Background and career
Tamer Hosny Sherif Abbas Farghaly (Arabic: تامر حسني شريف عباس فرغلي; born 16 August 1977), known by his stage name Tamer Hosny (Arabic: تامر حسني), is an Egyptian singer and actor who first came to attention as a singer when he appeared on mixed tapes with other Egyptian artists. Hosny launched his solo career with his 2004 album Hob, becoming a successful singer of romantic music and was given the nickname "Star of the Generation" by his fans. Tamer Hosny began his career in 2002, producing music albums and Arabic films distributed in Egypt and the Middle East. His work has accumulated 2.5 billion total views on the YouTube platform.
Tamer Hosny was born in Cairo to an Egyptian father and Syrian mother. Unlike his father, Hosny Sherif Abbas, Tamer Hosny grew up with an interest in football and played the sport for five years. At age 12, Hosny got his first acting role in a 1990 short film titled Khat El Nehaya (The End Line), directed by Amr el-Leithy and co-starring Sabry Fawaz and Nashwa Mustafa.
Tamer Hosny’s breakthrough came with his debut album, released in collaboration with Sherine Abdel Wahab in 2002 and produced by Nasr Mahrous. The album stood out for its distinctive sound and lyrics, appealing to young audiences by featuring two emerging singers who reflected their generation and addressed themes relevant to their lives. Its songs quickly became popular, turning both Hosny and Sherine into prominent stars almost overnight. The album marked the beginning of Hosny’s successful music career. He went on to release nine studio albums, including ‘‘Enaya Bethabak’’ (’‘My Eyes Love You’’) in 2005, ‘‘Ha’eesh Hayaty’’ (’‘I Will Live My Life’’) in 2009, and ‘‘Bahebak Enta’’ (’‘I Love You’’) in 2013. He subsequently became one of the region’s highest-paid performers and the first Arab singer to attract more than half a million people to a single concert. Tamer Hosny had his first directorial experience in 2010 when directing his music video "Se7eet 3la Sotha" (Woke up to her voice). Hosny had a long-held ambition to become a director and to make his own music video. Alongside his music and acting careers, Hosny has collaborated with prominent international artists, including Quincy Jones, Snoop Dogg, and Pitbull. His collaboration with Snoop Dogg on ‘‘Si El Sayed’’ also featured the American rapper wearing a traditional Egyptian galabeya in the music video. In 2025 he collaborated with Syrian singer Al Shami (singer) on song called Maleket Gamal El Kon which became an instant hit.
He starred in the 2003 Egyptian film Halet Hob (A State of Love). In 2010, he released the comedy-drama film The Light of My Eyes. The movie was placed first on the Arabian box office after a week of its release. During Ramadan 2011, Hosny starred in the television drama, Adam. Directed by Mohammad Samy, it also featured Dina Fouad, Ahmed Zaher and Mai Ezz Eldin. This series achieved big success and high views on YouTube and won the best series in 2011 in many votes. His next film Omar & Salma 3 was scheduled to release in November 2011 during the Eid al-Adha holiday. In 2012, he released Omar & Salma 3, the third sequel to the Omar & Salma trilogy. Hosny has frequently stated that he was not satisfied with the film. In a 2016 interview on the Set El Hosn (Beautiful lady) program, he admitted that "I'm not happy with how the movie turned out, although many people love it and it was a box office success. I don't blame anyone else for that. I take responsibility for it. We had to make major plot changes due to financial reasons." After three years away from the movie industry, he released Ahwak alongside Ghada Adel and Ahmed Malek, a romantic comedy about a young plastic surgeon who falls in love with a divorced woman. The film was a success at the box office, with total revenue of 22 million Egyptian pounds.
In 2017, Hosny released Tesbah ala Kher (Good Night), a comedy drama about a wealthy entrepreneur who has depression and hallucinations. Falcon Films – the film distributor in the Arab world – released an official statement announcing that the movie has topped the Arabic box office. In 2018, Hosny released a new comedy El-Badlah. In 2019, Hosny released a new thriller comedy El Feloos (The Money). It grossed more than EGP 46 million in the Egyptian box office in a little over a month, while it reaped almost USD 2 million worldwide. In December 2019, Hosny broke the Guinness World Record for the most contributions to a bulletin board. In 2021, Hosny released his new comedy-drama Mesh Ana. The film is written by Hosny, directed by Sarah Wafik, and produced by Synergy and HS production.
During two years, Tamer Hosny had discovered more than 20 new talents in lyric writing and composing, over five new singers, more than ten new actors, and Mohamed Sami as a drama and cinema director (director of his series Adam). Hosny sang vocals in Bokra "Tomorrow (A Better You, Better Me)", a charity single that was released on 11 November 2011, along with Rim Banna, Akon, Diana Karazon, Marwan Khoury, Latifa, Souad Massi, Hani Mitwasi, Saber Rebaï, Kathem Al-Saher, Waed, Sherine and other Arab Artists. Proceeds from the single were distributed to various organizations, institutions and charities with arts and culture programs. The eight-minute song was written by Majida El Roumi, and produced by Quincy Jones and RedOne. Tamer Hosny recorded a new duet song with Shaggy, named "Smile". The song, written and composed by Tamer Hosny, was distributed all over the world. The music video was released at the beginning of 2012. It was shot in New York City and garnered more than one million views in only three days on YouTube. In another collaboration, titled Si Al Sayed, after the patriarchal protagonist of the Cairo Trilogy, Snoop Dogg appeared in the music video wearing traditional Egyptian Jellabiya and having his name written in Arabic script. Hosny performed "Right Where I'm Supposed to Be" as the Official Song of the 2019 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates in collaboration with Ryan Tedder, Avril Lavigne, Luis Fonsi, Hussain Al Jassmi and Assala Nasri openly presented by public figure Hilal Al-Battashi.
