Najwa Karam (Arabic: نجوى كرم; born February 26, 1966) is a Lebanese singer, often referred to as Shams el-Ghinnieh el-Arabiyeh (The Sun of Arabic song).

Her singing career began in the late 1980s, with moderate success, but her major successes began in the mid-90s. Karam is known for her instantly recognizable voice and distinct Lebanese singing accent. Her critics believe that her "loyalty" to the Lebanese song is one of her major flaws.

Najwa Karam is one of the most active Lebanese singers - participating in numerous festivals and concerts around the globe, and has received a number of awards from various distinguished bodies.

The Early Years and Layali Lubnan: 1966-1988
 
Najwa in her early yearsNajwa Nicola Karam was born on February 26, 1966, in Zahle, Lebanon, to parents Mr. Karam Karam and Mrs. Barbara Shaheen Karam. She is the youngest of five children, having an older sister, Salwa, and three older brothers, Tony, Jean and Niqoula. She spent her childhood in Zahle, in the care of her parents and older brothers. From an early age, Najwa was known among her friends and relatives for her powerful singing voice, but her parents emphasized the need for an education and a stable career over entertaining.

Najwa attended secondary school at Jesus the Angel College, and went on to study at University. Here, she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts and then worked as a teacher for two years at Eastern College, Zahle.

In 1985, Najwa decided to officially cross the boundary from career woman to entertainer by participating in the television singing contest, Layali Lubnan ("Lebanese Nights), although against her father's wishes. Interpreting popular varieties of the traditional Lebanese "Mawal" in her powerful voice, Najwa walked away with the Gold Medal, public exposure and her father's approval.

Following this win, Najwa studied at the Lebanese Institute of Music for four years to improve her knowledge of music and the music industry in general. Here, she was under the direction of renowned Lebanese composers Zaki Nasif and Fouad Awad. In 1987 Najwa participated in another television contest named Laylat Haz, where she was warmly accepted by the audience. By 1989, Najwa had gained the knowledge and experience she needed to make her first attempt at breaking into the Arabic music industry.

The Beginning: 1989-1993

"The Sun of Song"
 
Ya Habayeb (1989)In 1989, Najwa's first studio album Ya Habayeb was released by a little known record label, "Relax-in". The album contained seven tracks, all in the traditional Lebanese Mountain style. Due to her previous exposure to the Lebanese public, it was fairly well received in Lebanon, but went almost unnoticed in the rest of the Arab world.

Shams el-Ghinnieh (1992)After a three year hiatus from music making, Najwa returned to the scene with her follow up album, Shams el-Ghinnieh. The album title was inspired by Najwa's nickname, Shams el-Ghinnieh or The Sun of Song, which was given to her by the Lebanese people because of her vocal abilities. The album was produced under a new record company, "CM" which was also scarcely known in the region. The style of the album was more romantic and contemporary, in comparison to Najwa's debut Ya Habayeb which was more traditional. Shams el-Ghinnieh was received fairly well by the Lebanese public, but once again failed to break into the wider Arab market.

Ana Ma'akon
 
Ana Ma'akon (1993)The next year, 1993, Najwa once again had a new recording label for her new album. This time it was an even less known Saudi Arabian company. The new album was called Ana Ma'akon (I am with you}. The album was fairly similar in style to Shams el-Ghinnieh, involving elements of traditional Arabic music, western pop influences and a strong Lebanese singing accent. Despite its similarity to her previous release, the album failed to do as well as Shams el-Ghinnieh. Poor marketing and lack of resources was blamed for the low sales of the album. It remains Najwa's least known album.

With the failure of Ana Ma'akon, Najwa was once more in search of a new, secure record label, which would help her on the way to a prosperous singing career.

Domination: 1994-1999

Rotana Success

Najwa's fortunes took a turn for the better when she was approached by the Middle East's largest recording label, Rotana. It was owned by the Saudi Arabian Royal Family, and headed by Prince Walid Bin Talel. An agreement between the parties was made, and Najwa was now part of the "Rotana family of artists".

Naghmet Hob (1994)Work on a new album began immediately. Expert poets, writers and composers were enlisted to help Najwa make a fresh new musical image for herself to revitalise public interest, and finally draw attention from the wider Arab audience. By mid-1994, an album consisting of 8 new songs had been compiled and was ready to be released to the Middle East. Naghmet Hob (The Rhythm of Love) fused Lebanese tradition with Arab pop. Its catchy Lebanese dance song Law Habaytek (If I loved you) was an instant hit, introducing Najwa Karam to all of the Middle East. The song and its video clip dominated the Arabian charts. Its follow up hits from the same album were Wrood Eddar (Roses of the Garden) and Elala (la la) received similar success.

Ma Bassmahlak (1995)The wide success of Naghmet Hob fueled a concert tour and a number of awards for Karam, including a prize from the Lebanese Broadcasting Association for "The Best Artist of 1994".

Karam had been thrust to the top of the Arabic Music scene in less than a year, and was now constantly in the public eye. In 1995, Najwa started work on her second Rotana album, her fifth release in total. It was titled Ma Bassmahlak and closely followed the traditional style of Naghmet Hob. The main difference was the lyrical and vocal nature of the tracks which had more depth. Riding the wave of her celebrity, two of the songs were hits, namely Ma Bassmahlak (I don't get you) and Hakim el-Qady (The Judge has spoken).

Good Luck
 
Hazi Helo (1996)With five albums under her belt, the latter two of which witnessed ground breaking success, Najwa was becoming a familiar face in the Arabic music industry. On the 16th of June, 1996, Karam released her newest album entitled Hazi Helo (I'm Lucky). The title track, Hazi Helo, and three other songs, "Khayarouni", "Ala Mahlak" and "El-Ghorbil", were the most popular from the album.

Following the release of Hazi Helo, Najwa set off on a large scale world concert tour, which would take in many Arab states, parts of Europe, and America. She found a number of fans in the US, and performed to sold-out concerts all over. To honour her success in the States, Najwa was given an Honourary Citizenship of the United States of America, and she was also presented with the Key to the City of Chicago.

Ma Hada La Hada and Maghroumeh
 
Ma Hada La Hada (1997)After the sell-out world tour, Najwa returned to Lebanon with a fresh mind and new song ideas. And so work began on her next studio album - Ma Hada La Hada. The tracks on the album were quite different to those of Najwa's previous albums, with a more contemporary sound. For example the song "El Helw" was heavily influenced by foreign beats and synthesised melodies. Three months prior to the album's official release, the song El Tahady was distributed to the Arabic radio stations. By the time of the album's release, the song's popularity had dwindled, and Ma Hada La Hada's relatively poor sales were attributed to this factor. However, the title track did become quite popular. It had harmonious musical arrangements which used the traditional Lebanese instrument the Qanoun, along with other traditional instruments such as the violin and the accordion. These musical stylings, along with an uplifting song topic and a powerful "mini movie" video clip made the song a moderate hit.

Maghroumeh (1998)The 1998 release, Maghroumeh, marked Karam's "official" transition from purely traditional Lebanese artist to the blend of traditional and contemporary Arabic that she is famous for today. It had poetic Arabic lyrics sung with Najwa's trademark power and authority; extensive use of Arabic instruments (trumbakke, mijwiz, zamour, tabal... etc) and contemporary ones; and a brand new look for the album cover. Maghroumeh was another success from Karam. The title track, Maghroumeh (I am in Love), was shot as a video clip, and was the biggest hit off the album, hitting number one on most radio stations in the region. Other hits were the feisty Ghamza (The Wink) and the sad love song Noqta al-Satr (Somewhere along the line).

Rouh Rouhi (1999)

The new year brought about a number of changes in Karam's personal and career lives. She had just been married with long time business associate, Mr. Youseff Harb. Najwa's new album was set to be released in the summer, and her personal changes were showing in her new album Rouh Rouhi. It was similar to the Maghroumeh album, but had a number of tweaks in the vocal and musical styles. The musical arrangements were heavily detailed and technical, and the lyrics were more poetic than all other Karam albums. The tracks Ariftu Albi La Meen (Do you know who my heart belongs to?), Atchana (Thirsty), and the title track, Rouh Rouhi (Soul of my Soul) were the major hits off the album, the latter two being shot as music videos.

The New Millennium

No Regrets
 
Oyoun Qalbi (2000)Another year, another change from Najwa Karam. This time it came about in the form of a music album called Oyoun Qalbi. Oyoun Qalbi was a more romantic, reflective body of work compared to Karam's previous albums. Its major included Majboura (I have to) which had a modern jazz influence, and the "power ballets", Oyoun Qalbi (Sweetheart) and Khaleek al Ard (Stay down to earth). A music video was made for the Najwa 2000 megamix, which contained samples from each song on the Oyoun Qalbi album.

Nedmaneh (2001)In 2001, Karam made her record breaking release Nedmaneh. It sold over 4 million copies worldwide, and is one of Najwa's most acclaimed albums to date. It followed on from the style of music first presented by Karam in Oyoun Qalbi, and further experimented with new styles and sounds. The song 'Aaskah (Falling in love) was an enormous hit, hitting number one all over the Middle East, and was also quite popular abroad. It was a more playful and vibrant song than most of Karam's previous work, with a strong bass line, and a distinct oriental influence. It was quite different to any Arabic song at the time, and appealed to a wide range of audiences. The success of Nedmaneh brought about a number of awards, including a coveted Murex D'or for "Best Arabic Artist" award, and three special awards from Karam's production company, Rotana: "Artist of the Year", "Album of the Year" and "Highest Selling Album".

To further Rotana's crediting of Karam's successes, an honouring assemble was held on Saturday, June 23, 2001 where Karam was awarded for her achievements throughout her singing career and for the huge success of Nedmaneh. The ceremony was held at the Venesia Hotel, Beirut, Lebanon. In attendance were the Lebanese Minister of Information, Ghazi Al-Aredi who was representing the President of the Lebanese Republic, Emile Lahoud, prominent singer Wadih el Safi, acclaimed composer [[Elias Rahbani] and a number of journalists and reporters. During the night, Karam sang some of her hits (old and new), and was presented with numerous medals and trophies. The recording was released on a special edition CD (Live in Concert), along with a compilation CD comprising of Najwa's hits from 1989-2000 titled The Very Best Of Najwa Karam.

Tahamouni (2002)Karam's 2002 album, Tahamouni, was far removed from the "easy going" contemporary feel of Oyoun Qalbi and Nedmaneh, and audiences noticed. The album was intended to get back in touch with a more youthful audience from other Arab nations, with whom had taken slight dis-interest in Karam's music from the late 90s. This was shown though songs like Tahamouni (They accused me) which included attempts at rapping, and Ew'a Tekoun Ze'alt (I hope you're not mad at me) which seemed to have a complete Western influence. The songs had a youthful sound, but the lyrics themselves proved a little too mature for young audiences. This was reflected in the dismal failure of the Ew'a Tekoun Ze'alt (I hope you're not mad at me) video clip, in which Najwa had a new youthful look and more "ditsy" attitude. Following this, Karam decided to not shoot any songs in the form of a video clip anymore.

And so after the many accomplishments of Nedmaneh, Tahamouni implied that Karam's career seemed to be heading downhill once more.

Charmed
 
Saharni (2003)In late 2002, Karam began meeting with the Lebanese "tarab" star, Wadih el Safi (Born 1919). Wadi had known Najwa for a while, and had been impressed with her vocal talents. The two of them decided to make a duet together, depicting the trials of a father-daughter relationship. The song was titled W Kberna (We grow old together), and was an epic ballad in which both vocalists showed immense vocal range and depth. W Kberna was a success as the lyrics were easy to relate to and it teamed two of the region's most prominent artists together.

Taking this success, Najwa got back to the drawing board for a new album. Months were spent piecing together lyrics and arrangements, and by mid 2003, the album was ready for release. Rotana set up a large launch party in Downtown Beirut, where over fifteen thousand of Karam's fans packed the streets, waiting for Najwa to appear and sing her new material.

Najwa Karam's promotional street concert for her album, Saharni in Downtown BeirutSaharni (Charmed) was exactly the kind of album that Najwa needed to secure the resurrection of her career. It was a rebirth of the "old Najwa Karam", and took the public by surprise, as they had at this point come to expect contemporary pop from the Shams el-Ghinnieh. The music had all the makings of distinctly Lebanese music: trumbakke solos, traditional wind instruments, lots of bass and a vibrant singing style - all features far removed from the "western" motif that most artists opted for at the time. Not only had Karam's music changed, but she also sported a new look, which further emphasised that the album was a turn around. Saharni's success was instantaneous, even though there was a lack of video clips for the songs, the album came through on top of the charts, and produced a number of major hits, including Edhak Lil Dounya (Smile to the world), and the title track Saharni (Charmed).

Karam made a world tour to complement Saharni's success, taking in the Middle East as well as destinations such as France and the USA with Wadih el Safi. She also travelled to Australia, where her concert there still holds the record for largest ever recorded concert attendance for an Arabic artist. Najwa was presented with a number of awards and achievements in 2003. These include "Highest Selling Album" from Rotana, and award for the "Best singer of Traditional Lebanese Song" from the Lions Club, "Song of the Year": Edhak Lil Donya from Sawt El Ghad Australia and an honourary Award from Australian Government.

How you've changed..!
 
Shu Mghaira..! (2004)As the New Year came and passed, Karam began work on a new single to be included in her upcoming album. This single would be like no other she had released before. Titled Leish Mgharrab? (Why are you living abroad?) it told of the hardships that people face when having to leave their home country for a better life. Coupled with this harrowing topic, was a revolutionary new music video (directed by Sa'aed el-Marouk), which would transform modern day Beirut into a bleak and harsh wasteland in 2020. The original video - which also contained scenes of citizens protesting against the Lebanese Government - was banned from being aired by the Lebanese Parliament. When the clip was edited slightly, it was finally allowed to go to air, along with its song. It hit home with many people, especially those living abroad in countries like Australia and the US. It also sent a direct message to Lebanese politicians, telling them to act on their words.

Najwa in Carthage, (2004)After a few months, Najwa had completed the rest of her new album, Shu Mghaira..!. Like Saharni, it was distinctly Lebanese, but it was more of a modern adaptation, with a reflective and sad overtone. Najwa continued her many live appearances to promote the album, and a notable event for 2004 was her sell-out concert in Carthage, Tunisia where she performed to thousands of enthusiastic fans. The tracks Bi Hawak (In your love) and Shu Mghaira (How you've changed) were shot in an expensive duel video clip which was riddled with special effects. There were mixed responses to this video, even though it remained at the number 1 position for 6 weeks on the Rotana Top 20 Chart. The main criticism of the video was that it was a pointless waste of money and special effects as it did not have a distinct storyline. The two songs were the most popular from the album, and the release landed Najwa as "Female Artist of the Year" from MusicanaNet.net, which was decided via a large scale internet poll.

2005 and Beyond

In the second quarter of 2005, Karam released a new single and video clip called Shu Jani. Shu Jani was a contemporary pop song, with the use of traditional lebanese instruments. The video was filmed in the Faraya ski resort in Lebanon by director Sa'aed el-Marouk. It was to be on her upcoming 2005 album. The timing of the new clip was criticised in some tabloids, because it was released during the tense electoral season in Lebanon, and the so-called Cedar Revolution (Independence Intifada). It was argued by these tabloids that it was disrespectful for Karam to release new material at such a time. Karam defended herself by putting the claim on her Saudi production company, Rotana, who she says fast tracked the release against her wishes. Even though there was some controversy surrounding Shu Jani, it faired well with the public.

Due to the prolonged situation in the Lebanon region, Karam's 2005 album was postponed from originally being releases in June, then July and then finally postponed until November 2005. However, Karam released another single in late July called Bhebak Walaa which was an upbeat, contemporary/traditional song typical of Karam's usual work. It was a fairly big hit, hitting number one on many internet and radio charts. On September 6 2005, Karam released the video for Bhebak Walaa, directed by Salim el-Turk.

Just Got Greater
 
Kibir'el Hob (2005). Billboards for this album initially featured Karam's hand upon the horizon.Since sales of her previous album, Shu Mghaira..! were relatively poor by Karam's standards, pressure was mounting on her upcoming album to achieve radio and commercial success. In November 2005, billboards and unipolls all over Beirut were displaying a lady's hand upon a cloudy horizon. No writing was on the posters. The advertisement had the public wondering what message the posters were relaying, and who did the mysterious hand belong to? Soon it was generally concluded that the hand it belonged to a recording artist, but there were many conflicting suggestions as to whose it was. Gradually, the billboards had bits of the lady added to the picture, until on November 30, 2005 the "mystery lady" was revealed as Najwa Karam.

Najwa on the cover of Achabaka Magazine, December 2005On the same day, Karam's 15th studio album, Kibir'el Hob (Love Just Got Greater) was officially released. The record contained 8 tracks including the single, Bhebak Walaa, which generally reverted to the classic Karam style. The album has gained widespread publicity, through its rigorous advertising campaign, which included the billboard posters, many television appearances [on popular variety programs such as Dandana, and Akeed Maestro], and a new video clip for the track Bkhaf Mnil'May (I'm Scared of Losing You). This track, and the title track Kibir'el Hob are already making their way to the top of radio and internet charts in places such as Lebanon, Iraq and Australia.

Kibir'el Hob topped the highest selling album chart in Lebanon for Rotana during the Christmas sales period, and remained in the number one position through the New Year. Karam's publicist has reported that the singer will be in Lebanon after New Year's Celebrations in Miami, Florida to begin shooting a new video clip with director Saeed Al Marouk.

Awards and Achievements

Discography
Regular studio albums
 
Najwa Karam in the Bhebak Wala' video, 20051989: Ya Habayeb
1992: Shams el-Ghinnieh
1993: Ana Ma'akon
1994: Naghmet Hob
1995: Ma Bassmahlak
1996: Hazi Helo
1997: Ma Hada La Hada
1998: Maghroumeh
1999: Rouh Rouhi
2000: Oyoun Qalbi
2001: Nedmaneh; Worldwide Sales: 4 Million Units
2002: Tahamouni
2003: Saharni
2004: Shu Mghaira..!
2005: Kibir'el Hob
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Singles
2003: W Kberna featuring Wadih el Safi
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Compilations
2001: The Very Best Of Najwa Karam
2004: Greatest Hits