Jordanian teen sensation Issam Alnajjar to open for Maroon 5 in UAE and Egypt
Talk about a great start. Musician Issam Alnajjar will begin his world tour supporting Maroon 5 at the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt and Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Arena.
The Jordanian teenager announced the prized slots on social media accounts, in addition to the rest of the dates of his first world tour.
Named after his breakthrough song Hadal Ahbek, the global outing begins with warming up the stage for Maroon 5 in Giza and Abu Dhabi today and Friday, respectively, before beginning a run of 14 solo shows extending until July 15.
The tour includes what should be a number of memorable events, including a homecoming show at Amman Citadel on May 10, followed by Nui Beirut in Lebanon on June 12, and The Camden Assembly in London on June 22. This is in addition to a run of US dates including performances at the LPR in New York and the historic Roxy Theatre in Los Angeles on July 15.
The news marks the latest milestone in what has been a skyrocketing career for Alnajjar, 18, after Hadal Ahbek topped Spotify’s Viral 50 Global chart in 2020 which measures how songs are shared on the platform, blogs and social media.
As a result of the hype, Alnajjar recently signed a deal as the face of Universal Arabic Music, a fledgling boutique label co-launched by Wassim “Sal” Slaiby, the Lebanese-Canadian record executive and manager of The Weeknd. The high-profile move resulted in Alnajjar getting his biggest exposure yet, appearing on a Spotify billboard in New York City last year to promote Turning Me Up (Hadal Ahbek), a club-ready remix featuring Canadian artists Ali Gatie and the DJ duo Loud Luxury.
This was followed by the release of his debut album Baree? featuring the well-received lead single Hada Ghareeb, a collaboration with Palestinian-Chilean singer Elyanna.
The young singer spoke to The National and expressed astonishment at his career rise. “What can I say, man? A few months ago I was just that really ordinary teenager happy to sing cover songs by people like Ed Sheeran and Shawn Mendes,” he said. “To have one song just change your life like that is just unbelievable.”
Maroon 5 and Issam Alnajjar perform at Etihad Arena, Abu Dhabi, on Friday. Doors open at 7pm; tickets from Dh300 are available at etihadarena.ae
Alnajjar signed with the label co-launched by The Weeknd’s manager, Wassim ‘Sal’ Slaiby