêne-Bougeries, Cologny, Lancy, Grand-Saconnex, Pregny-Chambésy, Vernier, Veyrier , website = https://www.geneve.ch/ Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevr ...

, Switzerland, with her parents. In 1988, her parents separated and finally divorced in January 2006. Her father and his family have reportedly not spoken to either her or her two younger sisters since she was 15 years old. She changed her last name to her mother's maiden name, Dufour. She earned a law degree from

Geneva University The University of Geneva (French: ''Université de Genève'') is a public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded in 1559 by John Calvin as a theological seminary. It remained focused on theology until the 17th centur ...

, and a master's degree from

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (Columbia Law or CLS) is the law school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university in New York City. Columbia Law is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world and has always ranked i ...

in New York City. She speaks French (her mother tongue), English, and

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

Television

In early 2006, publisher

Judith Regan Judith Regan (born August 17, 1953, in Massachusetts) is an American editor, producer, book publisher, and television and radio talk show host. She is the head of Regan Arts. Early life and education Regan grew up in Fitchburg, Massachusetts and B ...

signed Dufour to appear in a reality television show which planned to follow her battle for success in the music industry in a fly-on-the-wall documentary. In the end, the project was canceled due to lingering resentments about the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...

. Also they were worried she was just using her Uncle's name for fame, and suspected she wrote her own Wikipedia page.

Music

In 2009, she was recording her first album while living in London and set to collaborate with

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

rock band

Black Lips Black Lips is an American garage rock band from Atlanta, Georgia formed in 1999. History The band formed in Dunwoody, Georgia after guitarist Cole Alexander and bassist Jared Swilley left the Renegades, and guitarist Ben Eberbaugh left the Rer ...

. In 2016, Wafah composed

Nimrod Kamer Nimrod Kamer (born 1981) is a comedy writer, gonzo journalist and club crasher based in London. Life and career Kamer was born in 1981 in Petah Tikva, Israel. Kamer claims to hold both Romanian and Israeli passports. In 2004, while attendi ...

's song, ''Nimmy and the Hose.'' In 2019, Dufour is lead singer of the band ''Deep Tan'' based in East London. Other band members include Celeste Guinness and Melia Beaudoin.

References

External links

MSNBC article about appearance in ''GQ'' magazinemirror

''The Observer'', March 15, 2003 {{DEFAULTSORT:Dufour, Wafah Columbia Law School alumni Living people Singers from Los Angeles American expatriates in the United Kingdom American women pop singers Bin Laden family Female models from California American people of Saudi Arabian descent 1975 births American people of Yemeni descent American people of Iranian descent American people of Swiss descent 21st-century American women singers 21st-century American singers