Assala Nasri

Assala Mostafa Hatem Nasri (Arabic: أصالة مصطفى حاتم نصري; born 15 May 1969), commonly known as Assala (Arabic: أصالة), is a Syrian singer.

Early life and career

Assala was born in Damascus, Syria to a middle class family. Mostafa Nasri, Assala's father, was a revered composer and singer. Assala began her musical career by performing patriotic, religious, and children's songs when she was fourteen years old. She sang the theme song "Qessas Al Sho'oub" (قصص الشعوب), of the cartoon show, Hekayat Alamiyah (حكايات عالمية). In 1984, Mostafa Nasri died after suffering from internal bleeding caused by a car accident. Aged 15 she helped to take care of her siblings Aman, Ayham, Reem and Anas with her mother Aziza Al-Babelli.

Assala's commercial musical career debuted in 1991 with the Egyptian song hit Law Ta'rafou (Egyptian Arabic: لو تعرفو). The album had 4 Egyptian songs in the oriental operatic Classic Egyptian tarab style. The album was an instant hit in Egypt back at that time with heartbreaking songs like "Ya Sabra Yana" and "Samehtak Ketir". She quickly cemented her presence in the Arabic world a growing industry brimming with singers like Angham, Najwa Karam and Latifa.

Ever since the beginning of the Syrian Civil War, in 2011, Assala Nasri claimed her support for the Syrian people and her commitment against Bashar al Assad. Her positions towards the Civil War are humanitarian, in which she wants the conflict to end for the sake of the Syrian civilians. She had her first composing experience in the writing of one song, released in 2011. For her commitment in the conflict, Assala sang at the International Peace day as a new ambassador for "Peace Building Through Music." However, Assala was criticized for her position, due to the fact that Hafez Al-Assad authorized her treatment from polio.

She was arrested on Monday, 26 June 2017 in Beirut International Airport at the behest of Lebanese officials who support Bashar al-Assad for the crime of fraternizing with Israel. She had recently performed in Palestine. She was placed under house arrest, then quickly released, for lack of evidence, but some pro-Syrian outlets never corrected their claims that she was arrested for carrying drugs.

In 2019, Assala performed "Right Where I'm Supposed to Be" as the Official Song of the 2019 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates in collaboration with Ryan Tedder, Avril Lavigne, Luis Fonsi, Hussain Al Jassmi and Tamer Hosny.

Television

Assala hosted a television program which is called Soula (Arabic: صولا), on Al Hayat TV and Dubai TV. The show presented guest musicians as though they were visiting Assala in her home in Cairo, Egypt.

Personal life

Assala's first marriage was to Ayman Al Dahabi. Her first daughter, Sham, was born in 1992, and her first son, Khaled, in 1998. She divorced in 2005 after more than 15 years of marriage. After the divorce, she received the custody of her two children.

Her second marriage was to a Palestinian-Egyptian director, Tarek Alarian, on 26 March 2006. She was pregnant with Alarian's child in early 2007, but suffered a miscarriage halfway through the pregnancy. In May 2011, she gave birth to twin boys, Adam and Ali, via IVF.

In an Instagram post dated 6 January 2020, Assala announced her divorce from her husband Tarek Alarian. Assala currently lives in Cairo with her four children. In September 2021, she married Faeq Hassan, an Iraqi national who lives in Saudi Arabia and works as the business manager of the Iraqi-Saudi singer Majid Al Mohandis.

Assala is a Sunni Muslim. She was granted Bahraini citizenship by Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa a few days after she gave a performance in the operetta Love and Loyalty in celebration of Bahrain's Independence Day.

Discography