Farid al-Atrash was born in 1915 . He studied the lute at the public service department of the Institute of Music. At the same time, he was working as a driver. Among his teachers were the renowned composers Safar Ali and Mohamed al-Qasabgi. Farid later worked in the night club of Badie'a Mosabni.

Farid was a mixture of the originality of oriental music and the modernity of western music. He was the best lute player of his age. He was also one of the first who introduced show business to Egyptian movies. He also introduced the dramatic song. Farid's music was simple and smooth.

He was one of the greatest musicians in the Arab world. He descended from a Syrian royal family, and due to civil unrest, at aan early age he left Syria for Egypt with his mother, brother, and sister. Farid learned music at a young age, and learned to play the lute from his mother. Later he became a great lute player. He was one of the Arab world's greatest singers and composers in with 300 compositions to his name.

Farid was also a talented actor. He played the lead role in 31 movies.

He died on December 26th, 1974.