Elias Rahbani, a Lebanese composer and lyricist who wrote the music for some of the Arab world’s leading actors, including Lebanese diva Fairouz, has died after fighting COVID-19, his family said. . He was 82.
Rahbani was admitted to the hospital last week suffering from low oxygenation after he contracted the coronavirus and succumbed to COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, Monday.
Lebanese master Elias Rahbani leads his orchestra at a concert at the Casino du Liban
(Photo: AFP)
Elias was the younger brother of Mansour and Assi Rahbani, the famous Arab world music duo known as the Rahbani Brothers, who wrote music and plays for Fairouz and other celebrities. Assi Rahbani, who was married to Fairouz, died in 1985, and Mansour died in 2009.
The three brothers were pioneers in Lebanon’s golden age of music and culture, before the country entered a civil war in the late mid-1970s. Many Lebanese still begin their day listening to their songs and seeing them as unifying, popular figures across the country’s divided political spectrum.
Elias was born into a music family in the city of Antelias, north of Beirut, and Elias quickly established a path for himself in the music industry. He often worked with his brothers but went on to compose songs for himself for ancient Lebanese artists including Fairouz, Sabah, Melhem Barakat, Majida al-Roumi and others.
Elias Rahbani distinguished himself from his brothers, who were two of the most famous in the industry, with his more modern styles and a mix of internationally acclaimed Middle Eastern and Western music. He wrote some of Fairouz’s favorite songs, as well as the music and lyrics for many of his beloved songs.
Rahbani has produced hundreds of songs and music for the theater and audios for dozens of films and TV series, including “Habibati,” or My Love, “The Night Player. ”
Elias leaves a wife, Nina, two sons, Gassan and Jad and a sister, Elham.