Ilham al-Madfai is an Iraqi guitarist, singer and composer. Madfai’s synthesis of Western guitar stylings with traditional Iraqi music has made him a revered and popular artist in his native country and throughout the Middle East. Beginning in 1999, Madfai released a string of albums on EMI’s Arabia label, including the platinum self-titled Ilham al-Madfai (1999), Live at the Hard Rock Cafe (2001), Baghdad (2003) and Dishdasha (2009). He has been nicknamed ‘the Baghdad Beatle‘.
