Banna was born in Nazareth, where she graduated from Nazareth Baptist School. She lived in Nazareth with her three children.
She died on 24 March 2018, aged 51, in a hospital in her hometown of Nazareth, Palestine following a lengthy and brave battle with breast cancer, which she openly shared with her numerous fans through social media. She met her husband, Ukrainian guitarist Leonid Alexeyenko, while studying music together at the Higher Music Conservatory in Moscow and they married in 1991, and divorced in 2010.
Banna first achieved popularity in the early 1990s, after recording her own versions of traditional Palestinian children's songs that were on the verge of being forgotten.
Banna also composed her own songs and set Palestinian poetry to music. Her message is often focused on the suffering of Palestinians. Her music is described as "haunting, emotional, at times bordering on kitsch." She described her music as a means of cultural self-assertion:
A part of our work consists of collecting traditional Palestinian texts without melodies. So that the texts do not get lost, we try to compose melodies for them that are modern, yet inspired by traditional Palestinian music.
In this way, Banna does more than mimic the traditional techniques and representations of the pieces she interprets. She blends them with modern singing styles because,
Oriental singing techniques are mostly ornamental… But my voice is more two-dimensional, thicker. I try to write songs that fit my voice. I want to create something new in every respect. And that includes bringing people elsewhere closer to the music and soul of the Palestinians.
She performed live in the West Bank and she reached audiences in Gaza through live webcasts. She performed her first concert in Syria on 8 January 2009 and also performed in Tunisia on 25 July 2011. Her first concert in Beirut took place on 22 March 2012.
Banna's popularity in Europe began after Norwegian music producer Erik Hillestad invited her to participate on the CD Lullabies from the Axis of Evil (2003) and Norwegian singer Kari Bremnes, who also took part on this production in a duet with Rim Banna, invited her to Oslo. Banna accepted the invitation, and the two artists did a show together.
The album, dubbed "a musical antiwar message to U.S. President Bush from female singers in Palestine, Iraq, Iran, and Norway," brings these women together with others from North Korea, Syria, Cuba, and Afghanistan, to sing traditional lullabies from their lands in duet form with English-language performers whose translation allows the songs to reach a Western audience.
The Mirrors of My Soul, which was dedicated to all the Palestinian and Arab political detainees in the Israeli prisons, is a stylistic departure from her previous body of work. Produced in cooperation with a Norwegean quintet, it features "Western pop styling" fused with Middle Eastern modal and vocal structures, and Arabic lyrics.
Although the style differs from previous recordings, the subject matter has basically remained constant. The album includes "songs of despair and hope" about the lives of "a struggling people, and even a song about late Palestinian leader and PA president Arafat in a way that is both thoughtful and subtle".
Discography
Jafra (1985)
Your tears Mother (1986)
The Dream (1993)
New Moon (1995)
Mukaghat (1996)
Al Quds Everlasting (2002)
Krybberom (2003) Rim Banna & SKRUK
Lullabies from the Axis of Evil (2003 – Various female artists)
The Mirrors of My Soul (2005, Valley Entertainment)
This was not my story (2006) Rim Banna & Henrik Koitz
Seasons of violet (2007)
Songs across Walls of Separation (2008 – Various artists from the Middle East, Africa, Central America, North America, and Europe)
April Blossoms (2009) an album for children, was dedicated to the children martyrs in Gaza
A Time to cry (2010), was recorded in one of the houses in Sheikh Jarrah under constant threat of eviction from the part of their house (with three Palestinian singers)
"Tomorrow" (Bokra) 2011, a single song of the American legend composer Quincy Jones, who chose Rim Banna to represent Palestine in this project which will be released in an Album and a video clip in September 2011
Revelation of Ecstasy and Rebellion (2013); produced by Bugge Wesseltoft
Songs from a Stolen Spring (2014, Valley Entertainment/Kirkelig Kulturverksted - Various Artists), featuring "Break Your Fears"
A Time To Cry
Rim Banna Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
سكروها بوجه الناس
ما عاد حدا يقدر يشوفها بعيون الناس
حرقوها هدموها
واحتلوا البيوت بعز النهار
والناس شردوها
بقوة السلاح وبالنار
ما بقي غير شوية حجار
القدس
بيوت وشوارع
حارات تشهد عى اللي صار
حوطوها بجيش وحواجز
وحاصروها بالجدار
أخذوها دمروها
واغتالوا حلم كل الناس
غيروها سكنوها
وجوه غريبة عن كل الناس
وغربوا ملامح المدينة
ما عدنا نعرف كيف اللي كان
ما عاد لأهل المدينة
إلا شوية صور
قصص وذكريات
العالم صامت بيتفرج
مقدسات عرضة للانتهاكات
In Rim Banna's song "A Time To Cry" (الوقت للبكاء), the lyrics convey a deeply emotional and powerful message about the city of Jerusalem and its suffering under occupation. The song starts by emphasizing the state of the city, with the lines "Jerusalem, they covered it from people's eyes. No one can see it anymore." This suggests that the city has been hidden or obscured from the world, and its beauty and significance have been overshadowed.
The lyrics then go on to describe the destruction and occupation of Jerusalem. The city has been burned and demolished, and its houses have been occupied during broad daylight. The people have been forcibly displaced, with force and fire as the means of expulsion. All that remains are a few stones and an oppressed jasmine flower clinging to the walls. This conveys a sense of loss and mourning for the city.
The second verse further highlights the extent of the occupation and the changes it has brought. Jerusalem's homes and streets, which once witnessed the events that unfolded, have been closed off with armies and checkpoints. The city has been besieged by a wall, separating it from its people and trapping them inside. The invaders have taken it, destroyed it, and assassinated the dreams of the people. Strangers now reside in Jerusalem, and its familiar face has been altered. The lyrics express the sadness and longing for the city's true identity and the memories it holds.
Line by Line Meaning
القدس
Jerusalem, the holy city
سكروها بوجه الناس
They closed it in front of the people
ما عاد حدا يقدر يشوفها بعيون الناس
No one can see it through the eyes of the people anymore
حرقوها هدموها
They burned it, they demolished it
واحتلوا البيوت بعز النهار
And they occupied the houses in broad daylight
والناس شردوها
And they displaced the people
بقوة السلاح وبالنار
With the power of weapons and fire
ما بقي غير شوية حجار
There is nothing left but a few stones
وياسمينة تعربش عى الحيطان
And jasmine blooms on the walls
القدس
Jerusalem
بيوت وشوارع
Houses and streets
حارات تشهد عى اللي صار
Alleys witnessing what happened
حوطوها بجيش وحواجز
They surrounded it with armies and checkpoints
وحاصروها بالجدار
And besieged it with a wall
أخذوها دمروها
They took it, they destroyed it
واغتالوا حلم كل الناس
And they killed the dream of all the people
غيروها سكنوها
They changed it, they inhabited it
وجوه غريبة عن كل الناس
With unfamiliar faces to all the people
وغربوا ملامح المدينة
And obscured the features of the city
ما عدنا نعرف كيف اللي كان
We no longer know how it used to be
ما عاد لأهل المدينة
No longer for the people of the city
إلا شوية صور
Except for a few pictures
قصص وذكريات
Stories and memories
العالم صامت بيتفرج
The world is silent, watching
مقدسات عرضة للانتهاكات
Sacred sites vulnerable to violations
Writer(s): בנא רים ז"ל
Contributed by Isaiah R. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@entarjem
Rest in peace Rim. I'm only 20 and I've been listening to your songs since I was 12. Such sad news and what a real loss. God bless your soul. Made me as a Palestinian very proud.
@user-ys9bi8uy5h
3:58 is in Sheikh Jarrah; Al-Kurd house. بيت عائلة الكرد في حي الشيخ جراح
@mickemusik
Listened to Rim for a long time, without understanding all the lyrics. The first time was when I, as a Swede, drove an Arab artist to Berlin. There were 5 of us in the car, me and everyone else from the Middle East. On the way home I changed the channel on the radio and after 2 seconds everyone was silent - it was Rim singing her song "Sarah" I will do more to help Palestinians and other vulnerable groups with what I can!
@cristinasoler
Rest in peace your beautiful soul. She died today (51 years old) but her voice will survive ! PALESTINE WILL BE FREE !!!
@eliasjammal1043
What a loss! A great lady. May her memory be forever.
@birdlynn417
So sorry. Thank you for giving a voice to the Palestinian losses and taking a stand and a song for the unjust injustices done by Isreal to the Palestinian people. You are all heart. RIP sweet heart.
@sarabernal3497
I love You Banna, your poetry and power of love for Palestine will stay within my heart and soul. Palestine culture owes you so much!
@kevinaboud76
agreed
@mharacostello5339
Rim Banna died today. (24 /03/18) God's bless her. Free Palestine.
@crizish
Needed more than ever!