Ziad Rahbani is a Lebanese artist. Aside from his main occupation as a composer and pianist, he is a playwright, director, actor, and columnist. He is the son of Assi Rahbani, a legendary music composer, and Fairuz, one of the most popular Lebanese folk singers; yet he established a name for himself in his own right.
Ziad Rahbani’s plays are quite popular, often including musical pieces and mostly revolve around political and social -sarcastic- commentary, falling far from his father’s works that almost always deal with rural and innocent love affairs.
His music is somewhat hard to categorize within a specific genre, for he combines Arabic rhythms and vocals with Jazz and Bossa Nova.
He is well known internationally and has performed in venues all over the world. He is a well respected musician and has collaborated with many European artists and orchestras.
He is a Communist, (known for having a photograph of Lenin in his bedroom) and an atheist, and has composed a few pieces for the Lebanese Communist Party which he was a member of.