There is no Western counterpart to Umm Kulthum, that much is clear. She was once described as having had “the virtuosity of Ella Fitzgerald, the public persona of Eleanor Roosevelt, and the audience of Elvis”, and the likes of Bob Dylan and Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin count her among their ultimate sources of inspiration. Charles De Gaulle adorned her with the title of “the Lady” and to the Arab world, she was simply known as the “Voice of Egypt” or “Egypt’s Fourth Pyramid”.