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Julia Boutros (Arabic: جوليا بطرس‎) (born April 1, 1968^[1]) is a Lebanese singer that rose to stardom in the 1980s with a series of nationalistic songs like "Ghabet Shams El Haq" (Arabic: غابت شمس الحق‎). She is also the sister of Lebanese songwriter Ziad Boutros.

[edit] Biography

Julia was born in Beirut, Lebanon on April 1, 1968. She was educated at the Rosary Sisters Schools where she sang in the school choir. Growing up, she and her brother were heavily influenced by Ziad Rahbani's works. When she was 12 years old she recorded her first song, entitled "A Maman",^[1] at Elias Al Rahbani studios. This was introduced to her by her music teacher Fouad Fadel. She also recorded two songs, "C'est la Vie" & "Viens dans Ma Chatte".^[1] When she was 17 years, she sang her most influential song, "Ghabet Shams Al Hak".

On October 11, 2006, Julia announced a new single called "Ahibaii" (My loved ones). The lyrics are based on a letter sent by Hizbollah secretary general Hassan Nasrallah to the fighters in South Lebanon during the 2006 Summer War between Lebanon and Israel.^[2] The poet Ghassan Matar adapted the original text. The music is composed by Ziad, brother of Julia and arranged by Michel Fadel. The profits from the song's sale went to help the families of Hizbollah fighters and to all Lebanese who died during the Israel-Lebanon conflict.^[2] Sales eventually garnered three million dollars for the families of the Lebanese civilians, soldiers, security forces, and Hezbollah militants who have been killed in the Israel-Lebanon conflict.^[2] The sum was triple the original aim, which was only one million dollars.^[2] The families of Lebanese soldiers killed during operation Naher el-Bared also received a portion of the money.^[3]

[edit] Personal life

Boutros was married in 1996 to Elias Bousaab, the vice president of the American University of Dubai. In 1997 she gave birth to her first child, Samer. She later had another son, Tarek. Her brother Ziad, a composer and musician, has accompanied her throughout her musical career and also has composed almost all of her songs. Her hobbies include swimming, tennis and listening to the blues.

[edit] References

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