Fahad Al Kubaisi is one of Qatar’s most famous and internationally acclaimed singers, a record producer and a fashion model. He is also a very well-known human rights activist. His voice has a tender baritone and that’s what makes his voice unique and a treat to listen to, and his music has been called a sophisticated genre of Khaleeji music which is why his music and songs have found their way into the hearts of people in the Gulf and beyond. He has millions of followers on Twitter, Facebook. YouTube and Instagram.
Even as a child, Al Kubaisi was drawn towards Khaleeji, Arabic and pop music, and this influence can be found in his music even today. He has also produced music in collaboration with a number of famous singers and poets, and has also ranked first in many countries including Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Al Kubaisi was born in Doha on 12 April 1981. He is the second son among eight sons, and his parents brought him up in a conservative Islamic family setting.
Though he comes from a conservative family and there is no background in music, they supported him when they realised how passionate he was about music, and that’s when he went to Cairo to get formal musical training.
Al Kubaisi has a Bachelor’s degree in physical education and sports science from Qatar University.
He started his musical career as an Islamic singer when he was a teenager in high school. By 1997, he was singing solo Islamic songs, and by the time it was 2001, four years later, he was able to release his first album called ‘Jamaal El Rouh (The Beauty of the Soul)’. His second album was released in 2005 when he was woking as a lecturer at a university in Doha. The album was called ‘Ela Rouhi (To My Soul)’.
In 2006, Al Kubaisi moved away from Islamic singing. This, he did with the help of Qatari composer Matar Ali Al Kuwari, and recorded his first musical album called ‘Layesh (Why)’.
In 2008, his second album away from Islamic singing ‘Sah El Nawm’ also became a huge hit with the masses.
Al Kubaisi, does not just have a sizeable number of lilting and melodic albums to his credit, he has also given his vocals to the Doha Film Institute funded ‘Black Gold’ movie that was adapted from the 1957 novel ‘The Great Thirst’by Hans Ruesch. The title track of ‘Black Gold’ and one of the other tracks of the movie have been sung by Al Kubaisi and recorded by famous film composer Hames Horner, who gave the music to such big movies as ‘Titanic’ and’ Avatar’ amongst others. The title track is in Arabic and this is what makes it different from the other tracks of the movie. The song is meant to reflect the soldiers’ moods as they get ready to go to war. The other track by Al Kubaisi is a traditional Bedouin song that he did with Qatari composer Abdulla Al Mannai.
This is what he had to say about the experience:
"To record with James Horner was a great privilege for me and I would like to thank Her Excellency Sheikha Mayassa and the Doha Film Institute for providing me with this once in a lifetime opportunity. It has allowed me to learn so much about the international industry and explore world music with a person who has made immense contributions to the global music scene.
“But the biggest honour for me is the fact that I will be able to introduce the world to the sounds, voices and rhythms from this region. Also it’s a matter of great pride for people in Qatar to come together and celebrate a film which will bring our story, art and culture to the world.”
In 2012, Al Kubaisi produced his own album called ‘Tejy Neshaq’. This album took his musical career up a notch an his popularity increased tremendously.
Al Kubaisi was chosen as the best singer in GCC in the 19th Meeting of GCC Ministers of Culture 2013 in Bahrain.
Al Kubaisi did some new things in his music videos that had not been done before in the Arab music industry. In 2014, he filmed a song called ‘Wbadin’ in Istanbul, Turkey. What was unique about the video was that it was taken in selfie style. Al Kubaisi held a selfie stick throughout the video as he walked through the streets of Istanbul. Another first in the Arab music industry was Al Kubaisi’s 2015 360-degree Arabic pop music video called ‘Batalna (We Finished)’.
Al Kubaisi perfomed at the Mall of Qatar at the opening of Shop Qatar 2017 and many other places where the audience has been mesmerized by his voice, his lyrics and the way he sings.
He also performed at the Qatar National Convention Centre on 17 August during the Qatar Summer Festival with internationally-renowned Iraqi artist Kadim Al Sahir, known widely as the 'Caesar of Arabic songs', and serenaded the audiences with many of their hit songs.
In November 2017, he became the first Gulf singer to be nominated for the 60th Grammy Awards held in New York in January 2018. It was his new album of the time, ‘Enta Eshq’, that was nominated for the ‘World Music Album’ category.
Al-Kubaisi won the 'Best Male Khaleeji Singer Award' at the Golden Panther Music Awards 2018 in New York, US, and his songs were aired by various US and Canadian radio stations.
On 20 April 2018, Al Kubaisi mesmerised a huge audience at the Katara where he sand some of his biggest hits, an in June, he performed at the Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiyah Arena Fan Zone where football fans came to watch the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia live.
5 June 2018 saw the release of Qatar's first female singer, composer, songwriter and musician Dana Al Fardan's new video 'One Nation' for the songe she released in 2017 in solidarity with Qatar in light of the current blockade. The new video reflected what had happened in Qatar after the siege and celebrated a year of solidarity with the people and residents of Qatar. Fahad Al Kubaisi lent his vocals to the song, written by Fahad Al Mursel, along with another singer Essa Al Kubaisi.
As part of the jury at the prestigious Big Apple Music Awards (BAMA) awards in July 2018, Al Kubaisi became the first Arabic music artist to be among musicians from around the globe to be approved as a member of the jury for one of the most important awards given to artistes in the fields of music and singing. This is what he tweeted at the time:
“It is an honour for me to be accredited in the jury of international awards BAMA as the first Arabic artist joining this jury under the campaign of introducing the Arab art to the Western world causing no harm to its identity.”
Al Kubaisi has also collaborated with Backstage Production to launch the IAM (Introducing Arabic Music to the Western World) campaign. The aim of the campaign was to present Arabic music to the Western world in its authentic format by using traditional instruments of the Arab world.
Al Kubaisi was part of an emotive social media campaign by Qatar Museums (QM) to welcome visitors to the National Museum of Qatar with artist Aisha Nasser Al Sowaidi and QM Board Member His Excellency Dr. Hessa Sultan Al Jaber.
Al Kubaisi has performed at different venues in different countries around the world, the latest being the UN Day 2019 concert on 24 October 2019 in New York when Qatar hosted the day for the first time as an Arab country. He performed alongside such big musicans as Dana Al Fardan (composer, musician, singer/vocalist), Fahad Al Kubaisi (singer/vocalist), Mansour Almohannadi (singer/vocalist), Aisha (singer/vocalist), Hala Al Emadi (pianist), Maias Alyamani (violin), Hassan Moataz (rababa) and Eimear Noone (conductor), and the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra.
Before that he collaborated with world-famous Indian musicians Vishal and Shekhar when they performed in Doha on 1 March at Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiyah Arena. Al Kubaisi especially donned an Indian outfit designed by Indian celebrity fashion designer Manish Malhotra for his performance in the concert, to highlight the Qatar-India Year of Culture 2019.
At the moment, Al Kubaisi is working on music that will be performed at the opening of 2022 FIFA 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
To know more about Fahad Al Kubaisi and what he's up to, follow his social media pages:
Website: http://www.fahadalkubaisi.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/fahadalkubaisi
Facebook: @FahadAlKubaisii
Instagram: @alkubaisiofficial
Twitter: @FahadAlkubaisi
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