page_title: Umm Kulthum
section_title: Artistic legacy
hierarchical_section_title: Umm Kulthum / Artistic legacy
caption_attribution_description: English: Umm Kulthum
context_page_description: Umm Kulthum was an Egyptian singer, songwriter, and film actress active from the 1920s to the 1970s. She was given the honorific title Kawkab al-Sharq.
  Umm Kulthum was known for her vocal ability and unique style. She sold over 80 million records worldwide, making her one of the best-selling Middle Eastern singers of all time. She is considered a national icon in her native Egypt; she has been dubbed "The voice of Egypt" and "Egypt's fourth pyramid".
context_section_description: Umm Kulthum is regarded as one of the greatest singers in the history of arab music, with significant influence on a number of musicians, both in the Arab World and beyond. Among others, Jah Wobble has claimed her as a significant influence on his work. Bob Dylan has been quoted praising her Maria Callas, Marie Laforêt, Bono, Robert Plant, and among many others are also known to be admirers of Umm Kulthum's music. Youssou N'Dour, a fan of hers since childhood, recorded his 2004 album Egypt with an Egyptian orchestra in homage to her legacy. One of her best-known songs, "Enta Omri", has been covered and reinterpreted numerous times.
  She was referred to as the Lady by Charles de Gaulle and is regarded as the "Incomparable Voice" by Maria Callas. It is difficult to accurately measure her vocal range at its peak, as most of her songs were recorded live. Even today, she has retained a near-mythical status among young Egyptians. In 2001, the Egyptian government opened the Kawkab al-Sharq (Star of the East) Museum in the singer's memory. Housed in a pavilion on the grounds of Cairo's Manesterly Palace, the collection includes a range of Umm Kulthum's personal possessions, including her trademark sunglasses and scarves, along with photographs, recordings, and other archival material.
  Critics and journalists note that while she was known to have touched many different artists, she had also touched the lives of millions of her listeners and fans. Her performances combined raw emotion and political rhetoric; she was greatly influential and spoke about politics through her music. An example of this is seen in her music performed after World War II. The theme at the surface was love, yet a deeper interpretation of the lyrics – for example in the song "Salue Qalbi" – reveals questioning of political motives in times of political tension. Umm Kulthum's political rhetoric in her music is still influential today, not only in Egypt, but in many other Middle Eastern countries and even globally.
  She is referenced at length in the lyrics of the central ballad "Omar Sharif" in the musical The Band's Visit.
  In January 2019, at the Winter in Tantora festival in Al-Ula for the first time they had a performed live concert with her "appearing as a hologram with accompaniment by an orchestra and bedecked in flowing, full-length gowns as she had when debuting in the 1920s."
caption: Umm Kulthum in Life Magazine, 1962
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