One day, the Algerian artist, nicknamed the White King, Hamdi Bennani, said, “And my beloveds have separated me and denied me,” without knowing that his fans did not deny the beauty of his music that he presented in more than half a century, before he decided to abandon his white violin and forever go off the stage and go with his voice.

The artist Hamdi Bennani, who passed away yesterday at the age of 77 in the city of Annaba, eastern Algeria, was not just a singer who made the memory of generations that followed the frequency of his songs, but one of the "Malouf" music schools for which the Algerian East was famous, and one of the pioneers of art who sings the committed poem.

The “machine of renewal” as some like to call it, as success does not satisfy me, but rather to continue and develop it.

He sang "Al-Malouf" as no one before him, so he was stoned by "Meloman" or "fanatics" to stick to traditional music, and his response was that "music that does not find someone to renew it dies."

Hamdi Banani introduced instruments that were not used in his playing, such as the "guitar" and "drummus" or what is known as "al-batri" and "synthesizer" or what is known as "the organ", and other instruments that were able to manufacture The uniqueness of the white violin.

Bennani preserved the spirit of the authentic character of the Malouf and sang it in his own way, until he drew a line that represented him alone and a school that graduated the greatest names of art in Algeria and abroad, and he continues to repeat his songs by artists and amateurs of the new generation.

The Algerian artist Hamdi Bennani with his son Kamal (Al-Jazeera)

Algerian Andalusian singer Leila Boursali, in her statement to Al-Jazeera Net, describes her last meeting with the late musician, saying, "I recorded a program with him last June, and my eyes teared up at the time when I felt that he was giving wills to his son, who was also a guest with us on the program."

She says, "I cried when he said to his son: Remember that I will always stay by your side, and I will support you as long as you are alive, I will not abandon you." ".

The Algerian singer Hamdi Bennani with his son Kamal and the singer Leila Boursali (Al Jazeera)

The son of the late singer Kamal Bennani, who used to accompany him in all his concerts as a player, said in a telephone conversation with Al-Jazeera Net, "He used to tell me to carry the torch and walk with it on your own way."

The owner of the magnificent "My Stranger in the People’s Countries" was not only keen on the beauty of the art presented, but one of the icons of elegance in Algeria. He was famous for his focus on the smallest details and his looks in which he preferred the white, and his name was associated with the violin, which was specially designed according to his size and taste.

Banani performed religious praises and sang to the homeland, sang love and motherhood, sang poems and taqoos, and remained attached to his art and innovation, which began his journey a quarter of a century ago, and chose to modernize Malouf's music when he performed one of his concerts in 1974.

Hamdi Bennani left, leaving hundreds of masterpieces that influenced the Algerian music library, and a number of titles remained stuck in the minds of Algerians, such as "By God, O Hamami," "Even if for years and a year disappear", "Two eyes for a habara", and "A crushed lover" next to a song " Student "and others.

The dean of the Malouf song in Algeria was keen to live for his art, and to give his life to consolidate the messages of art, so he lived as a musician and left as a tune "deviating from the melody", in order to calm down from the loud music part.