Timeline of Fairuz - 1990s

1990s

1990

• Concert in Dubai.
• Cancellation of another appearance at the Royal Hall Festival in London due to the death of her close friend, Alice Dagher in Beirut. Last reported meeting with sister Huda is at the funeral.

1991

• In Qatar. No tickets were released for sale, entrance is free to all.
• For the first time she is at the St. Charbel shrine, her first public appearance in Lebanon, where she holds the Great Friday ritual funeral prayers. Prayers for Lebanon and the martyrs are lifted up at the end of the 30-year civil war. Well over 750 people attend inside and around 1,000 listen outside in spite of a rainstorm and still-insecure situation. She sings for the first time "With Us Is the Lord" as it is enrolled into the Orthodox liturgical repertoire in Russia. It has been 90 years since a liturgical hymn has been added into the church’s official repertoire.

1992

• Good Friday prayers are held in Balamand Monastery without any advance notice of Fairuz's attendance. About 600 people were already present and about 1,000 rushed to the area when the news spread.

1993

• Fairuz sues Madonna for $2.5 million for plagiarism over the Arab section/sampling in her song "Erotica". The song contains a section of a Christian Great Friday hymn that translates "Today, He is held to a cross" while Madonna repeatedly chants over Fairuz's voice 'All over me'. Upon the song’s release, the Vatican bans Madonna from entering the Vatican and she is banned on its radio stations. The song and its accompanying album are also banned in Lebanon. Sales of the song soar and reach 5 million units and an undisclosed settlement is reached between Fairuz and Madonna.
• In Dubai, she cries as she sings "Don’t Be Scared, Salem Is Sleeping and Not Feeling Cold" (a song for the martyrs of Lebanon).
• Good Friday prayers are held at the St. Charbel shrine.

1994

• In London's Olympia.
• Fairuz is the star of the launch event of the Solidere Real Estates Company. Her first concert in Lebanon since the end of the war is held in Martyrs' Square, the separation area between East and West Beirut, to reunite the divided nation. Over 50,000 attend and the event breaks TV ratings as 125 million Arabs watch her via satellite. Millions are said to have cried as a video of the Lebanese war is shown while she sings the song "To Beirut". The King of Saudi Arabia declares, "It was when Fairuz’s voice soared from its heart that we knew Lebanon is finally back."

1997

• In Dubai, where she first sings "Greet Him for Me".
• She receives the Highest Artistic Distinction award by president of Tunisia Ben Ali.
• Jerusalem Award is awarded by the Culture and Arts Committee, Jerusalem.

1998

• In Bahrain.
• In Tunisia for the first time since 1968.
• Return to the Baalbeck International Festival after 25 years absence. Tickets sell out within the first day of sale and well over 16,000 people fill up the three massive stadiums of Baalbeck pillars.
• The release of "Fairuz"—a documentary about her childhood, life with her husband and brothers-in-law and how she became the symbol of a dying nation’s hope.
• She receives the Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur awarded by French president Jacques Chirac.
• Highest Distinction awarded by King Hussein, Jordan

1999

• In the Kingdom of Oman.
• At the MGM Grand Arena, Las Vegas, where she is reported to have brought in the biggest crowd since Frank Sinatra. Well over 14,000 people were estimated to be inside the stadium and over 5,000 outside.
• The release of "Arrab al Mowaed" (The Time Is Approaching), a behind-the-scenes documentary of the legend’s record-breaking concert at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas. The show was another record-breaking broadcast in the Arab World.