Warda Al-Jazairia (وردة الجزائرية) was an Algerian-Lebanese singer who was well known for her Arabic songs and music. Her name literally meant Warda the Algerian, but she was commonly referred to as just Warda. Her name in Arabic وردة  means “Rose”.

Warda was born on July 22, 1939, in Puteaux, France, to a Lebanese mother and an Algerian father. She started singing at the age of eleven in 1951.

She started her career in France, as her father taught her music with the help of a Tunisian singer. Then she started to sing songs of famous singers at her father’s club. Then she moved to Lebanon with her mother where she made her first songs.

Warda came to Egypt in 1960, following an invitation from the producer and director Helmi Rafla. She made her first debut in a successful movie called (Almaz wa Abdou Al-Hamouli) ألمظ وعبده الحامولي.

At the height of Pan-Arabism, Gamal Abdel Nasser requested that Warda be given a part in a production by Mohammed Abdel Wahab titled – My Great Homeland (وطني الأكبر), which was performed by the biggest stars at the time.

When she married in 1962, her husband forbade her to sing. In 1972, Algerian president Houari Boumediène asked her to sing to commemorate Algeria’s independence, and she performed with an Egyptian orchestra. As a result her marriage broke up, and she returned to Cairo to pursue a career in music.

In Egypt, where she married the composer Baligh Hamdi. She performed many of his songs and those of other Arabic composers, quickly rising to fame and releasing several albums per year. Additionally, she starred in a few films.

Warda was famous for romantic songs, and one of her most famous songs In a Day and a Night  (في يوم وليلة) became one of the most successful songs at its time. It is still being cherished by large audiences.

Warda died on 17 May 2012, in Cairo, Egypt, after suffering a cardiac arrest. She was 72 years old. On 19 May, her body was flown back to Algeria where she was given a state funeral, and was buried in Algiers’ El Alia cemetery, which is reserved for national heroes.