196.153.168.10 at 20:10, 25 June 2025

2025-06-25T20:10:26Z

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{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}}
{{BLP sources|date=October 2017}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Fadel Chaker
| background = person
| native_name = فضل عبد الرحمن شمندر شاكر
| native_name_lang = ar
| image = Fadl_Shaker.jpg
| caption = Fadel Chaker at a performance in 2008
| birth_name = Fadel Abdul Rahman Shamander Chaker
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=y|1969|4|1}}
| birth_place = [[Sidon]], Lebanon
| genre = [[Arabic music|Arabic classical]], [[Arabic pop]]
| years_active = 1996–present
| label = [[Rotana Records|Rotana]]
}}

''' Fadel Abdul Rahman Shamander Chaker''' ({{langx|ar|فضل عبد الرحمن شمندر شاكر}} {{IPA|ar|fadˤl ʕabdurraħmaːn ʃamandar ʃaːkɪr}}; also transliterated as '''Fadl Shaker''', born 1 April 1969) is a [[Lebanese people|Lebanese]] singer and actor.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Stephan |first1=Laure |title=How Fadel Shaker went from torch singer to firebrand Salafist |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/20/fadel-shaker-lebanese-singer-salafist-sidon-ahmed-assir |work=The Guardian |date=20 August 2013 |access-date=20 May 2020}}</ref> During his musical career he was signed to Al Khouyoul Records and from 2003 onwards with [[Rotana Records]].

In 2013 and after a career as a singer, Fadel Chaker joined the ranks of [[imam]][[Ahmed al-Assir]] and participated in the attacks on the [[Lebanese Armed Forces|Lebanese Army]] which evolved into the [[2013 Sidon clash]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Chulov |first1=Martin |title=Lebanese troops say they have overrun cleric's compound after days of fighting |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/24/lebanese-troops-cleric-compound-fighting |access-date=20 May 2020 |work=The Guardian |date=24 June 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Amin |first1=Rula |title=Lebanese singer joins Syrian rebels |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LOjuFxQ47k |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211213/4LOjuFxQ47k |archive-date=2021-12-13 |url-status=live|access-date=20 May 2020 |agency=Al Jazeera English |publisher=Youtube.com |date=15 July 2013}}{{cbignore}}</ref> As of 2013, he was a wanted fugitive by the [[Lebanese government]] and had hidden in [[Ain al-Hilweh]] Palestinian refugee camp. On 16 December 2020, he was sentenced [[Trial in absentia|in absentia]] to a total of 22 years of imprisonment and hard labour by a Lebanese Military Tribunal.

==Background==
He was born to a Palestinian father, and a Lebanese mother in Lebanon.<ref name="auto">{{cite web |url=https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20201217-lebanon-singer-fadel-shaker-sentenced-to-22-years-in-prison-with-hard-labour/ |title=Lebanon singer Fadel Shaker sentenced to 22 years in prison with hard labour |publisher=Middle East Monitor |date=17 December 2020 }}</ref> He grew up in the [[Ain al-Hilweh]] in Lebanon.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/03/13/200411.html |title=الرئيس عباس يمنح الجنسية الفلسطينية لـ"فضل شاكر" |date=13 March 2012 |publisher=Al Arabiya|access-date=23 February 2015}}</ref>

==Music career==

===1998–2011===

Fadl released his first album ''Wallah Zaman'' in 1998, which had eight original songs.{{citation needed|date=February 2020}} The second album was ''Baya'a El Qolob'' released in 1999.{{citation needed|date=February 2020}}

His third album was ''El Hob El Adem'', released in 2000. His fourth album ''Hobak Khayal'' was released in 2001.{{citation needed|date=February 2020}} In 2002, Fadl recorded and released his first duo.{{citation needed|date=February 2020}} In 2003, Fadl released his ballad [[Ya Ghayeb]] to Arabic radio stations in the Middle East.{{citation needed|date=February 2020}}

===2012–present===

In 2018, eight years after his announced retirement, Chaker returned to the music world with the release of a new single which he intended to be the introduction theme song to a new Ramadan drama series that year.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://egyptindependent.com/fadl-shaker-returns-singing-ramadan-series-intro/|title=Fadl Shaker returns to singing through Ramadan series intro|date=8 May 2018}}</ref> However, the song was rejected in the end by the production company "in respect to the Lebanese people", and instrumental music was used in the introduction to the series instead.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://identity-mag.com/fadl-shaker-is-back-is-it-good-or-bad-news/|title = Fadl Shaker is Back: Is it Good or Bad News?|date = 9 May 2018}}</ref>

That same year, he was reported to be working on a new album entitled ''Yalla ma'al salama''.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2018-12-18|title=Fadl Shaker to release new album 'Yalla ma’al Salama'|url=https://www.egypttoday.com/Article/4/62160/Fadl-Shaker-to-release-new-album-Yalla-ma%E2%80%99al-Salama|access-date=2021-11-23|website=EgyptToday}}</ref>

==Islamist militant involvement==
In the early 2010s, Chaker announced he had joined ranks of [[Ahmed al-Assir]] radical Islamic organization. As of 2013, Shaker was a wanted fugitive and terrorist for his cooperation in the [[2013 Sidon clash]] between Ahmad al-Assir's terrorist group and the [[Lebanese Army]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/lebanon/10142215/Lebanese-singer-becomes-wanted-fugitive-after-joining-militant-clashes.html|title=Lebanese singer becomes wanted fugitive after joining militant clashes |publisher=Telegraph|access-date=5 May 2020}}</ref>

==Trial and sentencing==
After a trial [[Trial in absentia|in absentia]] by the Lebanese Military Tribunal, Chaker was sentenced on 16 December 2020 to a total of 22 years in prison with hard labour.<ref name="auto"/> He was accused by the Military Prosecutor General of having provided financial and logistical support to a terrorist group led by [[Sunni]] Muslim hardline cleric [[Ahmed al-Assir]]. 15 years of the sentence is for his "involvement in terrorist acts". The judge also added 7 more years of hard labour for Chaker's financing of Al-Assir's illegal armed group, with the court satisfied that he had personally paid for weapons and ammunition to the group. Chaker was reportedly still hiding as of 2020 in [[Ain el-Hilweh]] Palestinian refugee camp near [[Sidon]] since the unfolding of military confrontation of Al-Assir's group against the [[Lebanese Army]].<ref name=sentencing>{{cite news|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/12/17/lebanon-court-sentences-singer-fadel-shaker-to-22-years-in-prison|author=Timour Azhari|title=Lebanon court sentences singer Fadel Shaker to 22 years in prison - The Lebanese pop star turned hardliner was sentenced in absentia for providing support to a 'terrorist' group|publisher=AlJazeera|date=17 December 2020|access-date=18 December 2020}}</ref>

==Discography==

===Albums===
*1998: ''Walah Zaman'' [Al Khouyoul Records]
*1999: ''Baya' El Oolob'' [Al Khouyoul Records]
*2000: ''El Hob El Adeem'' [Al Khouyoul Records]
*2000: ''Sahrat Tarab'' [Master Melody]
*2001: ''Hobak Khayal'' [Al Khouyoul Records]
*2003: ''Layali Beirut'' [Rotana Records]
*2003: ''Sa'at Tarab maa Fadl Shaker'' [[Rotana Records]]
*2003: ''Sidi Rouhi'' [Rotana Records]
*2004: ''Saharni El Shok'' [Rotana Records]
*2006: ''Allah Aalam'' [Rotana Records]
*2009: ''Baada Aal Bal'' [Rotana Records]{{fact|date=November 2023}}>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Facebook}}
* {{Twitter}}
* {{Instagram}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chaker, Fadel}}
[[Category:1969 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:21st-century Lebanese male singers]]
[[Category:20th-century Lebanese male singers]]
[[Category:Lebanese people of Palestinian descent]]
[[Category:Arabic-language singers of Lebanon]]

Fadel Chaker - Revision history

196.153.168.10 at 20:10, 25 June 2025