Death of Umm Kulthum

Umm Kulthum died on 3 February 1975 in Cairo, aged about 71. An Egyptian singer and actress, Umm Kulthum was the most celebrated Arab vocalist of the twentieth century, known as the Star of the East. She began as a girl performing religious songs in the Egyptian countryside and became famous in Cairo through recordings, radio and films. Her monthly concerts, broadcast live on Thursday evenings, would bring much of the Arab world to a standstill, and her long songs with improvised repetitions built emotional intensity with her powerful contralto voice. Her funeral drew a crowd of millions, and her recordings remain widely loved across the region.

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