Egypt mourns Ammar Sharii

Ammar Sharii Cairo - Khaled Ali The famous Egyptian singer Ammar Sharii sadly passed away on Friday, at the age of 64 following a long battle against a heart disease. The news greatly shocked and saddened the Egyptian community, as the life of an artist who contributed so much to the country's culture prematurely ended. Singer Medhat Saleh said: "I lost my mentor and a friend. I produced my best work thanks to him. We will all miss him very much." Mona Abdel Ghany struggled in vain to contain her tears as she spoke about the late singer: "I lost my spiritual father, I wouldn't be who I am today without him." Musician Omar Khairat mourned his friend saying : "We have lost a great artist. He wasn't an ordinary musician , but an artistic entity. we were friends for more than 20 years. I think we've all lost a valuable man loved and respected by all Egyptians . Ammar Sharii was born in 1948, in the city of Samalout, Minya Governorate. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English in 1970. He then joined the Hadley American School for Correspondence Education for the Blind, where he studied music. Sharii started by adapting songs from Abdel Halim Hafez, Umm Kulthum and Farid al-Atrash. He then established a band named "The Friends" . He composed a number of national and religious operettas , such as "Muhammadiyah night" and " Ramadan Quiz ". He is also a famous composer of drama series themes such as " The Days", "Raafat Hagan,", "Baba Abdou,", "The Family", and "Arabesque". Ammar also composed the soundtrack of more than 50 documentaries, including "Doubt Oh darling", "The Innocent", "The Beginning" and "Love in prison". The artist was also the host of a radio show entitled "Dive in the sea of melody" for a long time, which he later adapted for television. The late singer was extremely successful and earned numerous awards including: Festival Award of Valencia, Spain, in ,1986, Award of Vivier Festival, Switzerland, in 1989, and a Medal of Honor from Sultan Qaboos bin Said, Oman, in 1992, as well as a Medal of Honor from King Abdullah Bin Al Hussein, King of Jordan. Ammar married Mervat Kaffas in 1998. They have one son, Murad. A demand had been sent to the Egyptian Presidency to get funds in order to treat Ammar Sharii's disease. The government vowed to pay for the treatment, but the promise was never fulfilled. The date of the funeral has yet to be announced.