Nancy Ajram - Nancy 9 (2017)

Nancy Ajram is an Arabic pop singer from Lebanon who is among the Middle East's biggest pop stars of the new millennium. She has many awards to her name, including World Music Award and Murex d'or Award honors, and she's well known for not only her Coca-Cola commercial sponsorships but also her flashy promotional videos. Born on May 16, 1983, in Beirut, Ajram made her album debut in 1998 with Mihtagalak. A few years later she released her second album, Sheel Oyoonak Anni (2001), and then third album Ya Salam (2002), which spawned her biggest hit to date, "Akhasmak Ah." The song became a hit in part because of its promotional video, and from this point onward, Ajram made such videos a regular practice, filming several videos per album. Fourth album Ah W Noss (2004) propelled Ajram's stardom further upward, and in 2005 she was chosen as a Coca-Cola commercial sponsor (à la rival Arabic pop star Elissa, who was a Pepsi commercial sponsor at the time). Successive albums include Ya Tabtab...Wa Dallaa (2006), the children's effort Shakhbat Shakhabit (2007), and Betfakkar Fi Eih?! (2008), the latter of which resulted in Ajram's first World Music Award for World's Best-Selling Middle Eastern Artist. ~ Jason Birchmeier.