![]() ![]() With his group Carte de Sejour (Residence Permit), Taha caused a stir in France in 1986 with a husky-voiced rocky cover of legendary singer-songwriter Charles Trenet’s sentimental, patriotic song “Douce France” (“Sweet France”). Everybody was speaking Alsatian and I was speaking in Arabic.” I practically did not speak a word of French. He was quoted as saying: “I had joined a primary school of the French Republic. In an interview in 2008 with French daily L’Alsace, Taha recalled his difficult first years in France. At times he wore blue contact lenses to protest anti-Arab prejudice in France. Taha was an iconic revolutionary figure on the French musical scene due to his eclectic blend of native rai and chaabi. ![]() He was also scheduled to film the first music video for one of the new songs, “Je suis Africain” (“I am African”), said Believe Digital, which owns Taha’s record label, Naive. He had recently finished recording an album due for release in 2019. The son of Algerian immigrants, Taha moved to France at age 10 with his parents. He was 59.īorn September 18, 1958, in Algeria, Taha died September 12 from a heart attack in his sleep at his home in the Paris suburb of Les Lilas. Algerian-French singer Rachid Taha, who thrillingly blended Arabic music with rock and techno, died in France. BEIRUT - Many in the West and the Arab world danced to his smash hit “Ya Rayah” (“You, the one leaving”), which brought him international popularity in the 1990s. ![]()
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