Ziad Rahbani died at age 69 on Saturday, Lebanese newspaper L'Orient-Le Jour reported, citing a statement from the hospital where he was treated in Beirut. Lebanese Minister of Culture Dr. Ghassan Salameh said in a post on X that the music artist's health had been 'deteriorating' before his death.

BEIRUT (Reuters) -Ziad Rahbani, the Lebanese composer and musician who built a distinct Lebanese sound from Western and Arabic musical roots, and whose sardonic critique of the country's sectarian politics rang true to Lebanese across the divides, has died. He was 69.

Ziad Rahbani, a visionary Lebanese composer, playwright, pianist and political provocateur, died on Saturday, at the age of 69, according to the state-run National News Agency. The death was confirmed by a person close to Rahbani who spoke on condition of anonymity.