Cheb Khaled

In the beginning of November 2000, Khaled gave two concerts in Tunisia, and, on the 14th of that month, for the first time since he had emigrated to France, he went to perform in Algiers at the Harcha Stadium in the centre of the city. 10,000 fans turned out to this controversial national event. For almost three hours, Khaled offered his audience - composed of mostly teenagers from the city's better-off neighbourhoods - a medley of music, song and dance.
Khaled was due to take his Raï song and dance extravaganza to America in September 2001. But his U.S. tour with the Egyptian star Hakim and Iranian singer Andy was cancelled after the attacks on the World Trade Center on 11 September. The Raï king did finally make it out to the States, however, performing an extensive American tour in February 2002, during which he played dates in a dozen cities across the country (2 - 24 February 2002).
On May 11th, Khaled was to meet again Israeli singer Noa for a concert given at the Coliseum in Rome in favor of peace in the Middle-East. One of the attendants was Shimon Peres, Israel’s Minister of Foreign Affairs.

A few days later, on May 17th, Khaled was in Oran, Algeria. This comeback to his home town triggered strong feelings for the exile artist. He gave an exceptional concert that was endued with emotion. Yet more emotional still was the artist’s visit to his father’s grave—his first visit since he had not attended the funeral. What’s more, during the press conference in front of Algerian journalists, Khaled announced that he had sent Universal Music, the company that owns Barclay, a resignation letter. He accused the label of ‘being incompetent and scheming against his career.’

Newly without a label, Khaled continued performing. On June 6th, taking part in the Festival Latitudes Maghreb, he gave a show at the Zenith in Paris where he invited many artists, such as Cheb Sahraoui, whom the French know quite well, or the yet unknown Cheb Akil. In answer to the critics’ recent skepticism about his position as master of Rai, Khaled attempted to reassert his position. Yet, many found his voice less powerful and he was deemed to be tired—a condition that might have been a result of the singer’s troubles with French justice. Indeed, in the meantime, Khaled was tried twice: for abandoning a supposedly biological son of his, and for some obscure affair with his legitimate wife. In that period, the latter gave him a third daughter.
During the summer 2002, Khaled went back on the road, touring around the Arab world. Despite facing constant criticism and boycotts because of the Rome concert, Khaled performed in Jordan and at the Beiteddine Festival in Lebanon.