Yousif Omar

His full name is Yousif Omar Dawood. He was born in Baghdad - maHallat Jadeed Hassan Pasha 1918. He fell in love with the maqam since his early years. He learned the maqam from his teacher, Mohammed Al-Gubbenchi where his first performances were influenced by the Gubbenchi style. Throughout the years Yousif started to develop his own style in singing the maqam mainly by mixing with other maqam singers in his neighborhood  and those who used to perform in Baghdad's social spots. In his first years, Yousif Omar used to mainly perform in the mawaleed al nabawiyeh where his main influence then was Mulla Mahdi Al-Hafudh.

In 1948 when Baghdad Radio only had live broadcasting, Yousif Omar performed his first successful live on-air concert where it received a huge recognition from the Iraqi audience. By 1956, Yousif Omar had recorded a large collection of singles and albums which are still in circulation till the present time.

Yousif Omar's voice is smooth and capable. He sang on a very wide scale ranging from a low Qaraar to a high Jawaab without loss of control or technique. He was capable of singing the whole of the Iraqi maqams in both the classical method and the contemporary school. Yousif also wrote poetry that he used to inject into his singing alongside the vast array of poems in both classical Arabic and Iraqi spoken Arabic that he knew by heart. He also sang Uboothiyat in a compassionate and Baghdadi way, where his main influence was Abdul Ameer Al-Tweerjawi. 

Yousif Omar in considered the best maqam singer after his teacher Al-Ustath Al-Gubbenchi. Yousif Omar passed away in 1987 leaving behind a huge collection of maqams, uboothiyat and pesstaat for the generation to ponder upon. 

In an interview with the late Mohammed Al-Gubbenchi in the leading Alef Ba' magazine, Al-Ustath Al-Gubbenchi was asked "who sang the maqam after Mohhamed Al-Gubbenchi?", he replied "Yousif Omar". "Who else but Yousif Omar?" asked the interviewer, "Yousif Omar" replied Al Gubbenchi. "Yes, but who else other than Yousif Omar?" insisted the interviewer. "Yousif Omar!" replied Mohammed Al-Gubbenchi again, showing how highly Mohammed Al-Gubbenchi thought of the late Yousif Omar.