Haifa Wehbe

Haifa Wehbe was born on March 10, 1972, in Mahrouna, Tyre District, South Governorate, Lebanon to a Lebanese Shia Muslim father, Muhammad Wehbe, and an Egyptian mother, Sayeda Abd al-Aziz Ibrahim. Haifa grew up in the capital, Beirut. She has three sisters and one brother. Wehbe claimed once that she was born in 1976, a date repeated by numerous sources.[3][4][5] At one point, she mentioned that she is three years younger than her ex-husband Ahmed Abou Hashima, who was born in 1975.[6] Her half-sister Rola Yamout posted a leaked document indicating that she was born in 1972.[7] Wehbe won the title of Miss South Lebanon at the age of sixteen,[8][9] and was a runner-up at the Miss Lebanon competition,[10] but the title was withdrawn later from her after it was discovered that she violated the competitions law, as she was married and a mother.[11]

Wehbe released her second studio album Baddi Aech (Arabic: بدي عيش, English: "I Want to Live") in early 2005, following the success of lead single "Ya Hayat Albi." Released after the assassination of Lebanese politician Rafik Hariri, the title single of the album is about "freedom, considered to be among the most basic of human rights".[12] Follow-up single "Aana Haifa" (Arabic: أنا هيفاء, English: "I Am Haifa") became her biggest hit to date. In Summer 2005, she participated as a guest in Al Wadi, a local version of The Farm.[13]

In 2006, she released the kids song "Bus al-Wawa" (Arabic: بوس الواوا, English: "Kiss the Booboo"), the song was later used in a Pepsi advertisement. It was also voted Song of the Year in 2006 by Radio Scope and Sawt Al Musika.[14]

Wehbe starred in the Pepsi-produced film Sea of Stars released in early 2008, along with Carole Samaha, Ahmad el Sherif, Wael Kfoury, Brigitte Yaghi, and Ruwaida al-Mahrouqi.[15]

On July 4, 2008, Wehbe released her third studio album Habibi Aana (Arabic: حبيبي أنا, English: "My Love") which contains 15 songs including the lead single "Moush Adra Estana".

Wehbe released a children's album Baby Haifa in March 2010 under Rotana Records. The song on the album "Baba Fein" became a big hit around the Muslim world, and is considered one of the most popular Arabic nursery rhymes, having 38 million views on YouTube.[16]

In April 2010, Wehbe was featured on French DJ David Vendetta's album Vendetta on the song "Yama Layali".[17]

In September 2011 Al Bawaba reported that Wehbe was threatening to leave her label Rotana "for neglecting her and not paying any attention to her work".[18]

"Malikat Jamal Al Kawn" (MJK; English: "Miss Universe") was released on May 8, 2012 under Rotana Records, where she worked with Aphex Twin.

During summer 2013, Webhe released her new song "Ghala Ghala".

In 2014, she signed with Tarik Freitekh's label and Wehbe shot her new song "Farhana" on June 21, 2014 in “Your Face Sounds Familiar” 2014 (Arabic translation: شكلك مش غريب).

In August 2014, she announced that she would be releasing a new song titled "Breathing You In" along with a video clip featuring Casper Smart.[19]

In 2018, she starred in an Egyptian drama Lanaat Karma.[20]

In September 2018, Haifa released her seventh studio album, Hawwa.[21] The album features 15 songs, and debuted at No. 1 on iTunes charts. The album was produced independently by Wehbe herself, without a record label.[22] In 2020, she accused her ex-business manager, Mohamed al-Waziry, of stealing $4m from her bank account, including also her fees from producers and party organizers.[23]

In 2021, Haifa Wehbe released a new duet song entitled “Law Kont” with Egyptian artist Akram Hosni, and it exceeded millions of views in a few hours and remained number one on various charts across the Middle East. The music video was popular all over the world on YouTube.

In November 2014, Wehbe caused controversy and was later heavily criticized, when she wore a revealing dress during a live episode of Arab Star Academy, where her bare butt was shown. She later apologized and blamed the stage lighting.[32]

In 2009, the lyrics to Baba Fein aroused controversy with Nubians, as the lyrics said "Where is my teddy bear and the Nubian monkey?" referring to Nubians as "monkeys".[33][34] Nubians in Egypt accused her that her song aroused racism and discrimination. The lyric has since been removed of music platforms and instead replaced with "Where is my teddy bear" twice.[35]

• Houwa Al Zaman (2002)
• Baddi Aech (2005)
• Farashet El Wadi (2006)
• Habibi Ana (2008)
• Baby Haifa (2010)
• Malikat Jamal Al Kawn (2012)
• Hawwa (2018)

• Sea of Stars (2008)
• Dokkan Shehata (2011)
• Halawet Rouh (2014)
• Khair and Baraka (2017)
• Renegades of Europe (2020)

• Kalam Ala Warak (2014)
• Mawlid wa Sahibuh Ghayb (2015)
• Maryam (2015)
• Al Herbaya (2017)[44]
• Lanaat Karma (2018)