Ziad Rahbani, revolutionary Lebanese composer and playwright, dies at 69

Dubai: Ziad Rahbani, the iconoclastic Lebanese composer, playwright, and musician whose politically charged art helped redefine modern Arab music and theater, died Saturday at the age of 69, according to local media reports.

A son of musical royalty, his mother, the legendary singer Fairouz, and his father, the composer Assi Rahbani, Ziad Rahbani carved his own legacy from an early age.

Gifted as a pianist, writer, satirist, and cultural provocateur, he fused Western jazz with classical Arabic music, daring political commentary with biting humor, and elevated Lebanese theater into a space of bold reflection and resistance.

His works were as artistically rich as they were socially fearless. Plays like “Bennesbeh La Bukra Chou?” (As for Tomorrow, What?), “Film Ameriki Taweel” (A Long American Film), and “Shi Fashel” (Something Failed) became staples of Arab counterculture, tackling themes of identity, injustice, and the absurdity of war and governance.

Rahbani was more than a composer, he was a chronicler of a fractured Lebanon, unafraid to mock political elites or speak truth to power. His leftist leanings and vocal support for the Palestinian cause made him both admired and controversial in a region often cautious about dissent.

Born on January 1, 1956, he began composing for Fairouz as a teenager, crafting a new, more introspective era in her discography. He would go on to influence generations of Arab musicians, writers, and thinkers.

Though he receded from the spotlight in recent years, Rahbani remained a towering figure in the Arab cultural world. Tributes poured in from Lebanese media and artists across the region on Saturday, mourning the loss of a singular voice whose art blurred the lines between music, politics, and satire.