Tributes pour in for Syrian singer Mayada Basilis: 'Reality is ugly with your death'

The 'Kezbak Helu' singer died aged 54 after a struggle with cancer

Mayada Basilis passed away at the age of 54 after being diagnosed with cancer. EPA

Syrian singer Mayada Basilis has died after a struggle with cancer aged 54.

Her death was confirmed by the Syrian Minister of Culture on Wednesday.

Basilis's husband, Samir Kouifati, told Syrian media in February that the Kezbak Helu (Your Lie is Sweet) star had been diagnosed with cancer and had asked fans to pray for her.

Since news of her death, several leading Syrian personalities paid tribute to the singer on social media.

"The lies in our lives are no longer sweet without your warm voice," Dayaa Dayaa actor Bassem Yakhour wrote on Instagram. "Goodbye Mayada Basilis."

“Sad and painful news, and a loss for art,” singer Nassif Zeytoun wrote on Twitter. “Goodbye to the great Syrian Aleppan singer. My condolences to her family and to all Syrians.”

Meanwhile, singer Hadi Aswad posted in an Instagram Story: “Lies were sweet with your voice and reality now is ugly with your death.”

Who is Mayada Basilis?

Born in Aleppo in 1967, Basilis began her singing career at the age of 9 after performing on Aleppo Radio.

In 1986, she released her debut album Ya Qatili Bilhajr. The name of the album, as well as the title track, were inspired by the Syrian folk song.

Mayada Basilis at Dar Al Assad for Culture and Arts in Damascus, Syria in 2019. EPA

She would go on to release 14 albums, putting her unique spin on old Syrian folk songs, Christian hymns, as well as patriotic songs, over the course of a career that spanned almost five decades.

Basilis is perhaps best known for her song Kezbak Helu, which won her the Gold Award for Best Arabic Song in 1999 and made her a household name across the region. She also lent her voice to a number of popular Syrian TV shows, including Ekhwat Al-Turab and Ayam Al Ghadab.

Most of all, Basilis was celebrated for her live concerts. Her shows at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, Teatro Real in Madrid and the Cairo Opera House in Egypt are among her most lauded performances.

She was recognised as one of the most formidable singers to come out of Aleppo – a city famous for being the birthplace of many of the world’s most famous Arabic singers – and Basilis’s death is a marked loss for the region.