Sami Yusuf

Sami Yusuf (born:) is a British singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and composer. He gained international attention with the release of his debut album, Al-Mu`allim, in 2003. As of 2020, he has released eight studio albums, five live albums, one compilation album. His studio albums were mostly released by Andante Records, with the first two being released by Awakening Records. He has sold over 34 million albums as of 2016.
==Content==
Besides his native English, Sami has performed in Arabic, Azerbaijani, Persian, Turkish, and Urdu, sometimes in the same work, as was the case with his hit, Hasbi Rabbi. His work is marked by blending different musical styles and genres, including elements from Sufi, folk, and Rock music. He used his multilingual and multi-instrumentalist style to address social, spiritual, and humanitarian issues. In recognition of his philanthropy, in 2014, Yusuf was appointed United Nations Global Ambassador for the World Food Programme.
== Early life ==
Sami Yusuf was born in 21 July 1980 in Tehran to Azerbaijani parents. His grandparents are from Baku, Azerbaijan, which they left to Iran when it was captured by the Bolsheviks after the First World War. And his parents arrived in Ealing, West London, in the early 1980s, after the Islamic Revolution in Iran. From an early age, Yusuf showed great interest in music. He was influenced by the wide range of musical genres available to him in his home town of Ealing in West London, immersing himself especially in Western classical music and Middle Eastern music. He learned the piano and violin as well as traditional instruments including the oud, setar, and tonbak. At the age of 16, Yusuf experienced a spiritual revival that made him become a "more committed Muslim". In 2003, although considering pursuing a career in law, he produced and released his first album. It quickly became an international success and launched Yusuf's professional music career. Yusuf studied music as a composition student at the prestigious Royal Academy, as well as at Salford University in north-west England.
== Music career ==
Spiritique is the name Yusuf has given to his unique musical style that blends elements of Western and Eastern sounds. The overarching theme of Yusuf's lyrics is one of an inclusive spirituality. His first album, Al-Mu'allim, in English with some Arabic lyrics, became a huge success especially across North Africa and the Middle East. It was followed by My Ummah, and together album sales quickly reached 10 million. Yusuf has performed across five continents. His concerts— including ones at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, Wembley Arena in London, and the Velodrome in Cape Town, South Africa— sold out. 250,000 people came to hear him perform in Taksim Square in Istanbul. Time called Yusuf "Islam's Biggest Rock Star", while The Guardian wrote of him, "The Biggest Star in the Middle East is a Brit".
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