Iconic Syrian Singer Sabah Fakhri Dies at 88

Famous Syrian singer Sabah Fakhri, who performed traditional Arabic songs at concerts that sometimes went on for hours, has died. Fakhri died on Tuesday at a hospital in Damascus at the age of 88, Al Jazeera reported. His son said he died of “natural causes.”

Fakhri is famous for performing al-Muwashahat and al-Qudud al-Halabi – traditional song forms inspired by Arabic poetry that date back hundreds of years. He also was a tarab singer; tarab is an Arabic form of music associated with emotional evocation that lasts for hours.

The son of a sheikh, one of his first jobs was as a Syrian state muezzin, whose job it was to recite the call to prayer. He was born Sabah Abu Qaws in Aleppo in 1933 and took his stage name when he began to perform in his teenage years.

He was entered into the Guinness World Records for a 1968 concert in Caracas, Venezuela during which he performed for 10 hours in a row.