Many artists and cultural entities have received the news with shock, mourning the loss of the accomplished artist.

"The Arab music scene has lost a bright star who was distinguished by an authentic voice and sensitive expression," the Ministry of Culture said in a statement, describing El-Haggar's work as part of the iconic heritage of modern Tarab singing.

El-Haggar was born on 7 September 1956 in the district of Imbaba in Giza to an artistic family.

His father, Ibrahim El-Haggar, was a well-known composer and educator and his older sibling, Ali El-Haggar, is one of Egypt’s most well-known singers of the past half century.

Ali posted a touching post to eulogise his younger brother.

He studied music and graduated from the Higher Institute of Arabic Music.

El-Haggar — who released several albums throughout his career — rose to fame as a singer with the song ‘Oud’ in the 90s.

His career as a composer took off with the big hit ‘O’zoriny’, which he composed for his brother Ali.

During his most active years as a composer in the 80s and 90’s, he collaborated with many artists such as Ali El-Haggar, Mohamed Fouad, Samira Said, Hisham Abbas, Alaa Abdel-Khalek, Angham, Anoshka, among others.

He also composed songs for a number of films, including ‘Amrika Shika Bika’, ‘El-Fata El-Shereer’ and ‘El-Fas Fil Ras.’

He also composed for TV and radio series such as ‘Alf Leila Wi-Leila’, ‘Khalty Safia Wel-Deir’, and ‘Mozakerat Zoug’, as well as theatre plays such as ‘Rosasa Fil-Alb’ and ‘Yamama Beida.’

Among his most significant works as a composer is ‘Lamma El-Sheta Yedok El-Biban’ for his brother, ‘Ya’nei Eih Kelmet Watan’ for Fouad, and ‘Hate’rafeiny’ for Abdel-Khalek.

In recent years, he made a few appearances in concerts and on TV shows and introduced a number of Islamic chants and new arrangements for some of his evergreen songs.