Born Houari El Madani, Algerian raï singer Houari Manar was born on December 18, 1981 in Oran, into a family of 12 brothers and sisters. From the age of 4, he grew up in Marseille, France, where he studied hotel management before returning to his native country in 2003 to launch his singing career. After his first two singles, entitled "Cha dani bent nass" and "Kima ndirlek ma terdhach", he opened his recording career in 2006 with the album Aâchkek mon traitement, which he recorded with Cheb Kader. Aâchkek mon traitement brought him success, as did his successor Zaâzat biya sass el mahna in 2007, but his androgynous style soon led to controversy. In 2014, he caused a scandal during the month of Ramadan after being photographed kissing another man. He continued to release albums, including Basta in 2015, Trucage in 2016 and Wala fel ahlem we ygoulek je t'aime and Ana li gabertah in 2018. He died on January 7, 2019 in Hydra, in a private clinic, the victim of a heart attack.
