Asala Nasri's Biography

Asalah Mostafa Nasri (also known as: Asala, Assala and Assalah) (born on May 15, 1965) is a respected and popular Syrian singer. She is widely known in the Arab world for her voice range, and mastery of the majority of Arabic dialects.

Asalah was born in Damascus, Syria to a middle class couple. Mostafa Nasri, Asalah's father, was a revered Syrian composer and singer who recognized her singing talent early on and launched her singing career. She was very attached to her father who taught her to love music. Her infatuation with music entertained her through her childhood, she was much more content with the radio than a doll. Asalah began her musical career by performing patriotic, religious, and children's songs when she was four years old. She sang the theme song, Qessas Al Sho'oub, of the cartoon show, Hekayat Alamiyah. In 1986, Mostafa Nasri passed away after suffering from internal bleeding caused by a car accident. The untimely passing of Asalah's father caused her great grief and she left singing and took up her duties as the eldest child. At the young age of seventeen, she took care of her siblings, Reem, Amani, Ayman and Ayham with her mother.

Asalah's commercial musical career debuted in 1991 with Law Ta'rafou. The album had 4 songs in the oriental operatic tarab style. The album was an instant hit with heartbreaking songs like Ya Sabra Yana and Samehtak Ketir. She quickly cemented her presence in a growing industry brimming with new, young talent like Najwa Karam, Saber El Rebai, Angham, and Abdallah Abdelmajid.

Asalah has two children from her first marriage to Ayman Al Dahabi, whom she divorced in 2005 following his adultery scandal. She is now married to famous Palestinian-Egyptian director Tarek Al Eryan. She was pregnant with Tarek's child in early 2007 but suffered a miscarriage halfway through the pregnancy. Asalah is a Sunni Muslim.