Etab

Etab (Arabic: عتاب‎, romanized: ʻitāb; December 30, 1947 – August 19, 2007) was a pioneering Afro-Arab Saudi Arabian singer active from the 1960s to the 1990s.[1] Of Bedouin descent[2], she was born Tarouf Abdel-Kheir Adam (Arabic: طروف عبد الخير آدم‎) in Saudi Arabia, but moved to Egypt soon after her second marriage to an Egyptian man in 1978 . Many Arab music historians agree that she was forced out of Saudi Arabia at the orders of then Saudi King Khalid due to her musical concerts considered risque in Saudi Arabia at that time.; in 1983 she became an Egyptian citizen.[1]

Etab عتاب
Background information
Birth name	Arabic: طروف عبد الخير آدم محمد الطلال‎ tarūf ʻabdul-ḵair ʼadam muḥammad aṭ-ṭallāl
Born	(1947-12-30)December 30, 1947 Saudi Arabia
Died	August 19, 2007(2007-08-19) (aged 59) Cairo, Egypt
Occupation(s)	Singer, actress
Years active	c. 1960s–1990s
Associated acts	Talal Maddah

Considered one of the first female Saudi singers, Etab started singing in the 1960s, and performed at weddings with Sarah Osman and the ʻoud player Hayat Saleh.[3] She recorded more than 15 albums and appeared in three movies.[4] She became ill with cancer in 1997, and died in Cairo on 19 August 2007.[1] Her last few months saw her traveling between Cairo, Dubai and Saudi Arabia for treatment but her cancer had already spread and became terminal. She died at a Cairo hospital practically penniless. She is now considered an icon in her native Saudi Arabia and has regained her reputation as a courageous artist who defied convention to achieve her dreams. She had one daughter from her first marriage to a Saudi man. This daughter ,who was a well known radio presenter and producer, also died of cancer at a young age. She also had a son and daughter from her estranged Egyptian husband whom she had divorced after accusing him of stealing her money.

Etab was an advocate for women in music, and member of the Union of Arab Artists and the Musicians Syndicate in Egypt.[5]