Art and music are two words that fill people's hearts at all times. People have made a living through music and artistic works for centuries. Through these two fields, Kurdish artists have made Kurdish songs and melodies immortal for hundreds of years. We are going to revive "Mohammad Ali Shakir's" spirit and songs by writing about his life.
The Kurdish famous artist, "Mohammad Ali Shakir", was born in 1946 in "Dirbesi" city in the Western part of Kurdistan. After receiving his high school certificate, he moved to "Sarekani" city with his family. In addition to its natural environment, Sarekani had a great influence on Mohammad Ali Shakir's life and music. Sarekani for Shakir was a field where he could find himself and his music in it. Since Sarekani has a mild climate and a rich nature, it allowed him to be able to discover his abilities via his songs and develop those abilities. In such a beautiful nature, his artistic capabilities grew, and as time passed by, he became a star in the artistic sky and one of the famous artistic symbols all over the Western part of Kurdistan.
In 1963, his artistic life began. When an Arabic master bought him his first "Oud" instrument in their village, he sang his first song called "Zenabe" with his brother, Mahmoud Aziz Shakir. In 1968, Yusof Barazi (Be Buhar) helped him make some corrections to that song and sing it again.
Our great artist brought 300 songs of his own into the Kurdish music field throughout his lifetime. He also used poems works such as Jigarkhwen, Tirej, Be Buhar, and Daham Abdul Fattah in 48 of his songs.
Many artists have covered his songs, such as Mahmoud Aziz (his brother), Mohammad Shekho, Mustafa Khalid, Shahriban Kurdi, Gulestan Parwar, Jamila Mustafa and Zoy, and many others.
This famous artist sang his songs with social, patriotic, land liberation, and humanity themes, especially about women, love, motherland and the martyrs and some cities that are very important to him like Qamishlo, Afrin, Kobane, Sarekani, Amad, and Hawler. Although he was a composer however, he has written some lyrics himself that are widely popular including; Az Dil Katm Wan Chavan, Review, Gawre, Yara Zor Jwana, Bar Dile min pir Shirina, Lo Lo Lawko, Ayd u Arfat, Az Kachak Kurdima and … Mohammad Ali Shakir influenced many Kurdish artists such as his nephews and nieces who followed his footsteps and became singers.
His brother, Mahmoud Shakir became a professional singer with Ali Shakir's help and support and he became very popular even beyond the West part of Kurdistan or Syria's borders. These two brothers were able to establish an art school and present a rich heritage of Kurdish art.
Like other Kurdish artists and poets, Mohammad Ali Shakir faced hardships and pressures from the Syrian regime. Despite all these hardships he published a book called "Sixty Songs and Lyrics".
The well-known Kurdish artist, Mohammad Ali Shakir, died on January 24th, 2020 due to the COVID-19 virus in a hospital in Qamishlo and his body was buried in Amouda city. He will be remembered by the Kurdish people for his folklore, and social and patriotic songs as a singer and composer. He is now shining in the Kurdish artistic sky and will remain a star forever.
