Assala was born in Damascus, Syria to a middle class couple. Mostafa Nasri, Assala's father, was a revered composer and singer. Assala began her musical career by performing patriotic, religious, and children's songs when she was four years old. She sang the theme song "Qessas Al Sho'oub" , of the cartoon show, Hekayat Alamiyah. In 1984, Mostafa Nasri died after suffering from internal bleeding caused by a car accident. Aged 15 she helped care for her siblings, Aman, Ayham, Reem and Anas with her mother Aziza AlBabelli.
Assala's commercial musical career debuted in 1991 with the Egyptian song hit Law Ta'rafou. The album had 4 Egyptian songs in the oriental operatic Classic Egyptian Tarab style. The album was an instant hit in Egypt back at that time with heartbreaking songs like "Ya Sabra Yana" and "Samehtak Ketir". She quickly cemented her presence in the Arabic world a growing industry brimming with singers like Angham, Najwa Karam, Latifa, and Abdelmajeed Abdullah.
In 2019, Nasri performed "Right Where I'm Supposed to Be" as the Official Song of the 2019 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates in collaboration with Ryan Tedder, Avril Lavigne, Luis Fonsi, Hussain Al Jassmi and Tamer Hosny.[3]
