Abu Dhabi: Moroccan singer, Raja'a Bel Maleeh died on Sunday at the age of 45 after a long battle with cancer.
She died in the afternoon amongst family and friends in the Shaikh Zayed hospital in Rabaat.
The singer had a huge UAE fan base and was given citizenship after residing in the UAE for a number of years. She was known for her Khaleeji songs, notably those written by the late President, Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan.
Raja'a first began her 20-year-long singing career in the 1980s when she won first prize in a singing competition. She released her first album in 1987 but was only recognised in the 90s after she moved to Egypt and released one of her most known songs, Sabri A'alik Tal.
Raja'a first found out she had breast cancer in 2003, a few months after she gave birth to her only son, Omar.
She immediately began undergoing a series of treatment that took a year and four months of her life. She made a miraculous recovery after doctors told her she had only 48 hours to live.
Miracle
In a 2005 interview with Arabic newspaper, Asharq Alawsat, Raja'a described this period as one of the worst in her life.
She said: “My hair was falling out and my facial characteristics had changed. I lost a lot of weight and went down to 45kg. No one could recognise me and at one point I couldn't move my tongue and couldn't speak because of the chemotherapy.''
She added that doctors had lost all hope in her recovery. “My immune system had collapsed and I was moved to a glass isolated room where I was told that I had only 48 hours to live.''
Raja'a said that she fell asleep and dreamt that she was going to get better.
“I dreamt that I got a phone call and was told that, God willing, I would get well and return even better than before. I woke up and called my husband and told him that, God willing, I was going to get better.''
According to the singer, doctors were surprised by her recovery and said it was a “miracle'' that she was recovering. But Raja'a stunned her fans not by her “miraculous recovery' but when she released the video clip of her new Khaleeji song, Hasseb, only three months later looking beautiful, healthy and fit.
Any rumours that the singer was dying were dispelled and fans were looking forward to her next album after the success of her last album and song, Hasseb.
Raja'a started to prepare for a new album to be sung in the Egyptian dialect. Little did she know that the cancer was spreading in her body and her next album would never see the light of day.
Rajaa was buried in her home country in Morocco on Sunday.
