Lebanon Had Its Own Pussycat Dolls (With a Total of 17 Members)

Back when The Pussycat Dolls were the IT group of the early 2000s, Ghassan Rahbani thought, “Why not capitalize on a group of young Lebanese women to create a huge hit?” And that’s how The 4 Cats were born (so original).

The Pussycat Dolls had six members, and The 4 Cats started with…well, four – but did you know that there were 17 total members throughout the girl group’s history?

Debut (1998-2001)

The 4 Cats debuted in 1998 with members Rola Bahnam, Dalida Chammai, Zeina Leyon, and Chantal Kayssar. Their music, primarily composed by Elias Rahbani, was updated into modern versions that suited the early 2000s Arabic pop scene.

Following the release of their debut album, Rola and Chantal left the group and were replaced by Nicole Saba and Perla Chalala.

The group was pretty successful in its debut era, touring the Arab world and even the United Kingdom. Things just started going downhill after that.

New AND returning members (2002-2005)

When the group was about to release their next album, Nicole, Perla, and Zeina left. They were replaced in early 2002 by Maya Diab, Nesreen Zreik, and Nathalie Barakat. We’ve already lost count of the members…

After Nathalie left, Rana replaced her but also departed soon after. Perla briefly rejoined before being replaced by Joyce. In 2004, Raya Zreik joined the group, and they released Ya Antar.

Following Dalida’s marriage and a reunion with former members, they released El Dinyi Heyk in late 2004, with the title track’s video coming out in 2005. Joyce was later replaced by Aline Ourfalian.

The 4 Cats and their remaining lives (2007-2011)

Before the group released its sixth album Wallat Kteer in June 2007, Dalida left after giving birth and was replaced by Eliana Abi Daher. The group also ventured into acting with the film 4 Cats and a Lion in October 2007. Not sure what that was about…

Maya left in 2010 to pursue a solo career. The group dissolved in early 2011, but Aline continued with new members Moryal Ghanim, Reen Ashkar, and Kristen A’akl. Their attempt to release a new music video failed to gain traction, leading to the group’s eventual disbandment.

At least we got a few…actually just one iconic song. Nothing gives early 2000s Arabic pop like Ya Antar.

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