Ziad Rahbani obituary

Lebanese composer, playwright, actor and pianist who transformed his country’s popular music

Ziad Rahbani, who has died aged 69 of a heart attack, was a national hero in Lebanon. A composer, pianist, playwright, actor and political commentator, he shook up the Beirut theatre scene with his controversial musical plays and transformed his country’s popular music with his bravely original fusion of Middle Eastern and western styles. In the process he also transformed the career of his mother, Nouhad Haddad, better known as Fairuz, the most beloved singer in the Arab world.

Fairuz had a vast following across the Middle East and North Africa, sold more than 150m records and performed in musical plays and films. Ziad’s father, Assi Rahbani, was a pioneering composer who, working with his brother, Mansour, as “the Rahbani Brothers” had written many of the songs made famous by Fairuz. She was initially best known for stories of Lebanese pastoral life, love and loss.