Assala Nasri


Assala Mostafa Hatem Nasri, commonly known as Assala Nasri and by the mononym Assala, is a Syrian musical artist.

Early life and career

Assala was born in Damascus, Syria to a middle class couple. Mostafa Nasri, Assala's father, was a revered composer and singer. Assala began her musical career by performing patriotic, religious, and children's songs when she was four years old. She sang the theme song "Qessas Al Sho'oub", of the cartoon show, Hekayat Alamiyah. In 1984, Mostafa Nasri died after suffering from internal bleeding caused by a car accident. Aged 15 she helped to take care of her siblings Aman, Ayham, Reem and Anas with her mother Aziza Al-Babelli.
Assala's commercial musical career debuted in 1991 with the Egyptian song hit Law Ta'rafou. The album had 4 Egyptian songs in the oriental operatic Classic Egyptian tarab style. The album was an instant hit in Egypt back at that time with heartbreaking songs like "Ya Sabra Yana" and "Samehtak Ketir". She quickly cemented her presence in the Arabic world a growing industry brimming with singers like Angham, Najwa Karam, Latifa, and Abdelmajeed Abdullah.
Ever since the beginning of the Syrian Civil War, in 2011, Assala Nasri claimed her support for the Syrian people and her commitment against Bashar al Assad. Her positions towards the Civil War are humanitarian, in which she wants the conflict to end for the sake of the Syrian civilians. She had her first composing experience in the writing of one song, released in 2011. For her commitment in the conflict, Assala sang at the International Peace day as a new ambassador for "Peace Building Through Music." However, Assala was criticized for her position, due to the fact that Hafez Al-Assad authorized her treatment from polio.
She was arrested on Monday, June 26, 2017 in Beirut International Airport at the behest of Lebanese officials who support Bashar al-Assad for the crime of fraternizing with Israel. She had recently performed in Palestine. She was placed under house arrest, then quickly released, for lack of evidence, but some pro-Syrian outlets never corrected their claims that she was arrested for carrying drugs.
In 2019, Assala performed "Right Where I'm Supposed to Be" as the Official Song of the 2019 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates in collaboration with Ryan Tedder, Avril Lavigne, Luis Fonsi, Hussain Al Jassmi and Tamer Hosny.

Television

Assala hosts a television program which is called Soula, on Al Hayat TV and Dubai TV. The show presents guest musicians as though they were visiting Assala in her home in Cairo, Egypt.

Personal life

Assala's first marriage was to Ayman Al Dahabi, when she was still young. Her first daughter, Sham, was born in 1992 when she was only 22 years old, and her first son, Khaled, in 1998. She was divorced in 2005 after more than 15 years of marriage. After the divorce, she took care of her two children by her own.
Her second marriage was to a Palestinian-American director, Tarek Al Eryan, on 26 March 2006. She was pregnant with Tarek's child in early 2007, but suffered a miscarriage halfway through the pregnancy. In May 2011, she gave birth to twin boys, Adam and Aly, via IVF.
In an Instagram post dated January 6, 2020, Assala announced her divorce from her husband Tarek. Assala currently lives in Cairo with her four children, Sham, Khaled, Adam, and Aly.
Assala is a Sunni Muslim. She was granted Bahraini citizenship by Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa a few days after she gave a performance in the operetta Love and Loyalty in celebration of Bahrain’s Independence Day. Assala holds two citizenships; Syrian and Bahraini.

Discography

Studio Albums