Ziad Rahbani
| Ziad Rahbani زياد الرحباني |
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| Background information | |
| Born | January 1, 1956 |
| Origin | Lebanon |
| Genres | Arabic music, Lebanese music, opera, jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Composer, writer, musician |
| Instruments | Piano, electronic keyboards, accordion, buzuq, vocals |
| Associated acts | |
Ziad Rahbani (also Ziyad al-Rahbany Arabic: زياد الرحباني, born 1956) is a Lebanese composer, pianist, playwright, and political commentator. His compositions are well known throughout the Arab world. Many of his musicals satirize Lebanese politics both during and after the civil war, and are often strongly critical of the traditional political establishment.
Ziad Rahbani is the son of the Lebanese famous composer Assi Rahbani and Nouhad Haddad, the famous Lebanese female singer known as Fairuz. Rahbani was married to Dalal Karam, with whom he has a boy named "Assi" but was later found out not to be his biological son. Their relationship later ended in divorce, prompting Karam to write a series of articles for the gossip magazine Ashabaka about their marriage. Rahbani composed a number of songs about their relationship, including "Marba el Dalal" and "Bisaraha".
On Friday April 3, 2009, the Lebanese press reported that Rahbani filed a lawsuit with the Lebanese courts, asking to disown his son, Assi Rahbani Jr., and stripping him of the Rahbani name on all official records, and voiding any legal obligation towards him as a father, after DNA tests proved that Assi Jr. is not his son. Rahbani has also had a well-publicized relationship with actress Carmen Lebbos, which lasted for 15 years before the couple agreed to separate. Rahbani has a long-standing relationship with Lebanese leftist movements, and is a self-declared communist and atheist. Furthermore, in an interview with the journalist Ghassan Bin-Jiddu, Rahbani stated that the bloodbath in the Palestinian camp Tall al-Za’tar by rightist Christian militias in 1976 was the main reason that drove him to leave politics. Notwithstanding, he also expressed his support to the Lebanese resistance and its project in the face of the Israeli enemy. Coming from an Antiochian Orthodox family, his politics and atheistic viewpoint have meant that he has been at odds with some of his ex-coreligionists. During the Lebanese civil war, Rahbani resided in mainly Muslim West Beirut.
Rahbani's first known artistic work was "Sadiqi Allah" (My Friend God), a collection of writings between the years 1967 and 1968 when he was in his teens. In 1973, at age 17, Rahbani composed his first music for Fairuz, his mother. Assi Rahbani, his father, was hospitalized and his mother Fairuz was to play the leading role in Al Mahatta by the Rahbani brothers. Mansour Rahbani, his uncle, who had written the lyrics of a song about Assi Rahbani's forced absence, gave Ziad Rahbani the task of composing its music. The song "Saalouni El Nass" (The People Asked Me) gained Rahbani recognition in the music world.
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