Sabah

Sabah (1927–) is an Arab singer and actress whose career has stretched from the mid-1930s to the present day.

Sabah was born as Janet Fighali in Beirut, Lebanon, although other records state that her birth place is the village of Wadi Shahroor. She began singing in the 1940s, then started to acting in Egyptian movies while continuing to sing. She has released over 50 albums and has acted in 86 movies, as well as almost 20 stage plays. She is among the most prolific Arabic-language singers, with a reported 3,500 songs.

Still a prominent performer in her late 70s, she continues to perform both in concert and on television, including such programs as Lebanon's Star Academy (the Arabic equivalent of the United Kingdom's Fame Academy) where she sang her new single on a stage lined with mannequins displaying costumes from several of her early films and musical plays.

The singer is known to fans by the diminutive "Sabbouha" and is also called "Al Shahroura," or the singing bird.

In 2005, she released a new Dance single titled Lesh Ana Haywana (What's in the world?). Her 2006 release, Yana ya khara, a duet with Lebanese singer Rola, is a remake of a 1960s hit. The accompanying video, in which Sabah is shown as "the notorious diva" to whom her younger colleague pays tribute, has received wide play on Arabic music channels.

Marriages

Sabah has been married seven times, and most recently was engaged to Amr Mihio ("Mr. Lebanon") in 2003. The relationship did not last, and in 2004 she admitted that it had been a stunt to catapult Omar, who was starting his acting career, into the spotlight. Her former husbands include Najib Shammas, Anwar Mansy, composer Baligh Hamdy, Egyptian television presenter Ahmed Farrag, Rushdy Abaza (to whom she was married for three days in 1967), Joe Hammoud, Wassim Tabbara, and Fadi Kuntar, alias Fadi Lubnan.

She has two children, Sabah Shammas (by Najib Shammas) and actress Howayda Mansy (by Anwar Mansy), who live in the United States. She has two grandchildren Daniel Chammas and Naji Chammas who live in the California.

Films

Many of Sabah's movies have not been released commercially on either VHS tape or DVD. Movies she has acted in include:

1. Aydi el naema, El (1963)
2. Motamarreda, El (1963)
3. Jaoz marti (1961)
4. Rajul el thani, El (1960)
5. Ataba el khadra, El (1959)
6. Sharia el hub (1959)
7. Salem al habaieb (1958)
8. Izhay ansak (1956)
9. Wahabtak hayati (1956)
10. Khatafa mirati (1954)
11. Lahn hubi (1954)
12. Zalamuni el habaieb (1953)
13. Khadaini abi (1951)
14. (1950)
15. Sabah el khare (1948)