Arab world’s legendary singer, Sabah Fakhri, dies at 88

By SARAH EL DEEB
Associated Press

BEIRUT (AP) — Syria’s government says Sabah Fakhri, one of the Arab world’s most famous singers, has died at the age of 88. The death was announced on Tuesday. Fakhri has entertained generations with traditional Arabic songs and preserved extinct forms of Arabic and Syrian music. He was born Sabah Abu Qaws in the Syrian city of Aleppo in 1933 and got his stage name as an adolescent performer. He soon rose to fame to become one of the Arab world’s legendary tenors and one of its exceptionally charismatic entertainers. He was a world class Tarab singer, a form of music associated with emotional evocation that can last for hours.