Khaled (musician)
Khaled Hadj Ibrahim (, ; born 29 February 1960), better known by his mononym Khaled (), is an Algerian raï singer, musician and songwriter born in Oran. He began recording in his early teens under the name Cheb Khaled (, Arabic for "Young" Khaled, with "Cheb" as a common title for male Raï singers). Khaled is one of the most important musicians in the history of Raï music in his native Algeria and is one the world's best-known Arab singers. To date, Khaled has sold over 80.5 million albums (10 diamond, platinum, and gold) worldwide, making him one of the  bestselling Arabic-language singers in history. Among his most famous songs are "Didi", "El Arbi", "Abdel Kader", "La Poupée qui fait non", "Wahran Wahran", "Bakhta", "Aïcha", "C'est la vie", and "Alech Taadi". Early life. Khaled Hadj Ibrahim was born in 1960 in Oran's Eckmühl neighborhood, Algeria. Musical career. His rise to national fame was mainly due to the efforts of Lieutenant-Colonel Hosni Snoussi, director of the state-supported arts and culture Office Riadh el Feth, who took Khaled under his wing and invited him along with other rai stars to perform at the state-sponsored Festival de la  Jeunesse pour la Fête Nationale in Algiers in July 1985. In the same year, he was crowned king of rai in the first official festival of rai which was staged in Oran. Hosni Snoussi and Martin Meissonnier, who met at the Festival, convinced France's Minister of Culture Jack Lang that the export of rai from Algeria to France was in the French government's interest and together they organized the first rai festival in France at Bobigny in 1986. Cheb Khaled, who had been avoiding his mandatory military service, was able to perform at Bobigny only after Colonel Snoussi  intervened with the Algerian military authorities to secure him a passport. Shortly thereafter, Snoussi arranged for Cheb Khaled to record in France, with funding from the Office Riadh el Feth. The album, Kutché, released in 1988, a collaboration between Khaled and the Algerian jazz musician Safy Boutella, expanded his reputation in France, where he soon settled. By 1986, Khaled (who'd now dropped the Cheb) had been forced to move to Paris, as violence in Algeria claimed lives and he'd been threatened several times (producer Ahmed would, in fact, be murdered, as would several Raï performers). Arriving with a  reputation, he attempted to take his music to a global level, although his real debut, Kutche, did him no favors with its jazz-rock arrangements. He fared much better with 1992's Khaled, with some tracks produced by Michael Brook and others by Don Was. It yielded his first big hit, "Didi" and helped consolidate his reputation as Raï's first superstar. That was firmly cemented the following year with the Was-produced N'ssi N'ssi, which mixed funk, rock, and an Egyptian orchestra behind Khaled's persuasive voice and winning smile for a major commercial breakthrough in France, winning a  European, as well as North African, audience. In 1996, he hit again with Sahra, whose first single, "Aïcha," written for his daughter, gave Khaled a French number one hit. A mix of producers gave varying sounds, with French hip-hoppers Akhenton & Imhotep proving the hardest on the track "Oran Marseille" with its rapid-fire rap. There was even some reggae on "Mektoubi," which merged relatively seamlessly with the North African sound. While well-received critically, it sold little in the U.S. however, unlike France, where the album became Khaled's biggest success. Perhaps the moment that justified his title of  King of Raï, however, came in 1999, when he headlined the 1-2-3 Soleils concert in Paris (which led to the album of the same name), over Rachid Taha and Faudel. It was the biggest Algerian show ever staged in France and left no doubt that Khaled remained Raï's hottest attraction. 2000 brought Kenza and a change of producer, as former prog rocker Steve Hillage helped bring a more organic feel to the proceedings. A smash in Europe, once again it did little business in the U.S. International impact. One of the Pioneers of world music, Rai musician  Khaled has gone beyond all geo-political boundaries to become one of the world's most popular performers, mixing traditional Algerian music with western rhythms and styles such as soul, rock and reggae to achieve his distinctive sound and voice unlike anyone ever. Khaled has been celebrated not only for his music, but for his role as a builder of bridges between cultures. selling more than 80 millions copies around the world makes him a nationwide celebrity and unofficial ambassador for the country's Arab minority. —Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, 2008 Khaled's signature song , the 1993 hit "Didi", became extremely popular in the Arabic-speaking countries and also in several other continents, including Europe, where it entered top charts in France, Belgium and Spain, and in Asia, including India and Pakistan. The song was also used in the Bollywood films "Shreeman Aashiq", "Airlift" and "Highway". Khaled and producer Don Was appeared on "The Tonight Show" on 4 February 1993. Khaled returned to the America in December of 2004 for a special guest performance at the GRAMMY JAM 2004 in Los Angeles, Ca. He joined a cast of celebrity artists honoring the great musical legends  Earth Wind and Fire, performing Brazilian Rhymes into DIDI showing how there music crossed the world, fusing with his North African style. In 2012 Khaled's album "C’est la vie" sold more than one million copies in the European market, 1.8 million copies in the Middle East and North Africa, and over 4 million copies worldwide. The album reached number 5 on SNEP, the official French Albums Chart. On 3 April 2015, Khaled was convicted for plagiarism of Didi, from "Angui ou Selmi", a musical composition recorded by Cheb Rabah (born Rabah Zerradine) in 1988. But on 13 May 2016 , Court of Cassation removed the charges against Khaled, when a 1982 audio tape with the song was shown. This tape was recorded by Khaled and given to a producer located in Oran, 6 years before Cheb Rabah's record. In the end, Rabah had to compensate Khaled for the fees during this case. Personal life. On 12 January 1995, Khaled married Samira Diabi, when she was 27. With Diabi he has four daughters and one son. In 1997, his wife filed a complaint against him for domestic violence, before retracting the complaint. In 1998, the biography "Khaled: Derrière le sourire  (French for Khaled: Behind the Smile) was published, which recounted his life. Khaled has an illegitimate son with whom he has no contact. Before a court in 2001, he denied being the father of the child, continuing to claim that he had been "deceived". On 7 May 2001, Khaled was sentenced by the Nanterre criminal court to a two-month suspended prison sentence for "family desertion". His move to Luxembourg in 2008, where he's been residing ever since, has reportedly been motivated by these charges. He was awarded Moroccan citizenship in August 2013, which he didn't ask for  but accepted because he felt he could not refuse. Discography. This discography does not include a number of albums released on cassette in Algeria early in his career, and several bootleg/unofficial albums. Awards. Below is a chronological list of awards won by Khaled