Alaa Wardi
# Alaa Wardi

Alaa Wardi (Arabic: علاء وردي)(Persian:علا واردی) (born 13 January 1987) is an Iranian singer, songwriter, a cappella artist, and producer. He gained popularity through the online video sharing platform, YouTube, where he publishes covers of Middle Eastern, English, Bollywood and K-pop hits, and original ballads. Wardi released his album Fi Ba7ri in 2015 and Madinat Al Salah in 2016. He is also part of the Arab rock and pop band Hayajan.

## Career

Alaa Wardi studied music and sound engineering at the University of Jordan, and after graduating in 2008, he moved back to Riyadh to work and focus on his music.

He produced the popular English language musical video "No Woman, No Drive" in October 2013 with comedians Hisham Fageeh and Fahad Albutairi as a satirical comment on the Saudi Arabian ban on women drivers. It is sung a capella by Fageeh backed by Wardi and Albutairi to the tune of Bob Marley's "No Woman, No Cry".

In June 2015, Wardi released his album Fi Ba7ri. The lyrics for the album's songs were written by Aziz Maraka, a Jordanian musician. His Hindi cover versions of Bollywood hits "Pehla Nasha" and "Jiya Re" became famous, as well as his mash-up "Evolution of Arabic Music" which is an a capella mash-up of 42 Arabic songs from the 1930s to 2010s. He has collaborated with a great number of other Arab and international artists including Peter Hollens.

In August 2019, Wardi released an a capella medley of songs by Lebanese singer Fairuz, featuring Jordanian indie singer Haifa Kamal. The song went viral, with the video reaching more than 800,000 views in 9 days. Wardi was then contacted by representatives of Rahbani family, to immediately remove the video or serious legal action would be taken.

## Personal life

He was born to Iranian parents in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. His family owns a furniture business in Riyadh. He married Sinem Güneş in 2015 in Bodrum, Turkey.

## Discography

### Solo albums

| Album name | Release date | Tracks |
| - | - | - |
| Fi Ba7ri | 2015 | "Ya Fata" (2:49) "Fi Biladi" (1:44) "Fi Ba7ri" (2:47) "Thona2i" (2:36) "5Asran" (2:05) "Amwaaj" (3:14) "Simba" (2:08) "Sa7rawi" (2:28) |
| Madinat Al Salah | 2016 | "Madinat Al-Salah" (2:28) "Yawrood" (2:35) "Tkooni Ma3ay" (2:30) "Weli" (2:23) "Ya Rabbi" (1:51) "Last Drop of Hope" (2:35) |

### Original singles

* "Sha3ri Yot3eboni"
* "Risala Ela..."
* "Ye5lef"
* "Garfan Bel-So3odia"
* "Fe Shi Makan" (feat. Angie Obeid)
* "Laying in Bed After a Good Day"
* "7aram"
* "Ma3gool"
* "Shalamonti Fel7al"
* "Wenti Mastaneti"
* "Evolution of Arabic Music"
* "Overpopulated"

### Cover songs

| Song title | Featuring | Cover of |
| - | - | - |
| Jee Le Zaraa | | Talaash |
| Happy (Telfaz11 cover) | | Pharrell Williams |
| Aïcha | | Jean-Jacques Goldman and Cheb Khaled |
| Royals (Arabic Beat) cover | | Lorde |
| No Woman, No Drive | Fahad Albutairi, Hisham Fageeh | Adaptation of Bob Marley song "No Woman, No Cry" |
| Jai Ho | Peter Hollens | Soundtrack from Slumdog Millionaire |
| Mr. Simple | Wonho Chung | Super Junior |
| Pehla Nasha | | Soundtrack of Pehla Nasha |
| Jiya Re | | Soundtrack of Jab Tak Hai Jaan |
| Stay | Mikky Ekko | Rihanna |
| Ela Mata | Sultan Al-Jameel | Asala Nasri |
| Osad Einy | | Amr Diab |
| Wa7ashteny | Mohab | Amr Diab |
| Şıkıdım | | Tarkan |
| Chandelier | Dima Bawab | Sia |
| Desert Rose | Peter Hollens | Sting / Cheb Mami |
| Fairuz Medley | Haifa Kamal | Fairuz |
