Her real name Nancy Nabil Ajram, Nancy Ajram is a Lebanese artist born in May 16, 1983 in Ashrafiyeh, Lebanon.
She is one of the biggest music icon in the arab world. She has released seven studio albums to date and numerous other chart-topping singles such as "Yay Seher Oyounoh", "Ya Tabtab", "Mogabah", "Ehsas Jdeed", "El Donia Helwa", "Mashy Haddy", and "Fi Hagat". Nancy first appeared on a scene in 1995 at the age of twelve. She took part in a variety show, Noujoum Al Moustakbal, ("Stars of the Future"), a Lebanese reality television competition, starring new solo musical talent.
Nancy won the gold medal in the Tarab category after singing a song by Oum Kalthoum. Her first singles were titled "Hobbak Allam Albi elGheere" by Abdo Mounzer, and "Oulha Kelma Ala Shani". In 1998 , at the age of 15, she released her first album, "Mehtagalak" ("I Need You") It was followed by "Sheel Oyoonak Anni" ("Stop Staring") in 2000. Nancy studied music with renowned Lebanese musicians and despite being less than 18 years old at the time, the syndicate of professional artists in Lebanon accepted her as a member.
Considered by many as an Arabic music icon of the decade, Nancy Ajram was also the first and only female spokesperson of Coca-Cola in the Middle East and Arab world. In early 2003, Nancy reached instant fame with the success of the lead single "Akhasmak Ah" and the release of her third studio album, "Ya Salam" ("Oh Wow") which was a best-seller, the music video of "Akhasmak Ah", the next music videos, "Ya Salam" and "Yay Seher Oyounoh" they were introduced her as better vocal skills, talent and style to the public.
Her carrier take off occurred with the start of her collaboration with well-known producer Jiji Lamara, when she released her smash-hit "Akhasmak Ah" and 3rd studio album, "Ya Salam". In 2004, she released her second international best-seller "Ah W Noss", which spawned several smash-hits, "Ah W Noss", "Lawn Ouyounak", and "Inta Eih" at which point Nancy had established her pop icon status in the Middle East. The tremendous success that "Ah w Noss" achieved, stabilized Nancy’s position as an A-List star in the Arab music industry.
Nancy then filmed "Lawn Ouyounak" (Color of Your Eyes), which portrayed Nancy as a bride in a traditional Lebanese wedding. Her fifth album, "Ya Tabtab" was released on February 15, 2006. "Ya Tabtab" was considered Nancy’s best album to date, with six music videos released, eight radio hits, and five songs used for commercials. The title song’s video was Nancy’s last video directed by Nadine Labaki. Nancy then released the video of her Coca-Cola hit "Mogabah" (Admirer), as well as a video and commercial for her newly signed Damas Jewelry contract advertising their "Farfasha" collection. The song used was Ana Yalli which was promoted before the album’s release.
Nancy then cooperated for the first time with prominent Lebanese Director Said el Marouk, filming "Ehsas Jdeed" (A New Feeling) which is widely considered to be the most successful song of the album. The video, which was a salute from Said to his deaf and mute parents, depicted the story of a rich woman who falls in love with a deaf and mute man. Later in 2007, Nancy released all together the video of "Elly Kan" (All That Was) for Damas’s second campaign, her Coca-Cola Side of Life commercial featuring a new single "El Donia Helwa" (Life is Beautiful), and a video and album directed towards children, titled "Shakhbat Shakhabit" (Scribbled Scribbles).
"El Donia Helwa", Nancy’s 7th commercial, is considered one of her most successful commercials representing her style and Coca-Cola’s with colors, happiness, and music, and it led her to release a live album featuring the single. Nancy’s sixth album was fully dedicated to children with a variety of entertaining and educative songs aimed to teach children good values and morals. 2008 was a crucial year for Nancy, as far as her album "Betfakkar Fi Eih" spawned seven singles. The same year Nancy won her first World Music Award as Best-selling Middle Eastern Artist, the youngest Arab WMA winner to date, about a month after her marriage! Nancy was also listed by Newsweek as one of the most influential Arabs, and she has made the list of Most Powerful Arabs on Arabian Business several times.
Nancy was described on the Oprah Winfrey Show as one of the most influential personalities of the Middle East. She was named as "the Britney Spears of the Middle East". Nancy is the first and only Middle-Eastern artist ever mentioned on the show. In February and March 2008, Nancy released three Coca-Cola commercials that featured a brand new hit from her long
awaited album. The songs, "Meen Gheiry Ana","Noss El Kawn" (Who Else?) "Yay Seher Oyounoh" and "Ana Yalli Bahebak" were made by the successful trio (Nizar Francis, Samir Sfeir, and Tarek Madkour).
The single was an instant success and served as a highly successful promotion 5 months before the release of the album. The video was released on May 25, 2008, the day the Lebanese president General Michel Suleiman was elected. It was the first video for Nancy that had an entirely graphical world that implied the suffering of children worldwide and the need to bring them out a more colorful and happier world. Then Nancy released her seventh studio album after several delays on July 30, 2008, which has been highly expected by fans for almost three years.
This comeback album held lots of surprises for her fans with a huge change in her musical inspirations and style that presented her matured vocal skills like never before. In September 2008, Nancy married Dr. Fadi El Hachem in Cyprus after a three-year relationship; the wedding ceremony, in Lebanon, was attended by close friends and family. Nancy’s 7th album, "Betfakkar Fi Eih?!", is considered to be one of her most successful albums so far as it won her first World Music Award in her career. The album included her first "Tarab" song called "Bteegy Sertak" since 1998’s Mihtagalak album, and in general had a wide mix of several different styles ranging from dance, beat, pop, to drama, romance, Tarab and oldies.
Even though the hit video had mixed opinions, the second video of "Meen Dah Elly Nseik" was much more accepted, peaking at #1 for seven consecutive weeks in Melody Hits. The same musical trio who created "Ehsas Jdeed" did one of the instant radio-hits of the album, "Lamset Eid" (Touch of a Hand), which was filmed with Leila Kenaan with a high budget, and the song and music video peaked charts for months. With this album Nancy signed a celebrity endorsement deal with Sony Ericsson, as a special w595 phone was released holding Nancy’s signature, and "Wana Bein Eideik" was chosen as the commercial song.
In 2009, Nancy became a Mum. Nancy continued her work during pregnancy, during which she filmed "Meen Dah Elly Nseik", "Lamset Eid" and her first Sony Ericsson commercial. She also participated in several concerts, such as Layali Febrayer. She gave birth to her first child in May 2009, a daughter she named Mila, short for Milagrosa (means "miraculous" in Spanish). Mila is also a traditional, Levantine name popular in rural Lebanon and meaning a "blooming tree". However, Nancy revealed that the name was Fadi’s choice inspired by the Ukraine-born US actress, Milla Jovovich. Nancy released a song for her daughter, "Ya Rab Tekbar Mila" (I Pray that Mila Grows Up) on the same day.
In a survey done by Rotana Magazine, Nancy was voted as the "Most Beautiful Mom" of the year 2009. Nancy chose not to reveal photos of her daughter Mila until they both appeared on the cover of "Prestige" magazine in an exclusive photoshoot. Mila later appeared in the set of Nancy’s music video "Ya Kethar". In October 2010, a month after the release of her seventh studio album, Nancy announced that she was four months pregnant with her second child, another girl! During that period she had filmed "Sheikh El Shabab" and "Ya Kethar" consecutively to be released during her pregnancy period.
Nancy Ajram revealed on Mothers day special on MTV that she decided to name her daughter Ella. She was born in April 2010. Nancy’s Online audience is also wide. Her official Facebook page is the most subscribed Arabic artist page on the social-networking site and the first to reach 3 million subscribers. Her music video for "Fi Hagat" was an Internet phenomenon and remains the most viewed Arabic music video on Youtube with over 26.3 million views to date. In 2012, Nancy joined social networking website Twitter, and received ten thousand followers in two days. She announced in late February that she was nearly done working on a second album dedicated for kids.