Dubai-based magazine Arabian Business recently published a list of the ten richest Arab singers. Top of the bill was Egyptian heartthrob Amr Diab with no less than $37 million, closely followed by Fairuz with $34 million. Diab’s fortune stems from record sales, concerts and – a staggering $17 million – from advertisement deals among which most notably his contract with Pepsi.
Taking into consideration Diab’s worldwide reputation spanning a 20-year-career, $37 million is not an unlikely nestegg. The same is true for Fairuz, one of six Lebanese singers on the list. The diva does not do commercials but has been performing for over half a century and currently charges up to $500,000 for a concert.
Less convincing were the alleged earnings posted for Elissa and Nancy Ajram. Elissa, whose duet with Chris de Burgh brought her brief international recognition, makes the fourth spot with a staggering $31.5 million. Music insiders say that this is far too high a figure for a singer whose first of her four albums was released in 1999. Nancy Ajram has supposedly clocked up $16.2 million, not bad for a 22-year-old with only two albums under her belt and a $500,000 Coca Cola endorsement.
One notable absentee was starlet, Haifa Wehbe, who along with Nancy Ajram is Lebanon’s hottest selling artist and who was recently voted most popular Arab singer at the Lebanon’s Murex d’Or awards.
Wehbe’s manager, the alluringly-named Cynthia, defended her client’s pulling power by reminding Executive that Haifa, who charges $40,000 for a private concert, has just released her second album and will soon sign her first major advertising deal that would propel her into the big league. With an average of two concerts a week in the summer season, Haifa has to work quite a bit before she sings herself into the top earners list, which is propped up by Zahleh’s favorite daughter Najwa Karam, who has to make do living on $13 million.
