Maher Zain

Maher Zain (pronounced maa-hirr zay-ne) (born in Tripoli, Lebanon in 1981) is an American R&B singer and music producer of Lebanese origin, brought up as a Swedish resident. His debut album 'Thank You Allah', with 13 songs and two bonus tracks was released on 1 November 2009, with an exclusive Percussion Version and a French Version released shortly afterwards. He sings mainly in English, but also in French, Arabic, Urdu, Turkish and Malay.

Early life

Maher Zain was born in 1981 in Lebanon. His father Mustafa Maher was a local singer in his hometown Tripoli, Lebanon). His family moved to Sweden when Maher was only eight, where he continued his schooling. Maher got his first keyboard when he was ten. He later entered university and got a Bachelors degree in Aeronautical Engineering. During his teenage years, he liked to spend late nights at school with his friends where they would sing, rap, compose and experiment with music.

2008: Involvement with RedOne

After being involved for a while in the music scene as a music producer, Maher was introduced to RedOne, a Swedish music producer of Moroccan origin in Sweden. Maher started working with RedOne alongside Akon, Enrique Iglesias, Lady GaGa and Michael Jackson. Later, he moved to New York where he took part in producing Kat DeLuna on her debut album including hit Whine Up and Run The Show. Then he returned for a while to Sweden where he had his spiritual 'awakening'.

2009-2010: Breakthrough success & Thank You Allah

In January 2009, Maher Zain signed up and began working on an album with Awakening Records. Maher’s debut album 'Thank You Allah' reached the number 1 spot on Amazon.com World Music charts and number 9 on the R&B charts.
Following Maher's concert in Malaysia, Maher's name became the fastest rising name search on Google in Malaysia.

2011-present: Leaked Lady GaGa duet and TBA

Maher Zain announced that he had released a Malay version for Insha Allah, having released French and Arabic version along with videos already, while adding that it would be a track on his second album.
Maher has now commenced working on his new studio album which will be released in April 2011. No title has been announced as of yet. Maher sang a portion of a song from the album without backing music in a morning talk show slot at Malaysia's television channel, TV9. Maher explained that the song, a dedication to his mother, would be a 'happy' song, as opposed to the usual songs dedicated to mothers that 'are sad, and you want to cry listening to those'.

A Lady Gaga song, Feel Like You Do, was leaked in January 2011, featuring Maher Zain on the vocals, making it a duet between the both. The song is believed to be a demo, and is from Maher's pre-awakening, and GaGa's early days.

Discography

* Thank You Allah (2009)
* TBA (2011)

Awards

In January 2010, Maher Zain won the best song for 2009 for 'Ya Nabi Salam Alayka', on Nujoom FM, the Middle East's biggest mainstream music station. He beat other top of the charts singers including but not limited to Hussein Al-Jismi, Mohammed Mounir and Sami Yusuf.