Ilham Al Madfai

Born in Baghdad in early 40’s Ilham picked up his guitar when he was 12. He created one of the first bands in Iraq known as 'Twisters'. Later on, he moved to England to study Architecture, but continued playing with a group and performed at Bayt Al Baghdadi in London. When he returned to Baghdad in 1967, he formed his band, "13 ½" where he introduced the Andalusic style to the Iraqi folklore song. After world tour (1991) Ilham formed another band known as "Elham Band". Then again he left Iraq in 1994 after 4 challenging years, where his music reached millions of Iraqis in exile, as well as millions of Arabs especially in Lebanon and Amman. After great success of his CD 'Khuttar', Elham left the US to live in Amman where he would be close to his fans .