Noura

Noura (in Arabic: نورة) is an Algerian singer of Arabic, Amazigh and French languages, born Fatima Zohra Badji on April 26, 1938 in Sidi Amar in Algeria, and died on June 1, 2014 in Paris. She is the wife of Kamel Hamadi, singer-songwriter, with whom she forms a legendary couple in the Arab world.

In the 1950s she started on Algiers radio where she hosted a children's show. According to researcher Naïma Huber-Yahi, “she gained attention by performing in plays and operettas. She quickly established herself as one of the greatest Algerian singers of the time”, with titles such as Ya Ma Goulili by Mahboub Bati.

Arriving in France in 1959, she discovered Paris, its lights and the extended family of exiled North African singers. She then enjoyed great success with the North African diaspora in France. On February 25, 1960, she married the singer and composer Kamel Hamadi, who composed a large part of her repertoire, in Arabic and Kabyle. the first compositions that her husband signed being Ya Welfi Älech Del Djfa and Ya Ouled El Houma (The Children of the Neighborhood). They will also sing as a duo, in Kabyle, titles that have remained popular such as ruḥ Rebbi ad isahel (go in peace!), Anwa i s-yennan (Who would have said).

She recorded colorful clips throughout the 1970s and continued her career on both sides of the Mediterranean with her husband Kamel Hamadi. A female voice from exile, the artist accompanied the youth of children from immigrant backgrounds through her nostalgic songs which recall every corner of Algeria. His songs, composed, recorded and performed on the banks of the Seine, still resonate in Algeria and in the Algerian diaspora in France. The singer Noura is very popular because she is one of the rare non-Kabyle (Kabylie region) singers at that time who sang in Arabic, Tamazight and French. Among his popular successes, we can cite Ya Rabbi Sidi, Maniche Mena, Aïn El Karma, Imawlan Ugin and Adrar N Jaṛjaṛ Eɣlayen. She also recorded an album in French where she performed Une Vie de Michel Berger. She obtained a gold disc in 1970 for one million albums sold.

Her work was rewarded in 2008 when she and her husband received the insignia of Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters in the name of the French Republic, presented by members of the Zebda group. This consecration is the symbol of the influence of culture in France.

She died in Paris on June 1, 2014 following a long illness. Noura was with Hnifa, Saloua, Bahia Farah and Warda al-Jazairia, the heiress of Oum Kalthoum. They will all have left their mark on Algerian music, making the stage a space of freedom and liberation.