Wadih El Safi

Wadih Francis, celebrated worldwide as Wadih El Safi, was born in Niha in the Chouf mountains. Winning an all-Lebanon radio vocal contest in 1938 at seventeen, his astonishing vocal power, thunderous chest resonance, and ability to hold sustained high notes with crystal clarity quickly established him as a living national treasure.

Safi was the paramount architect of modern Lebanese folk song (al-ughniya al-lubnaniyya), composing over five thousand songs and collaborating with the Rahbani Brothers, Fairuz, and Sabah. His peerless mastery of the improvisational vocal mawwal and songs of nostalgic devotion to Lebanon earned him the official title 'The Voice of Lebanon' and state decorations across the Arab world.