Prominent Egyptian musician and composer Michele El-Masry died on Saturday at the age of 85, after a long battle with illness. The Egyptian legend is one of the biggest musicians to have enriched the musical scene in Egypt, with some of the most successful soundtracks that gained wide success among Egyptians.
El-Masry performed with the live band of Oum Kolthoum in some of her last concerts before her death.
Minister of Culture Inas Abdel Dayem mourned the death of El-Masry, stating that he is one of the most important musicians in the Arab world, adding that “Egypt and the Middle East have lost one of their most creative figures who had left a print in the music field.”
El-Masry was born in 1933 in Cairo. Since an early age, music was his passion, which led him to join the Faculty of Music at Fo’ad Al-Awel University (currently Cairo University).
Throughout his professional career, El-Masry cooperated with some of the Arab world’s biggest names in the music industry, including Fairuz, the Al-Rahbanu brothers, and Abdel Wahab.
His name is attached to Egypt’s most successful six-part series, “Layaly EL-Helmia,” which documented the political and social changes of Egyptian society since the 23 July 1952 revolution, until ousted President Hosni Mubarak’s era.
El-Masry presented more than 100 musical pieces, and most of them were accredited and gained wide popularity in the region.
