Mohammed Assaf

Palestinian singer Mohammed Assaf won Arab Idol in 2013 and his unusual life story formed the basis of The Idol, a 2015 feature film directed by Hany Abu-Assad.

Assaf grew up in a refugee camp in Gaza and had to overcome numerous difficulties to get to Egypt in order to audition for the Arab Idol show for which he did not even have an entry ticket but ended up winning.

He has become hugely popular since and his performance on Arab Idol has received over 35 million views on Youtube to date.

Mohammed Assaf’s songs are ballads of faith and freedom and in this Barbican date the pop star presents material from his new album, alongside cover-versions of well-known tracks from his time on the Arab idol programme.