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Seta Hagopian 2.jpg Photo by Seta Hagopian –

Top 10 Most Famous Singers from Iraq

Iraq is known for its rich maqam heritage that is passed down orally by the masters of the maqam. Iraq is also known for having a variety of natural talents around the country.

Some of them are actresses, actors, or even instrumentalists. In this list, however, the main focus is the famous and influential singers that have brought fame to the country.

1. Salah Al Bahar

Salah is an Iraqi singer and composer, he started his career by composing songs for many Iraqi singers. He started his singing career after participating in the Amateur Corner program for Iraqi talent in 1994.

He was able to succeed in the program and produced his first song. Over the course of his career, he has recorded 18 successful musical albums and shot more than 117 music videos.

2. Jamil Bachir

Violin Vuillaume.jpg Photo by Jean Baptiste –

He was an Iraqi musician and expert oud player. The Iraqi Music Institute was opened in 1936 under the administration of Hanna Petros. He finished his oud studies in 1943 and his violin study in 1946.

He later worked at the institute as an oud and violin teacher. He wrote a two-volume oud method and was also a good singer but didn’t continue singing as he preferred the oud.

He died on September 24, 1977.

3. Farida Mohammad Ali

She is an Iraqi singer who performs regularly in the Iraqi Maqam Ensemble. The ensemble was established in 1989 in Baghdad by Mohammad H. Gomar to continue in 1973. She taught maqam singing at the Baghdad Conservatory.

She was the recipient of the Medal Algeria Capital of Arab Culture in 2007, she performed at International Mystic Music Sufi Festival in Karachi, Pakistan in 2007.

4. Linda George

Linda is known for her sentimental ballads and dance songs. The vast majority of her songs are sung in her native Assyrian language though a few are in English and Arabic.

She is well known for having toured the continents of Oceania, Europe, and Asia. She is the most liked Assyrian figure on Facebook. Unlike many other comparative artists, she has dabbled with popular American music genres such as R&B and many others in her career.

Her songs generally range from lush romantic ballads to traditional folk dance and patriotic music. She toured Australia for the 22nd time in 2010 and was able to finish videotaping one of her hits on the album. 

Her album Madeleey was filmed in the Royal National Park.

5. Seta Hagopian

Seta Hagopian 2.jpg Photo by Seta Hagopian –

Seta’s music career began in 1968 and led to much success for she is known to be the Warm voice of Iraq and has been dubbed Iraq’s Fairouz. She has held concerts across the entire Arab world including Iraq, Egypt, Algeria, and the United Arab Emirates.

Her career began when she was working with the most prominent composers such as Tariq al- Shibil, Farouk Hilal Khammash, Elias Rahbani, and Ahmed Qasim.

Her style of music was one of the first to renew Iraqi songs through the introduction of Western instruments along with singing contemporary pop music.

6. Rahma Raid

Rahma Abdulredha Mezher Al-Sibahi was born on 19 January 1987 and is known as Rahma Riad. She is an Iraqi singer and actress. Her father is the famous Riad Ahmed who is a well-known singer from Iraq.

Her song Waed Menni is among the top ten most streamed songs on YouTube and is the first song by a female Arab artist to have more than 148 million views. 

She is recognized as one of the contestants in the Arab world and Star Academy. She performed on stage with many Arab artists including Assala, Latifa, Angham, and Nawal El Zoghbi. She ended up being the runner-up and reached a large audience.

In 2018, she released the song Waed Menni received great success, and the music video gained about 150 million views in the two years after its released. It is one of the most-watched music videos on YouTube channel.

7. Kadim Al Sahir

Kadim Jabbar Al Samarai was born on September 12, 1957, he is better known by his stage name Kadim Al Sahir. She is an Iraqi singer and composer, who performs with an orchestra of twenty to thirty musicians.

His work normally features Iraqi folk instruments, rhythms, and melodies. His performances usually have the addition of Arabic percussion, oud, qanun, nay, and a full complement of strings which include violin, cello, and bass.

He debuted as a coach for MBC The Voice Kids and his team member Lynn Hayek who won in the season 1 finale that was held on March 5, 2016.

He performed solo in his first virtual hybrid concert in 2020 in collaboration with the Abu Dhabi cultural foundation.

8. Majid Al Mohandis

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Majid Al Mohandis Al-Attabi was born on October 25, 1971, he is an Iraqi- Saudi singer and composer. His success in the Arab world earned him the title of the engineer of the Arabic song and the voice of the diamond.

He gained an interest in the arts after he completed his studies. He worked as a tailor for several years while chasing his dream to become an artist, it was at that time he bought himself an oud to practice with.

He has released a lot of albums over the course of his career some of them being, Febrayer ElKuwait in 2015, Eldenya Dawaarah in 2018, Shahd El Hourouf in 2020, and his latest one Eateni Waqtan in 2022.

9. Hussam Al Rassam

Born on 29 March 1978 is an Iraqi singer who became known after the 2003 Iraq war, His career began when he was young but didn’t have much success till later in life.

After his album Al qodwwd Alhalbiya he started to sing for free in a hunting club as a way to gain popularity. This led him to release another album that was based on poems. There is one single that features three other Iraqi singers for the Iraq national football team. 

The song became the official song for the team and was played when Iraq won the 2007 Asian Cup.

10. Nazem Al- Ghazali

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Nazem was born in 1921 and died on October 23, 1963. He is remembered as one of the most popular singers in the history of Iraq. His songs are still heard by many in the Arab world.

He studied at the Institute of Fine Arts in Iraq and he started his career shortly after he finished his studies. In 1948, he worked at Iraqi Radio and was a member of the Andalusian Muashahat Ensemble.

Nazem’s band consisted of many prominent musicians known to the Arab world. The band was known for being very unique compared to other bands. Some of their songs are Talaa Min Beit Abuha, Gulli Ya Hilu, and Tusbukh Ala Kheir.