Hani Shaker's departure after a career that spanned fifty years

The great Egyptian artist Hani Shaker, one of the most prominent symbols of modern Arab music, has passed away after a long journey with illness that ended in the French capital, Paris, and with his departure, the Arab world loses one of the last classical voices that preserved the romantic school of music, and left an indelible mark on the memory of successive generations.

Last Moments in Paris

Shaker was transferred weeks ago to the Foch hospital on the outskirts of Paris after his health deteriorated as a result of severe colon crises, where doctors decided to perform a complete colonectomy, and although the first hours after the operation carried signs of improvement, the subsequent complications were stronger than his body could bear.

Shaker entered intensive care amid intensive medical attempts to save him, while his family preferred to keep the details of his case away from the media out of respect for his privacy, and by Sunday afternoon, doctors announced his death, so that the news spread quickly through the media, and his son Sharif confirmed it through social media platforms, and then the artist Nadia Mustafa in her capacity as a member of the Council of the Syndicate of Musical Professions.

A simple childhood and a brilliant start

Hani Abdel Aziz Shaker was born in Cairo on January 21,  1952 to a middle-class family; his father is an employee of the Tax Authority and his mother is an employee of the Ministry of Health, since his childhood, he was surrounded by music, and his voice stood out in school concerts, before he caught the attention of the musician Mohamed Al-Mogi, who adopted him artistically and opened the doors of professionalism for him.

  He made his screen debut as a child in the 1966 film  "Sayed Darwish", embodying the late musician's character at a young age, in a scene that remained etched in the memory of Egyptian cinema, while his real start as a singer came in 1972 with the song "Sweet Ya Dunya", which marked the beginning of a long and illuminating career.

A career spanning 50 years

Hani Shaker was distinguished by a romantic and musical color that combined delicacy and strength, and between the classical school and the spirit of the age, during his career, he presented a huge archive of more than six hundred songs, which formed part of the Arab emotional memory, and his songs were present in the hearts of lovers, in the background of weddings and occasions, and in the memory of an entire generation that was raised on his voice. He collaborated with leading composers and poets, and succeeded in maintaining his position despite the great transformations that the Arab music scene has witnessed.

The most present and controversial captain

Shaker assumed the position of president of the Syndicate of Musical Professions in Egypt in 2015, during a period that witnessed radical changes in public taste and the rise of the wave of festivals, he was known for his strict stances towards what he considered an artistic decline, and he took decisions to ban a number of festival performers from singing, which put him at the center of a wide controversy between a supporter who believes that he defends public taste, and an opponent who considers him to stand against musical development.

During his career, Hani Shaker has won dozens of awards and honors that reflected his position in the Arab world, as he received the Tunisian Order of Merit from former President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, the second artist to receive it after Fairuz, and he also received honors from Palestine in recognition of his supportive positions, in addition to the  "Icon of Arab Art" award from the Beautiful Time Festival in Lebanon in 2022, in addition to many honors from Arab festivals in Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Morocco, the United Arab Emirates, and Syria.

A personal life full of twists and turns

Hani Shaker married Nahla Tawfik in 1982, and had Sherif and Dina, and the death of his daughter Dina in 2011 after a struggle with cancer was one of the harshest stages of his life, as it affected him psychologically and artistically, and he stayed away from the scene for a while before gradually returning, he was known for his warmth of character, calmness and distance from artistic conflicts, although he found himself in the heart of some of them by virtue of his union position.

With his departure, the Arab world is turning a page on authentic romantic music, as he left behind a huge musical archive, an influential syndicate presence, a history of artistic stances, and a wide audience that extends from Egypt to the Gulf and the Maghreb.