Khaled (musician)
Algerian musician (born 1960)
Khaled Hadj Ibrahim (Arabic: خالد حاج إبرهيم, pronounced [ˈxaːlɪd ħaːdʒ ʔɪbraːˈhiːm]; born 29 February 1960), better known by his mononym Khaled (Arabic: خالد), is an Algerian raï musician. He began recording in his early teens under the name Cheb Khaled (شاب خالد, Arabic for "Young" Khaled, with "Cheb" as a common title for male raï singers).
Khaled is one of the most important musicians in the history of Raï music in his native Algeria and is one the world's best-known African singers. To date, Khaled has sold over 80.5 million albums (10 diamond, platinum, and gold) worldwide, making him the bestselling Arabic-language singer in history. Among his most famous songs are "Aïcha", "Didi", "El Arbi", "Abdel Kader", "La Poupée qui fait non", "Wahran Wahran", "Bakhta", "C'est la vie", and "Alech Taadi".
He holds the Guinness World Record for best-selling artist of raï music.
Forbes has consistently placed Khaled in the top celebrities of Arab Music, and placed him at high ranks for years
Early life
Khaled was born on 29 February 1960 in Oran's Sidi-El-Houari neighborhood, French Algeria.
Musical career
His rise to national fame was mainly due to the efforts of Lieutenant-Colonel Hosni Snoussi, director of the state-supported arts and culture Office Riadh el Feth, who took Khaled under his wing and invited him along with other rai stars to perform at the state-sponsored Festival de la Jeunesse pour la Fête Nationale in Algiers in July 1985. In the same year, he was crowned king of rai in the first official festival of rai which was staged in Oran.
Hosni Snoussi and Martin Meissonnier, who met at the Festival, convinced France's Minister of Culture Jack Lang that the export of rai from Algeria to France was in the French government's interest and together they organized the first rai festival in France at Bobigny in 1986.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Khaled (musician)” as algerian musician (born 1960). Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the people & ideas register because the source frames it as algerian musician (born 1960). Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 11, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q312609. VIAF identifies the subject as 5691149296203480670003. The Library of Congress control number is n93114334. 4 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1960, 1985 and 1986.
A concise life account rarely captures disputed attribution, private networks or the changing language used to describe a career. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.
- Establishing names and roles
- Building a first chronology
- Locating cited institutions
Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Khaled (musician)”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Khaled (musician) primary sources, Khaled (musician) archive and Khaled research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Khaled (musician)”?
- Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
- Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Khaled (musician)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.