Haifa Wehbe was born in Mahrouna, a small farming town in Southern Lebanon. She grew up listening to jazz and R&B. She became a model at a young age and won the title of "Miss South Lebanon" at age sixteen. She won an ancillary title at the "Miss Lebanon" competition, which she had to relinquish when it was discovered that she had already been married, disqualifying her.
Wehbe's next distinction came in 1995 when she was runner up for Miss Lebanon. By 1996, she was seen on over 100 magazine covers. In 2006, she was on People Magazine's 50 most beautiful people list. Her follow-up single was her biggest hit to date, "Ana Haifa" (أنا هيفاء I am Haifa) which became her novelty song. In 2006 she released a follow up single "Bus al-Wawa" (بوس الواوا Kiss the booboo), from her upcoming album "Baby Haifa", to be released end of 2008 or early 2009.The song was later used in a Pepsi advertisement.The song was also voted song of the year in 2006 by Radio Scope and Sawt Al Musika.
Wehbe was the first Arab artist appear at the Italian TV channel Rai Uno at Piazza Navona in Rome, performing in the presence of celebrities and fashion designers. Haifa Wehbe has performed with singers outside of the Arab world. In Egypt, Wehbe performed a duet with Shaggy. On June 10, 2006 Haifa became the first artist in the Arab world to perform with rapper 50 Cent when she performed as an opening act for his first concert in Lebanon, at BIEL in Beirut. On July 4, 2008 Wehbe released her long awaited new album Habibi Ana (حبيبي أنا My love) which contains 15 songs including the single "Mosh Adra Astana".
In July 2005, Wehbe, along with 14 other celebrities from the Arab world, appeared in live pan-Arab reality show series The Farm (Arabic: الوادي Al-Wadi), based on the French reality show La Ferme Célébrités. The show aired for three months. The show featured weekly live performances in which Wehbe played a central role as well as singing songs from her new album.
Other works
Her other non-musical works include a few movie roles and TV hosting. Wehbe has also designed her own range of diamond jewelry. She has been a spokesperson for Pepsi, and did Pepsi ads with footbal star Thierry Henry, which were shown during the 2006 world cup. Wehbe starred in the Pepsi-produced film Sea of Stars released in 2008. Also starring in the movie were Carole Samaha, Ahmad el Sherif, Wael Kfoury, Brigitte Yaghi, and Ruwaida al-Mahrooqi.
Haifa Wehbe will star as the leading female actress in the film Too Bad for Them next to actors Harvey Keitel and Billy Zane. The movie was to be produced by Randa Al Chahal who died on August 25, 2008 in Paris, France. The fate of the film remains uncertain.
Personal life
Wehbe was born to an Egyptian mother and Lebanese father.Her three sisters are Alia, Hanna and Rola. Wehbe's brother died at the age of 24 during the 1982 Lebanon War.
During Wehbe's marriage, she gave birth to a daughter named Zeinab Zaza.
In 2005, she announced her engagement to a Saudi businessman Tariq Al-Jaffali. After only a few weeks, she and her fiancé decided to split for personal reasons and family issues.
On June 25, 2007, Wehbe survived a serious car accident while filming a music video for the song 'Hasa Ma Bena' in Lebanon. In the video, a helicopter was to chase Wehbe as she drove a car. However, the helicopter inadvertently hit the car, taking off the front windshield of the drop-top convertible she was driving. Despite the severity of the accident, Wehbe only suffered minor cuts and bruises.
Political views
During the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict, she left her home, in Verdun, Beirut and moved to Egypt for the duration of the conflict. In a concert in the Lebanese town of Jounieh, Wehbe congratulated Hassan Nasrallah for his stand against Israel during the war.
In a further interview with Reuters, Wehbe stated that Israel attacked Lebanese civilians intentionally while Hezbollah attacked only military targets.
| “ | I believe the whole world knows who started this war and who aggressed on whose land. There isn't a war that starts from nothing and he who begins is the unjust one. | ” |
