Om Kalsoum

Om Kalsoum (Umm Kulthum, died 1975) was an Egyptian singer, born Fatima Ibrahim el-Beltagi in a village of the Dakahlia province. She started out singing with her father's religious ensemble and moved to Cairo in 1923. She was active as a singer and actress for about fifty years, became the defining voice of Egyptian classical song, and was known by the honorific Kawkab el-Sharq. Om Kalsoum sang on the first broadcast of Egyptian Radio in 1934, and for about forty years her concert on the first Thursday of each month was broadcast live.