# Hudeidi (Xudeydi)

> Hudeidi (1928-2020): Somali oud master who learned from Abdullahi Qarshe and later lived in London.

Source page: https://calankii.com/en/people/hudeidi/
Last checked: 2026-11-12
Publisher: Calankii (https://calankii.com)

## Who was he?

Ahmed Ismail Hussein Hudeidi was a Somali musician who played the oud and composed songs ([Wikipedia, Hudeidi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hudeidi)). He was born in Berbera in 1928 and grew up in Yemen, where his father was a police sergeant (same source).

## Music

He fell in love with the oud after hearing it played at a party in Aden ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hudeidi)). He learned to play from Abdullahi Qarshe, who advised his father to buy him an oud as well as school books (same source). See [Abdullahi Qarshe](/en/people/abdullahi-qarshe/).

In the 1950s and 1960s he lived in Yemen, [Somalia and Djibouti](/en/relations/djibouti/), and got into trouble for singing politically rebellious songs (same source). In 1973 he moved to the United Kingdom, where he played at family weddings and other private events and taught the oud (same source). See [Somalis in London](/en/diaspora/london/).

He gave a final concert at the Kayd Somali Arts and Culture centre in February 2020 (same source). He died of COVID-19 in London on 8 April 2020, eight days before his 92nd birthday (same source).

## In short

An oud master taught by Abdullahi Qarshe who played across the Horn and Yemen and spent his last decades in London.

---
I want to help with this: email hello@calankii.com. Fix this page: email hello@calankii.com with the page link and your source.