Beirut, the capital city of Lebanon, has long been known, especially in a perio immediately following World War 2, for its art and intellectualism. Several singers emerged in this period, most famously including Fairuz, Sabah, Wadih El Safi, Majida El Roumi, Nasri Shamseddine, and Marcel Khalife an activist folk singer and oud player. During the fifteen-year civil war, most of the Lebanese music stars moved to Cairo or Paris, with a large music scene in Beirut only returning after 1992. Modern stars include Najwa Karam, Diana Haddad, Nawal Al Zoghbi, Ramy Ayach, Haifa Wehbe, Elissa, Ragheb Alama, Walid Toufic, Wael Kfoury, Amal Hijazi, Nancy Ajram, Melhem Zein, Fadel Shaker, The 4 Cats, Assi El Helani and Moniem who is well known for his extraordinary talent in playing oud, Cello, guitar, qanoon, buzaq, along with song writing, music composing and singing in many languages including English.