Amar Ezzahi (January 1, 1941 – November 30, 2016) was an Algerian singer and mandola (lute) player. He was the figurehead of Chaabi, the traditional music of Algiers.

Amar Ezzahi was born as Amar Ait-Zaï in Ain El Hammam, a village of Kabylie, French Algeria. He grew up in the Casbah of Algiers. He was orphaned as a child.

He started recording songs in 1963. In 1976, he recorded two albums. He only gave one concert on February 10, 1987 in Algiers. Instead, he performed in open spaces like cafes and terraces, mostly during family gatherings. Moreover, he shunned the media and turned down copyright checks. He was the figurehead of Chaabi, the traditional music of Algiers.

Ezzahi died on November 30, 2016. Upon his death, Azzedine Mihoubi, the Algerian Minister of Culture, visited his house to pay homage to him. His funeral was held in a mosque the following day, on December 1, and he was buried in the El Kettar Cemetery.

A celebration in honour of Ezzahi, with performances by Abdelkader Chaou and Kamel Aziz, was held at the Arab World Institute on December 3, 2016 in Paris, France.

Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.