Farhad Zirak

About Farhad Zirak

Farhad Zirak is a Kurdish folk singer from Erbil, known for songs recorded at weddings, parties and private gatherings that built him a large following across the Kurdistan Region. Born Farhad Ali Taha in Erbil in the early 1960s, he is a different singer from the Bukan-born legend Hassan Zirek, although he has said that Hassan Zirek strongly influenced him, and listeners sometimes confuse the two.

He began singing in 1977, as a teenager. His repertoire is rooted in the folk songs of Erbil, and many of his best-known recordings date from the 1990s. Songs credited to him include Sermestim, Ba Ruy Minda and Aysham Aysham, and the popular Jwani Jwani is credited to him on Spotify and in many online uploads.

For more than a decade he has largely stepped back from public performance and rarely appears in the media. In 2022 the Erbil Governorate announced a concert for him in the city's Shanadar Park, but it was postponed shortly before the date. His songs remain alive through younger singers such as Shabaz Zamani, who perform them in live music and on television, and through an official channel that publishes his archive recordings.

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