The traditional music of Kuwait

Kuwait

The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...

were well-recorded until the Persian Gulf War

Gulf War

The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...

, when Iraq

Iraq

Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

 invaded the country and destroyed the archive. Nevertheless, Kuwait has retained a vital music industry, both long before the war and after. Kuwaiti music reflects the diverse influences of many peoples on the culture of Kuwait

Culture of Kuwait

The Kuwaiti culture is well known for its hospitality and generosity.-Hospitality:The Kuwaiti culture, just like many other cultures, takes great pride in hospitality. Guests in people homes are treated with great warmth and respect. Host exhibit their polished manners and expect the same...

, including East African

East African

East African may refer to:*Any person or object of, or pertaining to, East Africa*East African Airlines, an airline based in Kampala, Uganda*East African Safari Air, a now defunct airline based in Kenya*The EastAfrican, a weekly newspaper in East Africa...

 and Indian music

Music of India

The music of India includes multiple varieties of folk, popular, pop, classical music and R&B. India's classical music tradition, including Carnatic and Hindustani music, has a history spanning millennia and developed over several eras. It remains fundamental to the lives of Indians today as...

.

Kuwait is known as the center, along with Bahrain

Bahrain

' , officially the Kingdom of Bahrain , is a small island state near the western shores of the Persian Gulf. It is ruled by the Al Khalifa royal family. The population in 2010 stood at 1,214,705, including 235,108 non-nationals. Formerly an emirate, Bahrain was declared a kingdom in 2002.Bahrain is...

 for sawt, a blues

Blues

Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...

y style of music made popular in the 1970s by Shadi al Khaleej (the Bird Song of the Gulf). Nabil Shaeil and Abdullah El Rowaished are the most popular modern sawt performers, who include influences from techno and Europop

Europop

Europop refers to a style of pop music that first developed in today's form in Europe, throughout the late 1970s. Europop topped the charts throughout the 1980s and ’90s...

 in their music; Kuwaiti sawt musicians are well-known across the Arab nations in the Persian Gulf

Persian Gulf

The Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers...

 region. Other popular groups include the long-running Al-Budoor Band.

Pop Music

Kuwait has a reputation for being the central musical influence of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries. Over the last decade of satellite TV stations, there has been a stream of Kuwaiti Pop Bands that have been successful in reaching other Arab countries with their unique style of pop. One Kuwaiti band known as Miami, has been so successful that it's influenced dozens of non Arab nationalities, among them Indian, Sri Lankan, Bengali, Filipinos and even Western nationalities such as British and American nationals.