Loulwa Al Sharif The First Saudi Female Singer Who Performed Publicly

2018-May-08

 Gone are the days when musicians and singer were banned to perform openly in the Kingdom. Now the time has changed and so has the passion of people. Our new generation deeply loves music and love to go to music concerts and other music events.
 The Government of Saudi Arabia has officially allowed singers and musicians to play live music or perform in public since last years as a part of reforms undertaken by young Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman and thus there has been a surge in public events and concerts and local and international musicians graced the sold-out shows.
 Very recently a Jeddah-based Saudi female singer became the first woman singer officially allowed by the General Entertainment Authority to sing openly at a public concert.
 A young and compassionate 30-year-old singer who started her singing career just a few years ago fascinated her Saudi audience during her performance while she sang Frank Sinatra, “Fly me to the moon” and songs by Eric Clapton, Santana Sade, and Adele.
 She was to end the concert by her last song “I’ve got a woman” but the audience wished to listen to more songs in her beautiful voice and made her sing “King Cole’s Love” and Santana’s “Black Magic Woman”.
 The emerging talent of Saudi Arabia, Loulwa said her mother told her to trust her heart and do whatever makes her happy and her late father loved the music and he would have been happy to see her daughter performing on the stage.
 
 Al-Sharif praised the steps of Crown Prince saying, we all have been waiting for this great step for many years. Saudi’s have many concealed talents in art, acting, and singing. The steps commenced in the Kingdom will now give a chance to all the Saudis to rise and shine and show their talent to the entire World.
 She said there are several beautiful and talented Saudi female singers working in the different type of music but are restricted to perform in public but Loulwa was lucky as she was permitted and supported by her family to perform live.
 The young singer has a love for music since her childhood when she used to listen to Arabic music and then perform it in front of the mirror in her room. After completing her high school studies, she selected to work and learn music rather than studying further. 
 During her career journey, Al-Sharif became the friend of many Saudi Musicians and went to create music in underground studios where she also practiced English songs.
 She also met the Jeddah based Guitarist Moiz Rahman who was a member of a music band and they both collaborated and performed in private compounds. Sooner or later, Al-Sharif was able to form her own band and sensibly made her name by singing in private parties, wedding, and other events.
 However, throughout this time, she came across people who criticized her for her profession but she said, I am not doing anything wrong, I am just feeding the souls with love and music. My profession takes me to a different world where I see people swaying and enjoying my singing.
 She also has the passion for soul, blues and jazz, Beth Hart, Buddy Guy, Peggy Lee, Sade and Nina Simone and she loved to sing their songs for her fans and she wished to pursue her singing career more openly now when the attitude of the Kingdom is changing.
 Source: Gulf News