Cairo (AFP) – Half a century after her death, Umm Kulthum's singular voice still echoes through busy streets in Egypt, across time-worn cafes in Iraq, and in millions of homes from Morocco to Oman.

“Imagine a singer with the virtuosity of Joan Sutherland or Ella Fitzgerald, the public persona of Eleanor Roosevelt, and the audience of Elvis, and you have Umm Kulthum, the most accomplished singer ...

Fifty-one years after the death of the 'Star of the East', archival records and historical accounts show how the Arab world's greatest singer was seen as a strategic threat to Israel Portraits of Umm ...

This story is free to read because readers choose to support LAist. If you find value in independent local reporting, make a donation to power our newsroom today. Listen 0:00 "All Arabs agree," reads ...

She was one of the Arab world’s most revered singers, praised by Bob Dylan and sampled by Beyonce: the late Egyptian legend Umm Kulthum seems worthy of having a street named in her honor. But when ...

I did not really understand Umm Kulthum's mystique. That's because I grew up in the U.S. listening to Bob Dylan records with my dad, who came here from Syria as a young graduate student. For his part, ...

“When you listen to Umm Kulthum, you just can’t stand still. The song gets inside you and makes you move and then you understand the meaning. The song makes you so happy that you feel you’re dancing ...

These two excerpts from the documentary film, "Umm Kulthum: A Voice Like Egypt," show the power and nuance of the great singer's voice. Umm Kulthum sings a love song composed by one of her rivals.

"All Arabs agree," reads The Rough Guide to World Music. "Umm Kulthum is indisputably the Arab world's greatest singer." The name Umm Kulthum may not strike a chord to Western ears, but she was a ...