It comes with great sadness that we announce that Elias Rahbani, father of two musicians, Jad and Ghassan, Lebanon‘s greatest composer, and member of the country’s glory and artistic history has unfortunately passed away Monday at the age of 83. We still don’t know the specific cause of death, but we are certain that he has left behind a lavish amount of music and very popular theatrical works.
Elias Rahbani is one of the legendary Rahbani brothers who have blessed Lebanon and the Arab region with timeless recordings that we will forever be grateful for. Elias was also a pianist and conductor, with a total of 6,500 works to his name, as well as songs, radio broadcasts, music for television films, many hymns, and more than 3,500 advertising jingles. He unapologetically pioneered the Middle East.
His tremendous talent extended from the 60s to the 90s all the way to our present. He permanently placed his imprint on Lebanon’s music scene with songs like ‘Ya Tair El Werwar’, by our icon Fayrouz, ‘Ya Helem Ya Lebnan’ by the soprano Majida El Roumi, and ‘Ho Capito Che Tiamo’, by Italian musician Jo Diverio, and so much more.