Lebanese diva Sabah dies at 87

Sabah died early Wednesday at the hotel where she lived just outside Beirut, her manager Joseph Gharib confirmed to news agency AFP.

Sabah, born Jeanette Gergis Feghali in 1927, launched her singing and acting career in the early 1950s when she began to star in Egyptian movies. She had a rapid rise to fame and was a prolific performer, appearing in more than 80 films during her lifetime.

She also performed in at least 25 plays in her native Lebanon, four radio musicals and recorded some 3,000 songs. Fondly dubbed "shahroura" - meaning "songbird" inArabic - Sabah was known for her powerful, throaty voice, and her renditions of Lebanese folkloric ballads.

Lebanon loses a legend

Sabah became a household name across the Middle East, and scores of her fans and other Lebanese performers took to the social media platform Twitter to mourn her passing.

"Our giants are leaving, our cedars are diminishing. Farewell our shahroura, our beloved, rest in peace," wrote Lebanese singer Ragheb Alameh.

Lebanese pop star Nancy Ajram tweeted: "Today Lebanon has lost a legend."

The US Embassy in Beirut issued a statement on its Facebook page calling Sabah "a bright, shining image of the Lebanese people."

Sabah enjoyed a close relationship with several Arab leaders and held Egyptian, Jordanian and US citizenship, as well as Lebanese. She performed at the Sydney Opera House, Albert Hall in London, Carnegie Hall in New York and at the Olympia in Paris.

In her later years, Sabah was mocked in her home country for clinging to the glamorous style of her youth - complete with platinum blonde hair, red lipstick and gaudy outfits - by undergoing cosmetic surgery and having relationships with much younger men. She is believed to have married nine times, and had two children.

Sabah's funeral is scheduled to take place in central Beirut on Sunday, before burial in the village of Bdadoun where she was born.

nm/ksb (dpa, AP, AFP)