Wehbe was born March 10th, 1970 in Mahrouna, a small farming town in Southern Lebanon.She grew up listening to jazz and R&B. She became a model at a young age and won the title of "Miss South Lebanon" at age sixteen.She won an ancillary title at the "Miss Lebanon" competition, which she had to relinquish when it was discovered that she had already been married, disqualifying her. By 1996, she was seen on over 100 magazine covers. In 2006, she was on People Magazine's 50 most beautiful people list In 2002, Wehbe released her first album, titled Huwa az-Zaman (هو الزمن It is Time), which was a commercial success, partly because of the release of her first single "Agoul Ahwak" (أقول أهواك I say I love you). Her second album Baddi 'Ayš (بدي عيش I Want to Live) was released in 2005 and lived up to expectations due to the success of its lead single "Ya Hayat Albi." Released after the assassination of Lebanese politician Rafik Hariri, the title single of the album is about "freedom, considered to be among the most basic of human rights."[5] Her follow-up single was her biggest hit to date, "Ana Haifa" (أنا هيفاء I am Haifa) which became her novelty song. In 2006 she released a follow up single "Bus al-Wawa" (بوس الواوا Kiss the booboo), from her upcoming album "Baby Haifa", to be released end of 2008 or early 2009.The song was later used in a Pepsi advertisement.The song was also voted song of the year in 2006 by Radio Scope and Sawt Al Musika. Wehbe was the first Arab artist appear at the Italian TV channel Rai Uno at Piazza Navona in Rome, performing in the presence of celebrities and fashion designers. Haifa Wehbe has performed with singers outside of the Arab world. In Egypt, Wehbe performed a duet with ######. On June 10, 2006 Haifa became the first artist in the Arab world to perform with rapper 50 Cent when she performed as an opening act for his first concert in Lebanon, at BIEL in Beirut. On July 4, 2008 Wehbe released her long awaited new album Habibi Ana (حبيبي أنا My love) which contains 15 songs including the single "Mosh Adra Astana". In July 2005, Wehbe, along with 14 other celebrities from the Arab world, appeared in live pan-Arab reality show series The Farm (Arabic: الوادي Al-Wadi), based on the French reality show La Ferme Célébrités. The show aired for three months. The show featured weekly live performances in which Wehbe played a central role as well as singing songs from her new album. Her other non-musical works include a few movie roles and TV hosting. Wehbe has also designed her own range of diamond jewelry. She has been a spokesperson for Pepsi, and did Pepsi ads with football star Thierry Henry, which were shown during the 2006 world cup. Wehbe starred in the Pepsi-produced film Sea of Stars released in 2008. Also starring in the movie were Carole Samaha, Ahmad el Sherif, Wael Kfoury, Brigitte Yaghi, and Ruwaida al-Mahrooqi. Wehbe got three sisters Alia, Hanna and Rola.[8] Wehbe's brother died at the age of 24 during the 1982 Lebanon War. During Wehbe's marriage, she gave birth to a daughter named Zeinab Zaza. In 2005, she announced her engagement to a Saudi businessman Tariq Al-Jaffali. After only a few weeks, she and her fiancé decided to split for personal reasons and family issues. On June 25, 2007, Wehbe survived a serious car accident while filming a music video for the song 'Hasa Ma Bena' in Lebanon. In the video, a single engine airplane was to chase Wehbe as she drove a car. However, the airplane inadvertently hit the car, taking off the front windshield of the drop-top convertible she was driving.Despite the severity of the accident, Wehbe only suffered minor cuts and bruises. In March 2009, Haifa Wehbe announced that she will be getting married to an Egyptian businessman. This information was confirmed on New TV and her appearance in Star Academy on April 3, 2009 on LBC.
