Rim Banna

Rim Banna (; 8 December 1966 – 24 March 2018) was a Palestinian singer and composer most known for her modern interpretations of traditional Palestinian songs and poetry. Banna was born in Nazareth, where she graduated from Nazareth Baptist School.

She lived in Nazareth with her three children. She met her husband, Ukrainian guitarist Leonid Alexeyenko, while studying music together at the Higher Music Conservatory in Moscow. They married in 1991 and got divorced in 2010.

Artistic career Banna first achieved popularity in the early 1990s, after recording her own versions of traditional Palestinian children's songs that were on the verge of being forgotten. Many such songs and rhymes sung by Palestinian families again today are said to be thanks to Banna's work in preserving them via her recordings. She performed her first concert in Syria on 8 January 2009 and also performed in Tunisia on 25 July 2011. Her first concert in Beirut took place on 22 March 2012.

European audience Lullabies from the Axis of Evil

Banna's popularity in Europe began after Norwegian music producer Erik Hillestad invited her to participate on the CD Lullabies from the Axis of Evil (2003) and Norwegian singer Kari Bremnes, who also took part in this production in a duet with Banna, invited her to Oslo. Banna accepted the invitation, and the two artists did a show together.

The album, dubbed "a musical antiwar message to U.S. President Bush from female singers in Palestine, Iraq, Iran, and Norway," Though the style differs from previous recordings, the subject matter has basically remained constant. The album includes "songs of despair and hope" about the lives of "a struggling people, and even a song about late Palestinian leader and PA president Arafat in a way that is both thoughtful and subtle".

Discography

Jafra (1985) Your tears Mother (1986) The Dream (1993) New Moon (1995) Mukaghat (1996) Al Quds Everlasting (2002) Krybberom (2003) Rim Banna & SKRUK (2003, Kirkelig Kulturverksted) Lullabies from the Axis of Evil (2003, Kirkelig Kulturverksted – Various female artists) The Mirrors of My Soul (2005, Kirkelig Kulturverksted, US distribution: Valley Entertainment ) This was not my story (2006) Rim Banna & Henrik Koitz Seasons of violet (2007, Kirkelig Kulturverksted) Songs across Walls of Separation (2008 Kirkelig Kulturverksted – Various artists from the Middle East, Africa, Central America, North America, and Europe) April Blossoms (2009, Kirkelig Kulturverksted) an album for children, was dedicated to the children martyrs in Gaza A Time to cry (2010, Kirkelig Kulturverksted), was recorded in one of Sheikh Jarrah's houses which is under a constant threat to be evicted from the part of their house (with 3 Palestinian singers) "Tomorrow" (Bokra) 2011, a single song of the American legend composer Quincy Jones, who chose Rim Banna to represent Palestine in this project which will be released in an Album and a video clip in September 2011 Revelation of Ecstasy and Rebellion (2013, Kirkelig Kulturverksted), Produced by Bugge Wesseltoft Songs from a Stolen Spring (2014, Kirkelig Kulturverksted [US distribution: Valley Entertainment] - Various Artists), featuring "Break Your Fears"

Death Banna died in her hometown of Nazareth on 24 March 2018, at age 51, following a nine-year struggle with breast cancer.