Baligh Hamdi: The Musical Genius Who Left an Indelible Mark on the Arab World

“An artist is like a fingerprint that is not repeated, I remember his death, when you turn on the television, you find him. He does not leave us, but he exists and will remain with his art,” said Egyptian composer Balig Hamdi.

Although years have passed since the departure of Baligh Hamdi, who left us in 1993, his musical influence still exists.

Baligh Hamdi was born on October 7, 1937, in the popular Shubra neighborhood of Cairo. He loved the art from his childhood, as he mastered playing the oud at the age of nine.

He studied Arabic and Eastern Muwasshah from his teacher Darwish al-Hariri. At this stage, his ambition was to join the group “An Hour for Your Heart” led by Faida Kamel and Salah Aram on the radio and he was approved initially as a singer and not as a composer as he had hoped.

When Baligh Hamdi was asked how he got into the world of radio, he replied that his insistence on experience without anyone’s interference was enough.

During that period, Baligh Hamdi presented two songs to his friend Faida Kamel, “Ken La” and “Navit Azafiq” and these two works were the starting point of his composing career.

Collaboration with Umm Kulthum

Baligh Hamdi was behind the success of great male and female singers of the Arab world, especially in his collaboration with Kawkab al-Sharq Umm Kulthum, where he presented about ten tunes to her.

In a radio interview, Baligh Hamdi said that Umm Kulthum broke all tradition with this move, and showed her humility and extraordinary talent, as Baligh was still young.

On one occasion, when he asked her to shorten the introduction to the song “One Thousand and One Nights”, she left it as it was.

Dream World

His collaboration with Abdel Halim Hafez was an equally important element of Halim’s artistic career, as he presented songs like “Sawah”, “You Betrayed Him”, “According to the Love of My Heart”, “Promised”, “Dear Man”, “My Love, Who”.

The influence between them was evident from the beginning of their collaboration with the song “Takhonoh” written by Balig for Laila Murad in 1957, but Abdel Halim admired it and wanted to feature it in his film “The Empty Pillow”.

Crazy Art

The late Algerian singer Warda, Baligh Hamdi’s success partner, described the artist in an interview, saying: “Balig was crazy about art, a bohemian who didn’t follow appointments, but he was a genius from the start.”

The artistic relationship between Balig and Warda was an important part of his career, as it created a fusion of love and art.

A Sad End for a Musical Genius

When Baligh Hamdi was asked about his best song, he said that he does not think about what he presents and does not relate to and always thinks about the song after presenting it to distance himself from the ego of success.

Despite the great success and brilliance with which Baligh Hamdi lived, this brilliance did not last till his last days.

Even though years have passed, Baligh Hamdi has not disappeared from the music scene. His school remains an important reference for music makers in the Arab world, and despite his passing, his mark and influence on the music world remains.