Ziad Rahbani (also Ziyad al-Rahbany Arabic: زياد الرحباني‎, born 1956) is a Lebanese composer, pianist, playwright, and political commentator. His compositions are well known throughout the Arab world. Many of his musicals satirize Lebanese politics both during and after the civil war, and are often strongly critical of the traditional political establishment.

Biography

Ziad Rahbani is the son of the Lebanese famous composer Assi Rahbani and Nouhad Haddad, the famous Lebanese female singer known as Fairuz. Rahbani was married to Dalal Karam, with whom he has a boy named "Assi" but was later found out not to be his biological son. Their relationship later ended in divorce, prompting Karam to write a series of articles for the gossip magazine Ashabaka about their marriage. Rahbani composed a number of songs about their relationship, including "Marba el Dalal" and "Bisaraha".

On Friday April 3, 2009, the Lebanese press reported that Rahbani filed a lawsuit with the Lebanese courts, asking to disown his son, Assi Rahbani Jr., and stripping him of the Rahbani name on all official records, and voiding any legal obligation towards him as a father, after DNA tests proved that Assi Jr. is not his son. Rahbani has also had a well-publicized relationship with actress Carmen Lebbos, which lasted for 15 years before the couple agreed to separate. Rahbani has a long-standing relationship with Lebanese leftist movements, and is a self-declared communist and atheist. Coming from a Greek Orthodox family, his politics and atheistic view point have meant that he has been at odds with some of his ex-coreligionists. During the Lebanese civil war, Rahbani resided in mainly Muslim West Beirut.
Nowadays Ziad and his mother Fairuz have family problems that separate them from each other so Ziad is not any more her compositer.