Abadi Al Johar: Five Decades Along the Road of Saudi Music

Dr. Abadi Al Johar welcomed the Billboard Arabia team to his majlis in Jeddah ahead of his September cover interview, reflecting on a career that spans over five decades as an ambassador for Saudi music.

The space displays photographs of Abadi alongside Talal Maddah and Mohammed Abdu, a festival plaque from Egypt, a 1960s fan portrait, and more than 40 oud instruments in the hallway.

In the 1960s in Jeddah, an orphaned Abadi practiced the oud to surpass his older brother. Poet and media figure Lutfi Zaini heard him play and introduced him to Talal Maddah.

At age 14, Abadi played for Talal Maddah, who immediately proposed a contract and offered to compose two songs for him.

Abadi recalls: “From that very first meeting, something happened — I don’t know what to call it. There was chemistry, there was affection. I remember that first meeting: he was so impressed with me. At that age, I was playing and singing — I was maybe 14. He immediately said, ‘Lutfi, let’s sign him to a contract, and I’ll compose two songs for him.’ From the very first meeting.”

Abadi spent six years seeing Talal daily and eventually asked him to sing one of his compositions. In 1976, Talal sang Abadi’s composition “Taweela Ya Droub Al Asheqeen” (Long Are the Roads of Lovers).

Abadi states: “I told him, ‘If you like what I do this much, then sing a music composition of mine.’ He approved and sang ‘Taweela Ya Droub Al Asheqeen’ (Long Are the Roads of Lovers). That was in 1976.”

In 2000, Abadi stood beside Talal at a concert in Abha as the final person to speak with him before Talal suffered a fatal heart attack on stage.

Talal previously asked for an oud made like Abadi’s, but died before receiving it. Abadi kept that oud untouched for more than 26 years until playing it at the Billboard Arabia cover shoot.

Beyond Saudi Arabia, Abadi composed Assala’s “Qad Al Horouf” (As Many as the Letters), alongside works for Rabeh Saqer, Samira Said, and Ahlam.

He describes his work as Arab compositions that combine Eastern music with Saudi heritage and Arabian Peninsula traditions.

Over five decades, Abadi has built a catalog exceeding 500 songs and compositions.

Abadi notes: “Here in Saudi Arabia, we have an extraordinary legacy of folk traditions — an incredibly rich heritage. I’ve said this before: we’ve only sung a small part of it. There is still so much for us to discover and explore.”

He adds: “At every event we performed at — myself, the artists who came before me and those who came after — whenever we traveled to any country, we insisted on presenting Saudi music with its identity intact: its identity in the lyrics, and its identity in its musical structures and rhythms. So, of course, we were ambassadors. That’s how Saudi music spread before social media — through concerts, appearances, cassettes and other means.”