Umm Kulthum

Umm Kulthum (Arabic: أم كلثوم; 31 December 1898 – 3 February 1975) was an Egyptian singer, songwriter, and film actress active from the 1920s to the 1970s. She was given the honorific title Kawkab el-Sharq (Arabic: كوكب الشرق, lit. 'Planet of the Orient'). Immensely popular throughout the Middle East and beyond, Kulthum is a national icon in her native Egypt; she has been dubbed "The Voice of Egypt" and "Egypt's Fourth Pyramid". In 2023, Rolling Stone ranked Kulthum at number 61 on its list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time. Her funeral in 1975 drew a crowd of over 4 million people, the largest human gathering in Egypt's history, even surpassing that of president Nasser.

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