Wael Kfoury

Born Michel Emile Kfoury, the Lebanese vocalist, songwriter, and musician Wael Kfoury earned the nickname "The King of Romance" across the Arabic-speaking world through his signature aching ballad style. During his teenage years he launched formal musical training, concentrating on solfeggio, and later served as a music educator while completing college. After finishing coursework at both Université Saint-Esprit de Kaslik and the Conservatoire Libanais National Supérieur de Musique, he joined a band for live performances. In the 1992-1993 season he competed on the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation’s Studio el Fan, securing the best-male-vocalist prize that delivered an immediate recording contract. The debut single “Ma Wa’adtak bi Njoum el Leyl” climbed into the Top Ten, and he swiftly paired with fellow Studio el Fan winner Nawal Al Zoghb for the witty duet “Meen Habeebi Ana.” Three albums followed on the Musicbox imprint, each accompanied by a “Best Male Singer” trophy at the label’s Grammy-style ceremony. Prior to his mandatory year of military duty he released the recruitment track “Rayeh ‘al Jeysh,” aimed at young recruits, which also charted successfully.

Once discharged, Kfoury resumed recording and touring; by the close of the twentieth century and into the first decade of the twenty-first his catalog had become synonymous with chart dominance and industry honors. From 2000 through 2007 he issued at least one album annually and occasionally two, all of which landed near the summit of regional charts while individual singles frequently held the number-one position for multiple weeks. An unrelenting schedule of concerts, civic commitments, television spots, and film roles prompted an extended withdrawal from the studio beginning in 2010, although live appearances continued unabated. During this period he married and started a family, returning to recording only with the 2017 release W.