How Umm Kulthum mastered music, markets and hearts

When Egyptian singer Marwa Nagy takes the stage, she must do more than command the moment – she must embody the very essence of the cultural titan she seeks to honour.

She knows it’s a huge challenge as few Arab artists come close to channelling the power and pathos of Umm Kulthum.

Though she describes performing these celebrated works as climbing “a steep mountain”, Nagy is drawn once again to make that vocal trek – this time at a gala concert celebrating Umm Kulthum's legacy in Lebanon’s Beirut Hall on February 8, as part of the commemorations marking the 50th anniversary of her death.

"It is a pleasure and an honour, but only if you approach the performance with the absolute respect and dedication that Umm Kulthum gave to her shows when she was alive," says Nagy. "Yes, there are the technical tasks and the complexity of phrasing, the understanding of maqamat [Arabic modes], as well as precision and even endurance. But the music is cinematic and emotional, so you are also telling a story. To do that, you need to be fully present in the moment, and that is unbelievably hard to do. After each show, I feel both exhausted and elated because I feel I have learnt even more about her.”

Understanding the challenge, Nagy says, requires appreciating Umm Kulthum's legacy – not only as a soundtrack to Pan-Arabist fervour under former president Gamal Abdel Nasser but for reshaping Egyptian music by breaking conventions and defying cultural prejudices.

It seemingly began at the outset with Umm Kulthum, born Fatima Ibrahim Al Sayyid Al Balatgi in 1898, in a rural village north-east of Cairo. Raised in a religious household - her father was the imam of the local mosque and a spiritual singer - she was considered a child prodigy. Umm Kulthum began singing at a young age, performing in public squares disguised as a boy to join her family ensemble for performances.

It was a formative experience, explains Egyptian academic Ahmed Ali and author of 2023 biography Umm Kulthum: Poetry and Singing. "Umm Kulthum herself said she had many teachers,” he says. “At the head of that education was the Quran, which led to her love of classical Arabic poetry; the second was her father; and the third was the poet Ahmed Rami.”

Virginia Danielson, an associate of Harvard University's music department, author of 1997’s The Voice of Egypt - an English-language biography of Umm Kulthum - and visiting scholar at NYU Abu Dhabi, says the singer's pitch-perfect Quranic recitation not only laid the foundation for her emotive singing style but also shaped her overall career approach.

"What's important for her artistic choices and performances is that her training in Quranic recitation and later coaching by Rami and others left her pronunciation near-perfect,” she says. “Training in Quranic recitation was not uncommon in Egypt in the early 20th century. Singers and orators, even Christians, sought this training for the command of language it provided.”

Umm Kulthum reportedly stopped dressing in male clothing by her mid-teens, a shift that coincided with her family’s move to Cairo. Immersed in the city’s vibrant cultural salons and diverse performance venues, she developed a repertoire that transitioned from classical Arabic standards to more innovative and virtuosic compositions. A pivotal influence in this artistic evolution was the renowned Egyptian songwriter and poet Ahmed Rami, who penned the lyrics for over 100 songs for her, including some signature works Raq El Habeeb and Ya Zalemny.

The relationship was complex, marked by reported shades of unrequited love on Rami’s part and creative differences. This dynamic later served as dramatic inspiration for the eponymous 1999 television series and the musical Umm Kulthum and the Golden Era, which premiered in London’s West End in 2020.

Ali is wary of that narrative, stating it is tinged with sexism. “Many people believe Ahmed Rami ‘created’ Umm Kulthum, but it is simply incorrect,” he says. “She was not his shadow, nor did she aspire to be. Umm Kulthum was an independent and unique artist, fully capable of standing on her own. Her choices, her voice and her artistic identity were entirely her own. While Rami played an important role, Umm Kulthum remained a singular figure, an artist whose name and legacy transcend any one collaborator or influence.”

Danielson explains that Kulthum's independence allowed her to secure savvy deals that fuelled her popularity and redefined the relationship between Egyptian artists, labels and broadcasters.

"She quickly began to make commercial recordings, starting in 1924, paid on a per-song basis," Danielson says. "The success of these led to a recording contract with [recording label] Gramophon that included an annual and substantial fee in addition to the per-song fee. Her real coup came in 1937 when she negotiated for live broadcasts of her concerts on Thursday nights, thus garnering hours of 'prime time' on the best night of the week for entertainers. No one had ever had such a thing. She was then, and remained for the rest of her life, a very tough negotiator if not always in person, then through her representatives who were often family members.”

The approach worked in spreading Umm Kulthum’s voice across the Arab world, particularly during a formative period in the Gulf.

Ghazi Al Mulaifi, a Kuwaiti musicologist from NYU Abu Dhabi and leader of the Khaleeji jazz band Boom Diwan, highlights the significant role these broadcasts played in cementing Umm Kulthum’s lasting appeal in Kuwait.

“She was an indelible part of those early broadcasting moments in Kuwait and the Gulf," he says. "These concerts influenced countless artists across the Gulf, showing what was possible as a musician. The idea of having a full orchestra supporting a singer really began with Umm Kulthum. The precision of those performances - even if some of the songs weren’t immediately recognisable - was universally acknowledged as a display of true artistry and excellence."

It was an aspect also understood by UAE Founding Father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan who officially invited Umm Kulthum to perform in Abu Dhabi in 1971 for the fifth anniversary of his accession as Ruler of Abu Dhabi. As a staunch supporter of Arab nationalism, Ali notes it wasn’t surprising that she eagerly accepted the opportunity to perform in the nascent state.

"Because she was well-read and really kept aware of developments in the region, she immediately understood what Sheikh Zayed and the UAE were trying to build," he says. "Umm Kulthum also understood the power of arts of rallying people together for a common goal and her career showed how she did that for the Arab world time and time again."

Umm Kulthum's concert in a purpose-built hall, now known as Al Nahyan Stadium behind Al Wahda Mall, was reimagined in a 2023 Cairo concert organized by the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre. Held at the Sultan Al Ghuri Complex, a 16th-century mausoleum, Nagy was on hand again to evoke the historical occasion by playing some of the material Umm Kulthum sang on that fateful night, including Aghdan Al Kak and El Hob Kolo.

"It was a beautiful evening, and being there to help recreate even a small part of that historical moment gave me a glimpse of the immense impact she achieved," Nagy recalls.

"Fifty years after her passing, her songs remain as vital as ever. There will never be another Umm Kulthum, but all my peers and I can do is pay tribute – not just by singing her songs, but by truly embodying her spirit of excellence in everything we do."

Umm Kulthum in art: The ultimate muse

Umm Kulthum’s cultural significance has long surpassed her music, film appearances and performances on stage. Her story, unique voice, powerful songs and even her recognisable silhouette, have come to represent something beyond her status as a musical legend.

Not only did she capture people’s emotions through her artistry, but Umm Kulthum has become intangibly linked to concepts of Arab nationalism, embodying a people’s sense of history, culture and identity in Egypt, across the region and beyond.

Naturally, this made her the muse of many artists. Renowned Egyptian-Armenian artist Chant Avedissian’s portraits of Umm Kulthum from his series Icons of the Nile were some of the first ways the musical legend was depicted through the lens of modern art.

Avedissian started this series in 1991 as a reaction to the First Gulf War, which marked a significant change in his oeuvre. He created stencils of Egypt’s most memorable singers and actors, emphasising notions of nationalism, nostalgia, and memory through what is often referred to as the region’s "golden age".“golden age.”

Combining pop culture and folkloric traditions and style, Avedissian’s paintings in this series, and in particular his portrait of Umm Kulthum, were incredibly popular and recognisable. Avedissian painted Umm Kulthum as she was seen and recognised by the public and her fans - ornately dressed and styled, wearing sunglasses.

In 2013, Icons of the Nile set a record for the highest price for a piece by a living contemporary Arab artist when it sold for more than $1.5 million at Sotheby’s Doha.

Renowned Egyptian sculptor and painter Adam Henein is another artist who took Umm Kulthum’s recognisable image and reimagined it in his own style.

Henein combined modernist forms, ancient Egyptian influences and cultural themes, using identifiable elements of Umm Kulthum to create some of his most significant works.

Umm Kulthum is rendered as a modern asymmetrical form in his sculptures with strong nods to Egypt’s pharaonic past. Henein celebrates and connects both contemporary culture and Egyptian heritage through this expressive and simplified style all through the recognisable aesthetic qualities of Umm Kulthum: her pulled-back bun, her stance and posture, and the handkerchief she held while she performed.

“Through his minimalist and stylised forms, Henein captures not just her physical likeness but the powerful influence she had on her audiences and society,” curator and founder of Tabari Artspace, Maliha Tabari tells The National.

Tabari, who worked with Henein and represented his sculptures through her gallery, elaborates that Henein took elements of Umm Kulthum, such as her handkerchief, as a symbol of who she was. It was “more than an accessory” but a representation of her grace, emotional expression and mastery of performance.

Tabari adds: “Henein’s intention was to encapsulate her essence as a unifying force, an artist whose influence transcended music and became entrenched in the cultural and political identity of the Arab world.”

Huda Lutfi, the Egyptian visual artist and cultural historian, recalls Umm Kulthum’s impact on her home and the public environment in Cairo in the 1960s. Not only was her music regularly played in Lutfi’s family home but also in cafes across the city.

“I grew up to love her strong presence as a singer and how she brought people together, not only in Egypt, but across the Arab-speaking region,” she says. “Because of her talent and strong personality, she grew to be both a cultural and political figure, often closely associated with power structures.”

In Lutfi’s portraits of Umm Kulthum, she explores themes of femininity, cultural identity, social change and many aspects and issues in Egyptian and Arab society through the use of and manipulation of the singer’s identity.

In her 2008 work Democracy is Coming, Umm Kulthum is depicted as protesting, like many people did around the globe, against the “use of violence as an excuse to bring democracy to other people". In Lutfi’s other representations of Umm Kulthum, she is dressed as the Statue of Liberty, but only with one leg to stand on. In another piece, she is still the American statute but is stepping on nails. In another, she appears as Buddha.

“For me, Umm Kulthum is an icon that represents the Egyptian people and their cultural heritage,” she says. “Yes, we still hear her today in some cafes and taxis, but she has been largely replaced by football matches on big television screens. While we don’t hear her so much as before, she remains present in our hearts.”

Beyond Egypt, Umm Kulthum’s influence on Arab artists remains unparalleled. The works featuring Umm Kulthum include various styles, genres and concepts.

There is the Iraqi artist Hassan Massoudy’s 1978 screen print Poem, which incorporates an extract from the poem Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, sung by Umm Kulthum. The Sudanese artist Mohammed Omar Khalil created a homage to the singer in his 2008 piece named after her while Saudi artist Faisal Samra’s series of triptych works explore the visual language of cinema and the emotional impact of Umm Kulthum through her performances.

Palestinian artist Mohamed Khalil even cites Umm Kulthum’s music as being part of his process when painting and creating work.

“One of my studio rituals is listening to music while I paint, and I don’t think I’ve ever found a better companion than the voice of Umm Kulthum,” he says. “Even when I discover a new artist and listen to them for a while, I always find myself returning to her in the end. The way her voice constantly fills my creative space has inspired me to paint her with love and gratitude.”

Khalil’s portrait of Umm Kulthum is incredibly evocative. The tight frame focuses on her face in the climax of a performance her face and expressions painted in Khalil’s stylised, expressive and bold style.

“There wasn’t a specific purpose in mind when I painted her,” he says. “My deep admiration for her powerful presence and magnificent voice is what truly inspired me.”

The innovative contemporary Syrian painter Asaad Arabi created a series of vibrant portraits of Umm Kulthum often singing on stage with her orchestra. Arabi also positions Umm Kulthum as a symbol of enlightenment through his works, where her artistry connects the audience to something bigger than the moment itself.

“Umm Kulthum is considered a symbol of renaissance and enlightenment, especially with her Sufi music upbringing, which reflects her sense of liberation and using art as a path to reach the truth,” he says.

Arabi’s evocative and dynamic portraits of Umm Kulthum experimented with and pushed the boundaries between expressionism and abstraction in his attempt to capture sound, music performance and the otherworldly atmosphere that these elements create through colour.

“I hope the viewer can read the musical notes expressed by Umm Kulthum through the harmony of colours so they can both see the musical notes and hear the music with the echo of her voice at the same time.”

Umm Kulthum has also inspired and left her mark on artists beyond the Arabic-speaking world. The influential Iranian painter, printmaker, video artist and translator Farideh Lashai tapped into the power and presence of Umm Kulthum and her music in her important 2013 mixed media work El Amal (The Hope).

The work consists of a projected animated image of Umm Kulthum singing Al Amal against an expressive abstract painting by Lashai and another projection of the 1940 American political satire black comedy film The Great Dictator starring Charlie Chapman.

“The integration of Umm Kulthum’s music in her work reflects Lashai’s exploration of themes such as hope, loss and endurance,” independent curator Sanaz Askari says. “It is a deeply poetic piece, speaking to the shared struggles of the region and a collective narrative.”

Askari emphasises that Umm Kulthum’s musical legacy, as well as her personal story, serve not only as inspiration for artists but as a bridge between cultures beyond the Arab world. “As a commanding presence in a male-dominated music industry, she broke barriers and became a unifying figure across the Arab world and in neighbouring countries.”