Mohammed Wardi

Wardi was born on 19 July 1932 in a small village called Sawarda close to Wadi Halfa in Northern Sudan. His mother, Batool Badri, died when he was an infant, and his father, Osman Hassan Wardi, died when he was nine years old. He was brought up in a diverse and culturally rich background and developed an interest in poetry, literature, music and singing. To complete his education, he moved to Shendi in Central Sudan, and returned to Wadi Halfa as a secondary school teacher. ==Musical career==

In 1953, Wardi went to Khartoum for the first time to attend a convention as a teaching representative for his area. He has been described as one of "Africa's top singers", with fans mainly in the Horn of Africa. After the military coup in 1989, he left Sudan for exile in Cairo and Los Angeles. He returned to Sudan in May 2002, and was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Khartoum in 2005. ==Death==

Wardi suffered from kidney failure later in his life. He eventually received a kidney transplant, after one of his fans donated a kidney to him in 2002. He died on 18 February 2012 and was buried in the Farouk Cemetery in Khartoum. == Reception ==

As part of the film score for the award-winning 2025 documentary Khartoum, Wardi’s music was praised by a review for generating a “pulsating sense of optimism, making it clear that Sudan will rise again.” Looking back at his life and artistic career, Sudanese writer and critic Lemya Shammat called him an "inspirational figure in Sudanese music and culture, whose prolific talent and massive contribution remains unsurpassed in Sudan." ==Poets and songwriters, with whom Wardi collaborated==

• Abdel-Hadi Osman Ahmed • Sawi Abdelkafi • Aljayli Abdelmoneim • Omer Altayib Ad-dosh – "Banadeha" • Mubarak Basheer • Mohamed Muftah Alfaytori • Ishaq Alhalanqi – "A3z Alnas" • Ahmed Altahir • Ibrahim Alrasheed – "Saleem Alzog" • Abdelrahman Alrayah • Alsir Dolaib • Abu Amna Hamid • Ismail Hassan – "Alhaneen ya Foadi", "Nor Al3en", "Habenak mn Qlobna", "Almostaheel", • Salah Ahmed Ibrahim – "Altayir Almohajir" • Mohammed Almakki Ibrahim • Haile • Kamal Mahessi – "Jamal Aldoniya" • Mohammed Abu Qatati – "Almursal" • Altijani Saeed – "Gult Arhal", " Min Gair Meiad" • Mahjoub Sharif – "Ya Sha3ban Lahbt thwrtak", "Masajenak", "We Will Build It (The Alternative)" ("حنبنيهو") • Saadaddin Ibrahim • Mohammed Abdalla Mohammed Babekir == See also ==