MUSICIANS from Iraq

Top 2

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Iraqi Musicians of all time. This list of famous Iraqi Musicians is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

1. Ziryab (789 - 857)

With an HPI of 66.83, Ziryab is the most famous Iraqi Musician.  His biography has been translated into 31 different languages on wikipedia.

Abu al-Hasan 'Ali Ibn Nafi', better known as Ziryab, Zeryab, or Zaryab (Arabic: أبو الحسن علي ابن نافع, زریاب; c. 789–c. 857) was a singer, oud and lute player, composer, poet, and teacher. He lived and worked in what is now Iraq, Northern Africa and Andalusia during the medieval Islamic period. He was also a polymath, with knowledge in astronomy, geography, meteorology, botanics, cosmetics, culinary art, and fashion. His nickname, "Ziryab", comes from the Persian and Kurdish word for jay-bird زرياب, pronounced "Zaryāb". He was also known as Mirlo ('blackbird') in Spanish. He was active at the Umayyad court of Córdoba in Islamic Iberia. He first achieved fame at the Abbasid court in Baghdad, his birthplace, as a performer and student of the musician and composer Ibrahim al-Mawsili.Ziryab was a gifted pupil of Ibrahim al-Mawsili in Baghdad, where he got his beginner lessons. He left Baghdad during the reign of the Abbasid caliph al-Ma'mun and moved to Córdoba, where he was accepted as a court musician in the court of Abd ar-Rahman II of the Umayyad Dynasty.

2. Beatrice Ohanessian (1927 - 2008)

With an HPI of 41.71, Beatrice Ohanessian is the 2nd most famous Iraqi Musician.  Her biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Beatrice Ohanessian (March 15, 1927 – July 17, 2008) was an Iraqi Armenian pianist, notable for being Iraq's first concert pianist and first female composer.