Nawal El Kuwaitia

Nawal El Kuwaiti is a Khaliji superstar who is especially popular throughout the Persian Gulf states, though her popularity extends to other Middle Eastern countries such as Egypt and Lebanon. Born Nawal Thaher Al-Zaid on November 18, 1966, she made her commercial recording debut in 1983 and performed her first concert in 1984. From the beginning of her recording career, she chose to leave her albums untitled; consequently, her albums are generally billed in terms of release date. After establishing herself in the 1980s, she took a five-year sabbatical from the music industry during the early to mid-'90s. Upon returning in the mid-'90s with hits such as "Kan Widdi Niltiki," a duet with popular Saudi singer Abdullah Rashad, she rose to superstardom in the Arab world. In later years, she began making greater efforts to cross over to international markets, especially Egypt. ~ Jason Birchmeier