Sami Yusuf

Early life and training

Born on 21 July 1980 in Tehran (some sources give 16 July), he moved with his parents to Ealing, west London, in the early 1980s. He learned the piano and violin as well as traditional instruments such as the oud, tar and tonbak, and went on to study composition at the Royal Academy of Music in London and at the University of Salford.

Career

His debut album Al-Mu'allim ("The Teacher"), which he wrote, produced and performed, came out in 2003; its title song in praise of the Prophet Muhammad became a hit across the Middle East, North Africa and South-East Asia. My Ummah (2005), featuring "Hasbi Rabbi", "Try Not to Cry" and "Mother", reportedly sold more than four million copies.

After his first label released the album Without You in 2009 without his consent, he parted ways with it and went on to release Wherever You Are (2010), Salaam (2012), The Centre (2014), Songs of the Way, Vol. 1 (2015) and Barakah (2016), mostly on Andante Records. He sings in English, Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Urdu and Azerbaijani among other languages, and calls his blend of Muslim spiritual heritage, Eastern traditions and Western orchestration "spiritique". He has performed on four continents, including Wembley Arena in London and Taksim Square in Istanbul, where some 250,000 people came to hear him.

Humanitarian work and honours

He has recorded charity songs such as "Hear Your Call" (2010) for the victims of the Pakistan floods and "Forgotten Promises" (2011) for the famine in the Horn of Africa. The UN World Food Programme appointed him a Global Ambassador against Hunger in 2014, and the University of Roehampton in London awarded him an honorary doctorate in 2009.