Mohammed Wardi

Who is Mohammed Wardi?

Mohammed Wardi, born Mohammed Osman Hassan Salih Wardi on 19 July 1932 in the Nubian village of Sawarda near Wadi Halfa in northern Sudan, became one of the most celebrated singers and composers in modern Sudanese history. Orphaned young after his mother died in his infancy and his father when he was nine, he was raised partly across the border in Egypt before returning to Sudan to work as a schoolteacher. He moved to Khartoum in 1957 and was chosen by Omdurman Radio to record for national broadcast, launching a professional singing career in 1959 that would span more than six decades and produce over three hundred songs, performed in both Arabic and his native Nubian language, often on the traditional Nubian kissar. His music ranged across romance, Nubian heritage, and outspoken revolutionary and patriotic themes, and his political songs repeatedly drew the anger of Sudan's governments; he was jailed for his lyrics and, as a member of the Sudanese Communist Party, was forced into exile under President Omar al-Bashir's regime in 1989, living in Egypt and the United States before returning home in 2003. Known as the "Voice of Sudan," his songs became rallying anthems during Sudan's popular uprisings, and he remains a defining cultural figure since his death on 18 February 2012.

Sources: ArabLit & ArabLit Quarterly, "Remembering Muhammad Wardi: Censored, Banned, and Beloved" (2020) · OkayAfrica, "The Story of Mohammed Wardi, The Last King of Nubia" · Al Arabiya English, "Legend of Sudanese revolutionary singer Mohammad Wardi lives on" (2013)