I used to have an Egyptian penfriend back in my school days and he and his sister were huge fans of Amir Diab. He even sent me a postcard and sticker of Amir Diab once!

On a recent trip to Egypt I went into a music store (well it was a small music shop in the souk with standing room for just one!) to check out some local music which is something I like to do on most of my trips abroad. I'd seen a song on an Egyptian music channel that I liked but they didnt have it... Then I saw several CD's by Amir Diab and I just had to buy a 'best of CD'...

It's sheer class. I must admit I saw him as a bit of a 'pretty boy pop star' but his music is startlingly uplifting, I've never heard arabic sang so beautifully and he has a special 'signature' on all of his tracks that make them immediately recognisable once you've heard a few and yet the tunes are decidedly different.

He's probably been around as long as Madonna if my memory serves me correctly and seems to be one of those artists that keeps reinventing himself just enough to keep moving with the times but not too much as to lose his old fan base.

It's taken me nearly 15 years to get round to listening to his music after first hearing of him, better late than never.