Nawal El Kuwaitia (Arabic: نوال الكويتية‎; born Nawal Thaher Al-Zaid, 18 November 1966) is a Kuwaiti singer and musical icon in the arab world. Nawal is considered by many as the number one singer in the arab world and is known as Qaitharat Al Khaleej (Harp of Khaliji Song). Nawal studied at the Music Institute in Kuwait where she met the Kuwaiti composer Rashid Al-Khadr. Al-Khadr composed many of her initial songs and poet Abdullatif Al-Banay wrote lyrics for her.