Khaled Hadj Ibrahim (, ; born 29 February 1960), better known by his mononym Khaled (), is an Algerian raï musician. He began recording in his early teens under the name Cheb Khaled (, Arabic for "Young" Khaled, with "Cheb" as a common title for male raï singers).
Khaled is one of the most important musicians in the history of Raï music in his native Algeria and is one the world's best-known African singers. To date, Khaled has sold over 80.5 million albums (10 diamond, platinum, and gold) worldwide, making him the bestselling Arabic-language singer in history. Among his most famous songs are "Aïcha", "Didi", "El Arbi", "Abdel Kader", "La Poupée qui fait non", "Wahran Wahran", "Bakhta", "C'est la vie", and "Alech Taadi".
He holds the Guinness World Record for best-selling artist of raï music.
Forbes has consistently placed Khaled in the top celebrities of Arab Music, and placed him at high ranks for years
Early life Khaled was born on 29 February 1960 in Oran's Sidi-El-Houari neighborhood, French Algeria.
Musical career His rise to national fame was mainly due to the efforts of Lieutenant-Colonel Hosni Snoussi, director of the state-supported arts and culture Office Riadh el Feth, who took Khaled under his wing and invited him along with other rai stars to perform at the state-sponsored Festival de la Jeunesse pour la Fête Nationale in Algiers in July 1985. In the same year, he was crowned king of rai in the first official festival of rai which was staged in Oran.
Hosni Snoussi and Martin Meissonnier, who met at the Festival, convinced France's Minister of Culture Jack Lang that the export of rai from Algeria to France was in the French government's interest and together they organized the first rai festival in France at Bobigny in 1986. Cheb Khaled, who had been avoiding his mandatory military service, was able to perform at Bobigny only after Colonel Snoussi intervened with the Algerian military authorities to secure him a passport. Shortly thereafter, Snoussi arranged for Cheb Khaled to record in France, with funding from the Office Riadh el Feth. The album, Kutché, released in 1988, a collaboration between Khaled and the Algerian jazz musician Safy Boutella, expanded his reputation in France, where he soon settled.
In 1992, having dropped the "Cheb" from his performance name, he recorded Khaled, which was produced by Don Was. The album's first single Didi, which was a major hit in Europe, the Arab World, and in South and East Asia, made him an international superstar.
International impact One of the Pioneers of world music, Rai musician Khaled has gone beyond all geo-political boundaries to become one of the world's most popular performers, mixing traditional Algerian music with western rhythms and styles such as soul, rock and reggae to achieve his distinctive sound and voice unlike anyone ever. Khaled has been celebrated not only for his music, but for his role as a builder of bridges between cultures. selling more than 80 millions copies around the world makes him a nationwide celebrity and unofficial ambassador for the country's Arab minority. —Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, 2008
Khaled's signature song, the 1993 hit "Didi", became extremely popular in the Arabic-speaking countries and also in several other continents, including Europe, where it entered top charts in France, Belgium and Spain, and in Asia, including India and Pakistan. The song was also used in the Bollywood films Shreeman Aashiq, Airlift, Highway, and Dhurandhar: The Revenge. Khaled and producer Don Was appeared on The Tonight Show on 4 February 1993.
Islamic extremists opposed to perceived vulgarity in rai music have obtained fatwa condemning vulgar singers to death. Khaled has described himself as "at the top of the list of well-known people the fundamentalists want to kill" in consequence.
Khaled returned to the United States of America in December 2004 for a special guest performance at the Grammy Jam 2004 in Los Angeles, California. He joined a cast of celebrity artists honoring the band Earth, Wind & Fire, performing Brazilian Rhymes into "Didi" showing how their music crossed the world, fusing with his North African style.
In 2012, Khaled's album C’est la vie sold more than one million copies in the European market, 1.8 million copies in the Middle East and North Africa, and over 4 million copies worldwide. The album reached number 5 on SNEP, the official French Albums Chart.
On 3 April 2015, Khaled was convicted for plagiarizing "Didi" from Angui ou Selmi, a musical composition recorded by Cheb Rabah (born Rabah Zerradine) in 1988. But on 13 May 2016, Court of Cassation removed the charges against Khaled, when a 1982 audio tape with the song was shown. This tape was recorded by Khaled and given to a producer located in Oran six years before Cheb Rabah's record. In the end, Rabah had to compensate Khaled for the fees during this case.
In 2020, Khaled co-wrote and released a charity single, "Elle S'appelle Beyrouth," to benefit victims of the 2020 Port of Beirut Explosion to various charities in a collaboration project with Lebanese-born Brazilian DJ Rodge (born Roger Saad), which remained number one on Lebanese music charts for six weeks. After a decade-long hiatus from major studio album releases, he returned with the self-titled album Cheb Khaled in 2022. He later reunited with Rodge for the Qatar Airways-commissioned multilingual song "C.H.A.M.P.I.O.N.S.", in commemoration of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Personal life
On 12 January 1995, Khaled married 27-year-old Samira Diabi in France. Together, they have four daughters and one son.
In 1997, his wife filed a complaint against him for domestic violence, before retracting the complaint.
In 1998, the biography Khaled: Derrière le sourire (French for "Khaled: Behind the Smile") was published, which recounted his life.
Khaled has an illegitimate son with whom he has no contact. Before a court appearance in 2001, he denied being the father of the child, continuing to claim that he had been "deceived". On the 7 May 2001, Khaled was sentenced by the Nanterre criminal court to a two-month suspended prison sentence for "family desertion". His move to Luxembourg in 2008, where he has been residing ever since, has reportedly been motivated by these charges.
He was awarded Moroccan citizenship in August 2013, which, according to him and his wife, he did not ask for but accepted because he felt he could not refuse.
Discography This discography does not include a number of albums released on cassette early in his career, and several bootleg/unofficial albums.
Studio albums YearAlbumLabelChartsCertificationBEL(Fl)BEL(Wa)FRANEDSWI1985 Hada Raykoum MCPE—————1988 Kutché (with Safy Boutella) Zone Music—————1992Khaled Barclay—————1993N'ssi N'ssi—————1996Sahra247333261999 Kenza Universal——49—572004Ya-Rayi —4152—702009Liberté —9551——2012C'est la vie AZ—2718—962022Cheb Khaled Aalia Publishing————— "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released
Live albums Solo YearAlbumChartsCertificationBEL(Fl)BEL(Wa)FRA1998Hafla28—29
Collaboration YearAlbumChartsCertificationBEL(Fl)BEL(Wa)FRA19991, 2, 3 Soleils (credited to Taha / Khaled / Faudel)—144
Compilation albums 1991: Le Meilleur de Cheb Khaled 1994: Le Meilleur de Cheb Khaled 2 2005: Forever King 2005: Spirit of Rai 2006: Maghreb Soul – Cheb Khaled Story 1986–1990 2007: Best of 2009: Rebel of Raï – The Early Years
Singles As lead artist + List of singles, with selected chart positions, showing year released and album name Title Year Peak chart positions Album FRA BEL(FL) BEL(WA) GER NLD SWE SWI "Chebba" / "Baroud"(with Safy Boutella) 1988 — — — — — — — Kutché "Le Camel"(with Safy Boutella) — — — — — — — "Didi" 1992 9 50 — — 29 — 30 Khaled "Ne m'en voulez pas" — — — — — — — "Mauvais sang" — — — — — — — "Serbi Serbi" 1993 50 — — — — — — N'ssi N'ssi "Chebba" — — — — — — — "N'ssi N'ssi" 1994 — — — — — — — "Bakhta" 1995 — — — — — — — "Aïcha" 1996 1 25 1 33 14 — 11 Sahra "Ouelli El Darek" 1997 23 — — — — — — "Le jour viendra" 24 — 12 — — — — "Lillah" — — — — — — — "La poupée qui fait non (Live)"(with Mylène Farmer) 6 — 5 — — — — Live à Bercy "Abdel Kader (Live à Bercy)"(with Rachid Taha and Faudel) 1998 6 — 36 — — — — 1, 2, 3 Soleils "Comme d'habitude"(with Rachid Taha and Faudel) 1999 40 — 40 — — — — "C'est la nuit" 29 — 35 — — — — Kenza "El harba wine"(featuring Amar) 2000 20 — — — — — — "Les ennemis (El Aâdyene)"(vs. Fonky Family) 63 — — — — — — "Wana wana" 2001 97 — — — — — — rowspan="2" "Agir Réagir"(with Jérôme Collet, Yves Lecoq, Sapho, Samira Said, Faudel, Elie Chouraqui, Sonia Lacen, Moise N'Tumba, Ishtar, Princess Erika, Amina, Gad Elmaleh, Youssou N'Dour, Lââm, Idrissa Diop, Daniel Lévi, Juste Pour Eux, and Jean-Jacques Goldman) 2004 38 — — — — — — "Ya-Rayi" — — — — — — — Ya-Rayi "Zine Zina" — — — — — — — "La terre a tremblé" 2007 — — — — — — — Best of Khaled "Benthi"(with Melissa M) — — — — — — — Avec tout mon amour "Même pas fatigué"(with Magic System) 2009 1 — 10 — — — 49 Raï'n'B Fever, Vol.3: Même pas fatigué !!! "Papa"(cover of Blaoui Houari) — — — — — — — Liberté "C'est la vie" 2012 4 5 5 — 92 34 33 C'est la vie "Hiya Hiya"(featuring Pitbull) — — — — — — — "Dima Labess"(featuring Mazagan) — — — — — — — "Ana Âacheck" 2013 — — — — — — — "Samira" — — — — — — — "Wili Wili" 2014 — — — — — — — "Wahda Be Wahda" 2016 — — — — — — — "Salama So Good"(with Andy) 2019 — — — — — — — Cheb Khaled "Delali"(featuring Gashi) 2020 — — — — — — — rowspan="3" "Elle s'appelle Beyrouth"(featuring Rodge) — — — — — — — "C.H.A.M.P.I.O.N.S."(with Rodge) 2022 — — — — — — — "Trigue Lycée"(Remix featuring DJ Snake) — — — — — — — Cheb Khaled "Balatar"(with Tohi) 2023 — — — — — — — "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.
As featured artist + List of singles as featured artist, with selected chart positions, showing year released and album name Title Year Peak chart positions Album FRA BEL(FL) BEL(WA) GER AUT NLD SWE SWI "El Oasis de los Dioses"() 1998 — — — — — — — — Konfusión "Bladi"() 1999 — — — — — — — — L'palais de justice "Time For A Change"() 2000 — — — — — — — — Hip Hop Meets World "Henna"() 2005 — 8 — — — 86 9 — Borderless "L'enfant du pays"() 2007 32 — — — — — — — Famille nombreuse "Citizens of the World"() 2010 — — — — — — — — "Maghreb Gang"() 2019 — — — 4 7 — — 5 Torremolinos "Diamanti e oro"() 2025 — — — — — — — — Nuje "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.
Promotional singles + Title Year Album "The World Is Ours" 2014 rowspan="4" "Taman Hayah" 2018 "3ashan Nefham Ba’d" 2022 "Yalla Bina" 2026
Appearances