Khaled

Description

Khaled Hadj Brahim (born 29 February 1960), better known as Khaled (Arabic: خالد), is a raï singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist born in Sidi-El-Houri in Oran Province of Algeria. He began recording in his early teens under the name Cheb Khaled (Arabic for "Young Khaled") and has become probably the most internationally famous Algerian singer. His popularity has earned him the unofficial title "King of Raï".<p>At the age of fourteen Khaled formed his first band, "Les Cinq Etoiles" (French for "The Five Stars"), and began playing at wedding parties and local cabarets. He recorded his first solo single, "Trigue Lycée" ("Road to High School"), at age fourteen and soon became involved with the early-1980s changes in the Raï sound, incorporating western instruments and studio techniques.<p>Algerian Islamic fundamentalists were violently opposed to raï because of its sometimes irreverent tone and the fact that raï singers freely addressed taboo issues like romantic love, drugs, and alcohol...