MUSIC MASTI

Nelly

2010-09-04T00:29:00.000-07:00

Cornell Iral Haynes, Jr. (born November 2, 1974), better known by his stage name Nelly, is an American rapper, singer-songwriter, record producer, actor, CEO, and entrepreneur. He has performed with the rap group St. Lunatics since 1993 and signed to Universal Records in 1999. Under Universal, Nelly made his solo debut in 2000 with Country Grammar, the title track of which was a top ten hit.
With his following albums, Nellyville (2002) and the same-day dual release Sweat and Suit (2004) and compilation Sweatsuit (2006), Nelly continued to generate many chart-topping hits.[1][2] The rapper's fifth studio album, Brass Knuckles, was released released on September 16, 2008 after several delays.
He won Grammy Awards in 2003 and 2004[3] and starred in the 2005 remake film The Longest Yard with Adam Sandler and Chris Rock. He has two clothing lines, Vokal and Apple Bottoms. He has been referred to by Peter Shapiro as "one of the biggest stars of the new millennium",[4] and the RIAA ranks Nelly as one of the best-selling male artists in American music history,[5] with 21 million albums sold in the United States. On December 11th, 2009 Nelly was ranked as the 3rd Top Overall Artist of the 2000-2009 decade by Billboard Magazine.[6]
Contents
[hide]

* 1 Early life * 2 Musical career o 2.1 2000: Early career, St. Lunatics and Country Grammar
o 2.2 2002–03: Nellyville
o 2.3 2004–05: Sweat and Suit
o 2.4 2008: Brass Knuckles o 2.5 2009–present: 5.0
o 2.6 Rapping technique * 3 Other ventures
o 3.1 Endorsements and business ventures
o 3.2 Philanthropy
o 3.3 Film and television career
* 4 Discography
* 5 Awards and nominations * 6 References
* 7 External links

Early life
Born Cornell Haynes Jr. on November 2, 1974, in Austin, Texas, Nelly was the son of an Air Force officer and spent his first three years on a base in Spain before moving to St. Louis. There, his parents struggled with debt, which put pressure on their relationship and led them to divorce when he was seven. Having moved around, Nelly found it difficult to fit in at school but got around the problem by pouring his energy into sports, proving himself particularly good at baseball. He played with the Pittsburgh Pirates and for a time considered a major league career, but still more powerful was his love of music, and he became determined to be successful as a rap artist. While still in high school, Nelly formed the St. Lunatics, who enjoyed local popularity with their single “Gimme What Ya Got.” When a major record deal failed to appear, Nelly decided to go solo. St. Lunatics member City Spud was later jailed and Nelly wears trademark band-aids on each cheek as a sign of solidarity. Musical career 2000: Early career, St. Lunatics and Country Grammar
He was soon signed to Universal Music Group, which released his major label debut Country Grammar in 2000. The success of its title track as a single (#7 on the Hot 100 and #1 Hot Rap Tracks) led to the album debuting at number three in the Billboard 200 in the U.S. Other singles from the album included "E.I.", "Ride Wit Me", and "Batter Up".[1] The album was certified 9× platinum by the RIAA on April 27, 2004.[7]

Nelly joined rappers Ali, Murphy Lee, Kyjuan and City Spud to form the group St. Lunatics, the group became popular with its single "Gimme What You Got".[1] Free City, recorded with the St. Lunatics, followed in 2001 with the single "Midwest Swing". Nelly recorded "#1" for the soundtrack to the film Training Day that year.[1] Nelly appeared on the songs "Where the Party At" by Jagged Edge and "Girlfriend" by 'N Sync. Free City has sold more than a million units in the United States.

In 2009, the St. Lunatics were reportedly working on a new album City Free to be released in the summer of 2009 however the album has been pushed back indefinitely. The first track called "St. Lunatics", was already leaked in early March 2009,[8] other track leaked is "Get Low 2 Da Flo", produced by Play-N-Skillz.[9]. The first official single released from the album is "Money Talks" featuring rapper Birdman.[10]

2002–03: NellyvilleIn 2002, Nelly's second album Nellyville was released, debuting at #1 on Billboard's Top 200 Music Albums [11]; its lead single "Hot in Herre" was a number-one hit. Other singles included "Dilemma" featuring Kelly Rowland of Destiny's Child, "Work It" featuring Justin Timberlake, "Air Force Ones" featuring Murphy Lee and the St. Lunatics, "Pimp Juice", and "#1".[1] This album was highly successful and was certified 6x multi-platinum on June 27, 2003.[12]

In 2003 Nelly released Da Derrty Versions: The Reinvention. It featured the hit single "Iz U" from the soundtrack to Walt Disney's The Haunted Mansion. The music video for "Tip Drill" became a source of controversy due to perceptions of misogynistic depictions of women. The controversy forced Nelly to cancel an appearance at a bone marrow drive at Spelman College, a historically black college in Atlanta, Georgia.[13] Similar claims of misogyny also surrounded Nelly's single "Pimp Juice".[14]RIAA have certified the album Platinum.2004–05: Sweat and Suit
On September 14, 2004, Nelly released two albums, Sweat and Suit. Suit, an R&B-oriented album, debuted at number one on the Billboard albums chart, and Sweat, a rap-oriented album, debuted at number two. From Suit, the slow ballad "Over and Over", an unlikely duet with country music star Tim McGraw, became a crossover hit.[15] On the 2004 NBC television concert special Tim McGraw: Here and Now, McGraw and Nelly performed the song.[16] A feud with another St. Louis-based rapper, Chingy, came up near the end of the year.[17] Tsunami Aid: A Concert for Hope, a 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake benefit concert special produced by NBC, featured Nelly.[18] In the winter of 2005 came Sweatsuit, a compilation of tracks from Sweat and Suit with three new tracks. "Grillz", produced by Jermaine Dupri, was a number-one hit. To date both albums have sold over 5 million units in the United States.
2008: Brass Knuckles
Brass Knuckles was released on September 16, 2008, after several delays,[19] Initial release dates for the album targeted October 16[20] and November 13.[21] Its original lead single was "Wadsyaname", a ballad-oriented track produced by Ron "NEFF-U" Feemstar and sampling the piano riff from "All My Life" by K-Ci & JoJo.[20][21] Nelly later confirmed that "Wadsyaname" was never going to be on 'Brass Knuckles'. Nelly recorded Party People",[20] featuring Fergie and produced by Polow da Don, which turned out to be his first official single off the album."[19] Stepped On My J'z" was the next single, produced by Jermaine Dupri and featuring Dupri and Ciara; following that was "Body On Me", produced by Akon and featuring Akon and Ashanti. Nelly appeared on Rick Ross's third single "Here I Am" also featuring label mate Avery Storm.

2009–present: 5.0
In the summer of 2009, Nelly made a public announcement in Las Vegas about the yet-to-be-titled album.[22] In October 2009, Nelly did an interview with SOHH.com and said that the album was going to be released sometime in 2010.[23] In a interview with Semtex TV, Nelly told reporters that he planned to release the album under the name Nelly.[24] In April 2010, Nelly's cousin Michael Johnson was murdered in Missouri, Nelly said that he delayed releasing the album because of this.[25] Nelly said that guests that were going to be featured on the album were: Janet Jackson, Diddy, Akon, St. Lunatics and Usher.[26] In May 2010, Nelly confirmed that the title of the album was 5.0.[27] The album is scheduled to be released on November 16, 2010.[28]
Rapping technique
Nelly’s rapping style has been described by Peter Shapiro as using "unforgettable hooks based on schoolyard songs, double-dutch chants, and nonsense rhymes"[29] and has a "Missouri twang"[30]. Allmusic suggests Nelly's style is based largely on where he comes from - "Nelly's locale certainly informs his rapping style, which is as much country as urban, and his dialect as well, which is as much Southern drawl as Midwestern twang"[1]. Nelly explains his method of writing in the book How to Rap, describing how he freestyles most of the lyrics before going back over them to "make it a little tighter"[31], he generally writes in the studio rather than at home[32], he normally comes up with a chorus for a song before writing the verses[33], and he likes to write to the music he will be rapping over[34]. Allmusic also notes his "tongue-twisting" hooks, which are also often sung rather than rapped[35]. Other ventures

Endorsements and business ventures
Nike and Nelly agreed on a one-year deal in 2003 to release a limited-edition sneaker called the "Air Derrty" which was a retro remake of Charles Barkley's signature sneaker.[36] Nelly later signed a shoe deal with Reebok.[37]

Nelly has done ads for Got Milk and the Ford Motor Company. His energy drink Pimp Juice sold one million cans during the first two months after its introduction in August 2003, and was criticized for its name by black consumer activists.[38] Nelly owns Apple Bottoms, a female clothing line, and Vokal, which caters to men. He was one of the owners of the Charlotte Bobcats, along with Robert L. Johnson and Michael Jordan until Jordan became the new owner in March of 2010.[39]

Nelly played in the Main Event at the 2007 World Series of Poker.[40]

In August, 2010, Nelly started a temporary stint as the afternoon host on WHHL HOT 104.1 in St. Louis. He is taking the place of regular PM drive personality, Stacy Static, who is on pregnancy leave. According STLtoday, the initial ratings for the show are very high. This gig garnered national attention in the Huffington Post and other websites.

Philanthropy
Nelly runs the non-profit organization "4Sho4Kids Foundation." The "Jes Us 4 Jackie" campaign began in March 2003 by Nelly and his sister Jackie Donahue after Donahue was diagnosed with leukemia. The campaign attempts to educate African-Americans and other minorities about the need for bone marrow transplants, and to register more donors. Donahue lost her battle with leukemia on March 24, 2005, almost two years after the campaign began.[41]

Film and television career
Nelly starred in Snipes (2001),[42] and the 2005 remake of The Longest Yard starring Adam Sandler and Chris Rock.[43] The soundtrack of the latter includes Nelly's song "Fly Away". In a June 2008 interview with Kiwibox.com, Nelly revealed that he is reluctant to continue his acting career, noting that he does not want to "take away from the culture of acting."[44] In 2008 and 2009, Nelly appeared in episodes of the CBS crime drama CSI: NY.[45]
Discography
Studio albums

* Country Grammar (2000)
* Nellyville (2002)
* Sweat (2004) * Suit (2004)
* Brass Knuckles (2008)
* Nelly 5.0 (2010)

Nelly - Interview on Jimmy Kimmel Show

Nelly Interview

TOP 10 HIP- HOP songs with a lot of bass pArT -1

Top 10 Nelly Songs

Usher

2010-08-31T22:50:00.000-07:00

Usher Raymond IV (born October 14, 1978; pronounced /ˈʌʃ.ər/), who performs under the mononym Usher, is an American recording artist and actor. He rose to fame in the 1990s and after releasing his albums My Way (1997) and 8701 (2001). My Way has been certified 6 times platinum by the RIAA.[1] It spawned his first Billboard Hot 100 number-one hit, Nice and Slow. As well as two other highly successful singles "My Way" and "You Make Me Wanna", both of which peaked at number-two on the Billboard Hot 100. 8701 has been certified 4 times platinum by the RIAA.[1] It spawned the Billboard Hot 100 number-one hits "U Remind Me" and "U Got It Bad". The albums fourth single, "U Don't Have to Call" peaked at number-three on the Billboard Hot 100. Both albums My Way and 8701 sold over 8 million copies worldwide.[2]
His success continued with Confessions (2004), which has sold over ten million copies in the United States, and been certified diamond by the RIAA. Confessions has the highest first week sales for an R&B artist in history,[3] has sold over 20 million copies worldwide, and was named the best selling R&B album of the 2000s decade.[4] It spawned a record breaking four Billboard Hot 100 number-one hits, "Yeah!", "Burn", "Confessions Part II", and "My Boo". The albums last and fifth single Caught Up peaked at number-eight on the Billboard Hot 100. In total Usher spent 28 weeks on top in a calendar year, becoming the first act to have achieved such an extended chart run on the Billboard Hot 100,[5] and with four consecutive number-one hits, he broke the record set by pop band The Beatles, who had three consecutive number-one singles in 1964.[6] His 2008 album Here I Stand has been certified platinum by the RIAA,[7] and sold over 5 million copies worldwide.[8] The albums lead single "Love In This Club" peaked at number-one on the Billboard Hot 100. It also spawned the single "Love in This Club, Part II", which peaked at number-eighteen on the Billboard Hot 100.
To date, Usher has sold over 45 million albums worldwide.[9] He has won numerous awards and accolades for his musical work. Including 5 Grammy Awards,[10] 4 World Music Awards, 4 American Music Awards, 8 Soul Train Music Awards, and 19 Billboard Music Awards.[11] In 2008, Usher was ranked as the 21st most successful Hot 100 Singles Artist of all-time by Billboard magazine.[12] The RIAA ranks Usher as one of the best-selling artists in American music history, having sold 23 million copies in the United States alone.[13] Billboard Magazine ranked Usher the #1 Hot 100 artist of the 2000s decade.[14] They also named him the most successful singer and second most successful artist of the 2000s decade.[15] His 2004 album Confessions was ranked as the top solo album and second most successful overall album of the last decade.[16] Aside from his musical career, Usher is very well known for his sex appeal and good looks. In 1998 People Magazine named him the sexiest R&B artist alive.[17] In 2010, Glamour Magazine named him one of the 50 sexiest men alive.[18]
On March 30, 2010, Usher released his sixth studio album Raymond v. Raymond, which became his third consecutive album to debut at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart.[19] It has been certified platinum by the RIAA[1] and spawned another Billboard Hot 100 number-one hit "OMG". The song became his ninth number one in the United States, making him the first 2010s artist to collect number one singles in three consecutive decades, and only the fourth artist of all-time to achieve the feat. Usher also became the third artist to have at least one number one song from five consecutive studio albums. He has also achieved sixteen Top 10 singles on the Billboard Hot 100.[20] Usher announced he would release an extended play and deluxe edition of "Raymond v. Raymond", entitled Versus. It's lead single "DJ Got Us Fallin' In Love" has peaked at number-five on the Billboard Hot 100, and became the sixteenth Billboard Hot 100 top-ten hit of his career.[21] In the UK he has achieved 11 Top 10 singles on the UK Singles Chart, as a lead artist.[22] Usher is also the first artist to have a number-one single on the UK Singles Chart and the Billboard Hot 100 during the 1990s, 2000s, and the 2010s.Contents
[hide]

* 1 Early life * 2 Career
o 2.1 1992–96: Early works and debut
o 2.2 1997–2003: Rising popularity
o 2.3 2004–07: Confessions era o 2.4 2008–09: Here I Stand
o 2.5 2010–present: Raymond v. Raymond and Versus
* 3 Other ventures * 4 Personal life
* 5 Philanthropy
* 6 Discography
* 7 Filmography * 8 See also * 9 References
* 10 External links

Early life
Usher was born in Dallas, Texas,[23][24] the son of Jonetta Patton (née O'Neal) and Usher Raymond III.[23] Usher spent the majority of his young life in Chattanooga: his father left the family when Usher was one year old, and they relocated to Chattanooga, where Usher lived with his mother, then-step father, and half-brother, James Lackey, born in 1984.[23] Directed by his mother, Usher joined the local church youth choir in Chattanooga when he was nine years old; there, his grandmother discovered his ability to sing, although it was not until Usher joined a singing group that she considered he could sing professionally.[25] In the belief that a bigger city would provide greater opportunities for showcasing his talent, Usher's family moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where there was a more conducive environment for beginning singers.[26] While in Atlanta, Usher attended North Springs High School.[27] Usher's father died of a heart attack on January 21, 2008.

Career
1992–96: Early works and debut
At age 11, Usher joined an R&B local quintet called the NuBeginnings, which was organized by local music svengali, Darryl Wheeler. Usher recorded 10 songs with the group in 1991, and the ensuing album, Nubeginning Featuring Usher Raymond IV, was only made available regionally and by mail order.[29] However, Patton took him out because, according to her, it was a "bad experience".[25] The album was re-released nationally in April 2002 by Hip-O Records.[29][30]

At age 13, Usher competed on Star Search, where he was spotted by an A&R representative from LaFace Records, who arranged an audition for Usher to L.A. Reid, the co-founder of LaFace; Reid signed Usher a contract with the record company.[24][31] Usher's mother left her job as a medical technician to manage his career, but later broke-up their relationship as manager-client in May 2007.[23] Usher was introduced on "Call Me a Mack", a song he recorded for the soundtrack album to the 1993 drama-romance film Poetic Justice.[29]
On August 30, 1994, LaFace released Usher's self-titled debut album. Sean "P Diddy" Combs produced several of the tracks and co-executive produced the album.[24] Usher peaked at number twenty-five on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and was accompanied by three singles: "Can U Get Wit It", "Think Of You", and "The Many Ways".[32] The album has sold over 500,000 copies, to date.[33]

After graduating from high school, Usher continued to develop his skills as a stage performer and laid the groundwork for his second album. He also appeared on their version of "Let's Straighten It Out", a 1995 duet with fellow Atlanta teen recording artist Monica;[34] and on "Dreamin'", from LaFace's 1996 Olympic Games benefit album Rhythm of the Games. He was also featured on "I Swear I'm In Love" off the 1996 Kazaam soundtrack.[35]

1997–2003: Rising popularity
Usher developed a friendship with American record producer, Jermaine Dupri, with whom he co-wrote and produced several tracks for his second album, My Way, released on September 16, 1997. The album's lead single, "You Make Me Wanna", reached number one in the United Kingdom, becoming Usher's first record to be top single; the record led to his popularity reaching in the country.[36][37] It also became Usher's first gold- and platinum-certified single in the United States.[38] The album's second single, "Nice & Slow", peaked in January 1998 at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, giving Usher his first US number-one single.[39] Later in February of the same year, the single was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America; My Way has been certified six-time platinum in the United States.[38]

Usher received his first Grammy Award nomination as Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for "You Make Me Wanna",[26] which also won him for Best Male R&B/Soul Single at the Soul Train Music Award.[40] In the closing months of 1997, Usher embarked on a series of tour engagements including a spot on Puffy's No Way Out tour, dates with Mary J. Blige, and the opening spot on Janet Jackson's The Velvet Rope tour. Usher's first concert album, Live, was released in 1999, which featured appearances by Lil' Kim, Jagged Edge, Trey Lorenz, Shanice, Twista and Manuel Seal; the album has been certified gold in the United States.[38]

Usher made his acting debut on the UPN television series Moesha, which resulted in a recurring role on the series and subsequently his first film role in 1998's The Faculty.[26][33] Usher's extracurricular activities outside of the recording industry gathered momentum over the following year as he was cast in the soap opera, The Bold and the Beautiful.[26][33] He completed two more films, She's All That, and his first starring role in Light It Up.[26][33] He also appeared in the Disney TV movie "Geppetto".[41]

Usher's third studio album, originally titled All About U, was slated to be released in early 2001.[42] The first single, "Pop Ya Collar", was released in late 2000 and became a number two hit in the UK but underperformed in the United States.[43] The album was subsequently pushed back and retooled after select tracks were later leaked to the radio and Internet. After having revised and renamed to 8701, the album was released August 7, 2001 (8.7.01).[26] The first two singles "U Remind Me" and "U Got It Bad" each topped the Billboard Hot 100 for four and six weeks, respectively. 8701 has been certified four-time platinum in the United States.[38]

Usher appeared in the 2001 film Texas Rangers.[44] In February 2002, Usher won a Grammy for 'Best Male R&B Vocal Performance' for "U Remind Me".[45] The next year, he won the same award for "U Don't Have to Call",[26] making Usher the only artist aside from Luther Vandross and Stevie Wonder to win this award consecutively. In summer 2002, Usher contributed vocals to P. Diddy's "I Need a Girl, Part I". The year closed out with a trio of TV series appearances, all in November, on The Twilight Zone, 7th Heaven, Moesha, and American Dreams, the latter in which Usher portrayed Marvin Gaye.[46][47]
2004–07: Confessions era
Usher's fourth studio album, Confessions, was released on March 23, 2004—just as its first single, "Yeah!", was in its sixth week at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and fifth week on top of the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles Chart.[48] The album's nearly 1.1 million unit debut sales was the highest first-week numbers ever scanned by a male R&B artist and the seventh best of the Nielsen SoundScan history.[49][50] To date, the album has accumulated sales of over 20 million copies worldwide,[45] over 10 million of which were sold in the United States, earning the album a Diamond certification by the Recording Industry Association of America.[51][52]

Usher's second single, "Burn" succeeded "Yeah!" at the #1 position on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. "Yeah!" had logged twelve weeks at the top, followed by seven consecutive weeks for "Burn" giving Usher nineteen consecutive weeks with a song in the top position. "Burn" yielded the top spot for one week to Fantasia's single "I Believe", and then rose to #1 for an eighth week before Usher's third single "Confessions Part II" hit #1 for two consecutive weeks. Usher's 19 consecutive week-run set a record broken by the Black Eyed Peas in 2009. Usher tied Glenn Miller who also spent 22 of 23 weeks in the #1 position in 2004–05. In April 2010 it re-entered the Billboard 200 chart at #195 then jumped to #114 the following week. Bringing Confessions to a total of 95 weeks spent on the Billboard 200 chart.[53]

The album's second and third singles, "Burn" and "Confessions Part II", also topped the Billboard Hot 100, the former for eight weeks. Usher became the first artist to top the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay with four consecutive number-one singles,[54] In September 2004, "My Boo", a duet with American singer-songwriter Alicia Keys, also peaked at number one at the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the album's fourth number-one single.[55] In December, the album's final single "Caught Up" peaked at number eight on the Hot 100.[43]
Confessions earned Usher numerous awards, including four American Music Awards, two MTV Europe Music Awards, two MTV Video Music Awards, and three World Music Awards.[56][57][58][59] At the 47th annual Grammy Awards ceremony in 2005, Usher won three awards, including: R&B Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals for "My Boo", which he shared with Keys; Rap/Sung Collaboration for "Yeah!"; and Contemporary R&B Album for Confessions. At the 2004 Billboard Music Awards, Usher was recognized Artist of the Year, in addition to receiving 10 other accolades.[60]
In spring of 2005, Usher scored a number three Hot 100 hit as a featured vocalist on Lil' Jon's "Lovers & Friends".[61] In 2007, Usher also collaborated with R. Kelly on the track "Same Girl", for Kelly's album, Double Up.[62] He was also featured in a remix version of Omarion's "Ice Box".[63] Usher also appeared on the track "Shake Down" on American singer-songwriter Mary J. Blige's 2007 album Growing Pains.[64]
In November 2005, Usher starred as a disc jockey named Darrell in the Lions Gate film, In the Mix.[65] On August 22, 2006, Usher took over the role of Billy Flynn in the long-running Broadway musical Chicago.[66]

2008–09: Here I Stand
Here I Stand was released on May 26 in the United Kingdom and May 27, 2008 in the United States. The album debuted at #1`on the Billboard 200 Chart with first-week sales of over 433,000 copies.[67] It has been certified platinum by the RIAA. To date Here I Stand has now sold over 1.5 million copies in the United States,[68] been certified platinum by the RIAA,[69] and has sold over 5 million copies worldwide.[70] The album was a good commercial success and received positive reviews from most music critics. Who praised the maturity in the album's lyrics. To promote Usher's fifth studio album, the single "Love In This Club" was sent to radio in February 2008 and peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. It went on to spend three consecutive weeks at the top—becoming Usher's eighth number-one single and the fastest-rising song of his career.[67][71] It also reached #1 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The single was another huge international success for Usher. It reached #1 on the New Zealand Singles Chart, #3 on the Irish Singles Chart, #3 on the Eurochart Hot 100, #4 on the UK Singles Chart, #5 on the Japan Hot 100, #5 on the German Singles Chart, #5 on the Belgian Singles Chart (Flanders), #6 on the Canadian Hot 100, #8 on the Swedish Singles Chart, #8 on the Australian Singles Chart, #9 on the French Singles Chart, #9 on the Swiss Singles Chart, #10 on the Norwegian Singles Chart, #12 on the Austrian Singles Chart, #13 on the Belgian Singles Chart (Wallonia), and #18 on the Finnish Singles Chart. The follow-up single "Love in This Club, Part II", which features American singer Beyoncé Knowles and rapper, Lil Wayne, peaked at #18 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #7 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Its third single "Moving Mountains" peaked at #18 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and reached #6 on the New Zealand Singles Chart. The albums fourth single Trading Places" peaked at #4 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.[39] In September 2008, Usher announced he would embark on the 15-date tour One Night Stand, in which the audience is only females.[72]

On January 18, 2009, Usher performed with Stevie Wonder and Shakira at the We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial. He also sang "Gone Too Soon" at the memorial of Michael Jackson on July 7, 2009.[73]
2010–present: Raymond v. Raymond and Versus
Raymond v. Raymond, was released on March 26, 2010 in Germany, on March 30, 2010 in the US, and was released April 26, 2010 in the UK.[74] The album was expected to follow in Usher's Confessions album's footsteps. Raymond v. Raymond was released only months after Usher's divorce from Tameka Foster.[75] "Papers" was released as the first promotional single for the album in October 2009 on iTunes. Despite being only a promotional release, it topped the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart for two consecutive weeks, becoming his tenth number one single on that chart. It also peaked at number 31 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. The song itself appears to be loosely based on his failed relationship with his ex wife Tameka.[76] Critics praised the song for its emotion. *"Hey Daddy (Daddy's Home)", was released as the first official US single on December 8, 2009. The single peaked at number 24[77] on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and number 2[78] on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The song was released as the second international single in July, 2010. *"Lil Freak", which was firstly released only as a promo single prior to the album's release, had been later announced as the album's official second single in the United States. Usher and Nicki Minaj shot the music video for the song on March 9, 2010 in Los Angeles with director TAJ.[79] It reached number 8 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart[80] and number 40 on the Billboard Hot 100.[81] It became Usher's fourth Top 40 hit single from Raymond v. Raymond, when including the buzz single "Papers". *"OMG", which features will.i.am, is the third official US single and the first international single. The song received mixed reviews, complimenting the song's dance and club vibe but criticizing the Auto-Tune effect. It reached number-one in Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States. The song became his ninth number one in the United States, making him the first 2010s artist to collect number one singles in three consecutive decades, and only the fourth artist of all-time to achieve the feat. Usher also became the third artist to have at least one number one song from five consecutive studio albums. The song's choreography and dance-heavy accompanying music video has been compared to that of "Yeah!". *"There Goes My Baby", which was released as the second promotional single prior to the album's release, was released to airplay as the album's fourth single in the United States on June 15, 2010.[82] The song reached number 25 on the Billboard Hot 100, and number-one on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, becoming Usher's eleventh number-one hit on that chart. All of the albums singles received incredible air play. On April 7, 2010 Raymond v. Raymond debuted at number #1 on the on the US Billboard 200 chart, becoming his third consecutive #1 album and selling an impressive 329,107 copies in its first week of release.[19] Making him the first male artist since Eminem to have three consecutive albums debut at number one on the Billboard 200 chart.[83] After one month of release the album was certified Gold by the RIAA.[84] On June 17, 2010 the album was certified Platinum by the RIAA.[85] Raymond v. Raymond also dominated the International Charts. Debuting inside the top 10 in Canada, the United Kingdom, Holland, Australia, Germany, Spain, and Italy.[86] Due to the huge international success of Ushers newest single "OMG" and the good first week sales for Raymond v. Raymond Usher is considered to have repaired his mainstream image and to have made a good comeback.[87] The album reached number-two in Australia and the album has been certified gold by the Australian Record Industry Association (ARIA).[88] The album debuted at number four in Canada[89] and has been certified Gold by the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA).[90] Raymond v. Raymond debuted at number-two in the United Kingdom.[91]
Usher announced on July 8, 2010,[92] a follow-up extended play to his sixth studio album Raymond v. Raymond called Versus, and a deluxe edition of Raymond v. Raymond, both to be released on August 24, 2010.[93] Usher described Versus as "the last chapter of Raymond v. Raymond", and that it would explore the subjects of being newly single and a father.[92] The album will include 9 tracks, including 7 new tracks, Raymond v. Raymond single "There Goes My Baby", and Justin Bieber single "Somebody to Love (Remix)". The tracks would be included on a deluxe edition of Raymond v. Raymond. The album would be preceded by the singles "DJ Got Us Fallin' In Love" featuring Pitbull, for mainstream audiences, and "Hot Tottie" featuring Jay-Z, for urban circuits. The first single off the album, "DJ Got Us Fallin' In Love", was released to iTunes on July 13, 2010 and sent to radio on July 20, 2010. Due to strong digital sales the song debuted at number nineteen on the Billboard Hot 100.[94] The song became the fourth highest debut on the Billboard Hot 100 of his career, behind 1997's "Nice & Slow" at number nine, 1998's "My Way" at eight, and 2010's "OMG" at number fourteen. Since its release, it has gained international success, peaking in the top 5 in the United States, Australia, and New Zealand. It reached the top 10 in Canada, and Europe. It reached number-nine on the Billboard Hot 100 in its third week of release, and became the first time Usher has had two top-ten hits on the Billboard Hot 100 at the same time since his album Confessions.[95] It also became Ushers sixteenth Billboard Hot 100 top-ten hit of his career.

Other ventures
Aside from recording, Usher ventured into other business. He had established his own record label, US Records, and is a part owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers franchise. Usher was also instrumental in starting and continuing the career of teen singer Justin Bieber. He has also been appearing in films, debuting in the 1998 film The Faculty. While also starring in Light It Up and In the Mix. Usher founded his record label US Records, a vanity label, in 2002. The label is a subsidiary of Clive Davis's J Records, which is distributed by Sony BMG. The first album released by US was the soundtrack to In the Mix in late 2005, which was used to introduce the label's acts, such as rapper Rico Love, Canadian teen R&B artist Justin Bieber, R&B vocal group One Chance, and singer Rayan. Usher served as songwriter-producer in the project.[96][97]

Usher, whose group bought with a reported total purchase price of $375 million, is a part owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers franchise. He became the third pop artist to own a large stake in an NBA team.[98] In addition to this, Usher has opened several restaurants.[99]

Usher server as the contestant mentor for the Top 10 Week of Season 9 of American Idol. He has recently appeared on the ITV1 show Britain's Got Talent on 5 June 2010.
Personal life

In 2001, Usher began dating former TLC member Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas, who had a child with producer Dallas Austin. Their relationship lasted for two years: they broke up in December 2003, followed by a media frenzy surrounding the personal nature of Usher's fourth album, Confessions. His fans inferred the reason he and Thomas split is due to infidelity on his part, giving allusions to the lyrics of the songs.[25] In an interview on The Bert Show on Atlanta's Q100 in February 2004, Thomas claimed that Usher cheated on her: "Usher did the ultimate no-no to me ... I will never be with him again, and that is that".[100] Usher defended: "... it just didn't work out. But cheating is not what caused the relationship to collide and crash. That ain't what broke it up".[25] Following their break-up, Usher briefly dated English model-actress Naomi Campbell in September 2004.[23]

In January 2007, he proposed to his then stylist girlfriend Tameka Foster. She has a son from when she was a teenager, as well as two sons with Atlanta clothier Ryan Glover. In February 2007, Usher announced their engagement. After the sudden cancellation of a planned July wedding due to medical concerns, the two were wed on August 3, 2007 in a private ceremony.[101] Their son Usher Raymond V was born on November 26 of the same year.[102] On December 10, 2008, Tameka gave birth to their second child, Naviyd Ely Raymond.[103] In February 2009, in São Paulo, Brazil, Tameka Raymond suffered a cardiac arrest prior to having cosmetic surgery. The procedure, reportedly liposuction[104] was never performed, and Raymond was put into a medically induced coma to aid her recovery. She was later transferred to a larger hospital.[105] Usher canceled his performance at the Recording Academy and Clive Davis's pre-Grammy Gala. Davis told party-goers the singer had to bow out due to a "serious injury in the family ".[106] After a week of recovery, Raymond's surgeon issued a statement saying that she "is doing very well".[107][108] In June 2009, Usher filed for divorce from Foster after claiming they lived separately for nearly a year.[109][110] However Tameka's family and friends claim the two were never separated and he was living in their Atlanta home until March 2009.[111] The two were seen together holding hands in January 2009 during President Obama's Inauguration in Washington, DC.[112] Insiders speculated that when images of him alongside Def Jam Music employee Grace Miguel began to surface in Los Angeles, the singer promptly filed for divorce.

Philanthropy
Usher had founded New Look, a non-profit charity organization which aims to "provide young people with a new look on life through education and real-world experience". Its flagship project, camp New Look, ran from July 11 to July 23, 2005 in Clark Atlanta University.[114] In 2006, the charity started an initiative called Our Block, for which it helped rebuild and revitalize city blocks in New Orleans. The project went on one street at a time, and the funding was helped through part of the proceeds of Usher's team-up with Armani Exchange in creating "Love 4 Life" dog tags, which were made available at the company's stores and Web site.[115]

In 1999, Usher participated in "Challenge for the Children", a benefit basketball game hosted by American boy band 'N Sync. The event, which was held on the campus of Georgia State University, had raised an estimated $50,000 for several local charities.[116] In 2005, Usher is one among the artists who signed on for a Hurricane Katrina relief concert.[117] He has also performed a public service announcement to promote Do Something's campaign for civic engagement.[118]

Discography
Main article: Usher discography

* Usher (1994)
* My Way (1997)
* 8701 (2001)
* Confessions (2004)
* Here I Stand (2008)
* Raymond v. Raymond (2010)
* Versus (2010)

Filmography
* Moesha as Jeremy (1997–1998)
* The Bold And The Beautiful as Raymond (1998)
* The Faculty (1998)
* She's All That (1999)
* Light It Up (1999)
* Texas Rangers (2001)
* In the Mix (2005)....Darrell
* Killers (2010)....Kevin

MTV News Extended Play - Usher

Usher - Hey Daddy [FULL SONG PROMOTE] [HQ]

Taio Cruz

2010-08-31T22:35:00.000-07:00

Taio Cruz (pronounced /ˌtaɪ.oʊ ˈkruːz/ TYE-oh KREWZ[2]; born 23 April 1982) is a British singer, songwriter and music producer.[1][3]
In 2008 he released his debut album Departure. Written, arranged and produced by himself, it achieved initial success in the UK and earned him a MOBO Award nomination. In October 2009, he released his follow up album Rokstarr in the UK. It included his UK and US No. 1 single "Break Your Heart" (his US debut single).Contents
[hide]
* 1 Music career
o 1.1 Early life and career beginnings
o 1.2 Departure (2006-2008) o 1.3 Rokstarr (2009–present)
o 1.4 Writing and producing * 2 Other ventures
o 2.1 Rokstarr brand
* 3 Discography
* 4 References * 5 External links

Music careerEarly life and career beginnings
Cruz was born in London, England, to a Nigerian father and a Brazilian mother.[3] His song writing career began at age of 18 as part of Tricky Stewart's writing collective, RedZone Entertainment.[4] He achieved notability at the age of 21 when he was awarded a BRIT Award for co-writing Will Young's 2004 single, "Your Game".[1][4] He is the founder and C.E.O. of Rokstarr Music London, which in 2006 released his debut single "I Just Wanna Know". Also in 2006, he signed a joint-venture partnership deal with Universal Music Group Companies, the US branch of Mercury Records and the UK branch of Island Records.
Departure (2006-2008)Cruz released his second single "Moving On" in September 2007 which made the top 30 in the UK. In March 2008 his next single, "Come On Girl," featuring Luciana, peaked at No. 5 on the UK charts. The related album Departure appeared on 17 March and peaked at No. 17.[6][7] This was followed by the single "I Can Be," which reached No. 18 in May. On 18 August, "She's Like a Star" was released, which was a remix of the previous single and featured American rapper Busta Rhymes and girl-group Sugababes. The remix later appeared on the Sugababes studio album Catfights & Spotlights, which peaked at No. 20. It was later revealed that Cruz narrowly missed out on the chance to record the song "Umbrella" which was eventually recorded by Rihanna and ended up topping charts around the world.
Rokstarr (2009–present)
Cruz was featured on Tinchy Stryder's breakout single "Take Me Back" which peaked at No. 3 in the UK Singles Chart. According to Cruz's official MySpace blog, as of 1 January 2009, Rokstarr Music London officially changed its name to Rokstarr Entertainment Division and abbreviated to R.E.D Inc. Cruz also modified his US deal by leaving Republic Records, instead opting for a signing with Island Def Jam Music Group's Mercury Records.

During 2009 he worked on his follow up album originally titled T.W.O. (This Way Out) but later changed to Rokstarr.[8] It was released on 12 October through R.E.D Inc/Island Records and is entirely written and produced by Cruz, with co-writes and co-productions predominantly with UK producer Fraser T Smith. The album's lead single "Break Your Heart" was released on 14 September and reached number one in the UK, where it stayed for three weeks.[6] The single spent six weeks in the top-ten. It also reached the top spot in the US for one week on the Billboard charts.[9] In an interview for The Guardian it was stated that "Cruz was clever to have hooked up with a US rapper [ Ludacris ] on his breakthrough hit".[10] The album spawned to other non-American singles, "No Other One" which failed to reach the success of its predecessor and the UK top-ten hit "Dirty Picture" featuring American electropop singer Kesha. Cruz originally intended for Lady Gaga to feature on the song.[11] The album's fourth single (second in the US) is titled "Dynamite" and debuted at number four on the US charts.[9]

In July 2010 Cruz played at the 'Midlands Festival'[12] and then in September 2010 Cruz will perform at the 'Orange Rock Corps' in London.[13] This is due to be followed by a compilation album, The Rockstarr Collection which will include songs from Cruz's debut album and both the US and international versions of Rokstarr.
Writing and producing
Cruz has worked on Tinchy Stryder's album. He wrote a song on Cheryl Cole's album 3 Words. He has also contributed to JLS's self-titled album[15] as well as featuring on The Jersey Shore soundtrack.[16][17] He also writes and produces all his own work including his hit No. 1, "Break Your Heart". He has written one of the songs on the upcoming debut album of new British boyband, The Wanted.[18] British girlgroup The Saturdays have also been working with Cruz on several songs for their third studio album[19] as have McFly who recorded the song "Shine a Light" that was penned by Cruz for their upcoming fifth album.[20] He is also writing Justin Bieber's new album. This album is due for a 2011 release date. Other ventures
Rokstarr brand
On 1 September 2009, Cruz launched the brand Rokstarr, the fashion and accessories brand has a focus on sunglasses. Musicians such as Kanye West, Shontelle, Keri Hilson and Kelly Rowland have been seen wearing a pair. Speaking in October to R&B writer Pete Lewis, Cruz stated: "There's a load of US celebrities that are all rocking the sunglasses already – Kid Cudi, Justin Timberlake, Kanye West... Then in the UK we have The Saturdays, JLS, Daniel Merriweather – who've all been twittering and writing on their blogs how much they love them. So yeah, it's definitely my new album 'Rokstarr' and the fashion brand that are my two main focuses at the moment."[21]

Meanwhile, speaking again to Lewis, in April 2010 Cruz revealed: "We're currently looking to expand the brand and possibly go into things like watches. I've also got a new subsidiary of Rokstarr called 'Rok By Rokstarr'. And we've just started doing things like jeans and T-shirts, and stuff that more of the fans of Taio Cruz can buy. Because with Rokstarr in itself being so expensive, a lot of the kids out there who want to buy Rokstarr things can't. So we're bringing in stuff that's a little bit more High Street and more affordable.
Discography
Main article: Taio Cruz discography

Studio albums

* Departure (2008)
* Rokstarr (2009

Taio Cruz - I'll Never Love Again HQ

Ne-Yo Interview On New Album Libra Scale

KIIS FM's 2010 Wango Tango Concert

Bruno Mars

2010-08-31T22:15:00.000-07:00

Peter Hernandez Jr. (born October 8, 1986[citation needed]), better known by his stage name Bruno Mars, is an American singer-songwriter and music producer.[2] He is well known for lending his vocals and co-writing the hooks for the songs "Nothin' on You"[3] by B.o.B, and "Billionaire"[4] by Travis McCoy. He also co-wrote the international hits "Right Round" by Flo Rida and "Wavin' Flag" by K'naan.
Contents[hide]
* 1 Life and career
* 2 Discography
o 2.1 Studio albums
o 2.2 Extended plays o 2.3 Singles
o 2.4 Featured singles o 2.5 Music videos
* 3 References
* 4 External links
Life and careerPeter Hernandez Jr. was born and raised in Hawaii by parents Peter Hernandez and Bernadette "Bernie"[5] of Puerto Rican and Filipino descent.[6] Hernandez was one of 6 children, (brother Eric and sisters Jaime "Kailani", Tiara, Tahiti and Presley). He came from a musical family giving him a diverse mix of reggae, rock, hip hop, and R&B.[7] From a young age, he was impersonating and performing songs by influential artists such as Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley. In 1990 Hernandez was featured in MidWeek magazine as "Little Elvis". He played Little Elvis in the movie Honeymoon in Vegas in 1992. He attended President Theodore Roosevelt High School, graduating in 2003 at age 17, and shortly after moved to Los Angeles to pursue a musical career. His first musical appearance as a singer was in Far*East Movement's second studio album Animal, featured on the track "3D", produced by The Stereotypes.
Before becoming a successful solo artist, he was an acknowledged music producer,[8] penning songs for the likes of Flo Rida, Alexandra Burke, Travis McCoy, Adam Levine, Brandy, Sean Kingston and he also co-wrote the Sugababes' hit song "Get Sexy" and provided backing vocals on their album Sweet 7. He reached prominence as a solo artist after not only writing, but featuring on "Nothin' on You" by B.o.B and Travie McCoy's "Billionaire". He said of them, "I think those songs weren't meant to be full-sung songs. If I'd sung all of "Nothin' on You", it might've sounded like some '90s R&B."[9] It was soon announced after this success that Mars would be releasing his debut EP, titled It's Better If You Don't Understand[10] on May 11, 2010.[11] Although Mars has been referenced as "soft" because of his light, angelic, falsetto voice, his friend says "What people don't know is there's a darker underbelly to Bruno Mars,". Mars himself says " I blame that on me singing to girls back in high school..." [12]
Mars' debut album, Doo-Wops & Hooligans, will be released on October 5, 2010.[13][14] The lead single, "Just the Way You Are", was released on July 19, 2010,[15] and has so far peaked at number nine on the Billboard Hot 100.[16] Other confirmed tracks on the record include "Marry You" and "Grenades".[17] The album cover was officially released on August 30, 2010.[18] He will open for Maroon 5 on the fall leg of the Hands All Over Tour starting October 6, 2010. Mars will also co-headline with Travie McCoy an a European tour starting October 18, 2010.[14]
Discography

Studio albums

Year Album details
2010 Doo-Wops & Hooligans

* To be released: October 5, 2010
* Label: Elektra

Extended plays

Year Album details Peak positions
US
[19]
2010 It's Better If You Don't Understand

* Release date: May 11, 2010
* Label: Elektra

99
Singles

Year Single Peak chart positions Album
US
[20] US Pop
[21] AUS
[22] CAN
[23] NZ
[24]
2010 "The Other Side" (featuring Cee-Lo Green & B.o.B) — — — — — It's Better If You Don't Understand
"Just the Way You Are" 9 15 43 19 5 Doo-Wops & Hooligans
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released.

Music videos

Year Video Director(s)
2010 "Nothin' on You" (B.o.B featuring Bruno Mars) Ethan Lader[34]
"Billionaire" (Travie McCoy featuring Bruno Mars) Mark Staubach[35]
"The Other Side" (featuring Cee-Lo Green & B.o.B) Nick Bilardello and Cameron Duddy[36]
"Just the Way You Are" Ethan Lader[14]

Spotlight Interview: B.o.B aka Bobby Ray

B.o.B. - Airplanes + EXCLUSIVE BACKSTAGE INTERVIEW!

Ne-Yo Interview On New Album Libra Scale

Shyne Interview He Did with 50 Cent (The Real Version)

PinBoardBlog.com Exclusive: The B.o.B. Interview

Katy Perry

2010-08-29T22:36:00.000-07:00

Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson (born October 25, 1984), better known by her stage name Katy Perry, is an American singer-songwriter and musician. Perry was born in Santa Barbara, California, and raised by Christian pastor parents; she grew up listening to only gospel music and sang in church as a child. After earning a GED during her freshman year of high school, she began to pursue a music career. She released a self-titled gospel album in 2001 as Katy Hudson which failed with the closing of its record label that year. She recorded an album with production team The Matrix and completed most of a solo album from 2004–2005, neither of which were released.
After signing on with Capitol Music Group in 2007, her fourth record label in seven years, she adopted the stage name Katy Perry and released her first Internet single, "Ur So Gay", that November, which garnered attention but did not chart. She rose to fame with her second single "I Kissed a Girl" in 2008, which topped international charts. Perry's first mainstream album, One of the Boys, followed later that year and was eventually announced to be the thirty-third best selling album of 2008 worldwide.[1] It was accredited platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America; "I Kissed a Girl" and her second single "Hot n Cold" both received multi-platinum certifications. Perry was ranked the 97th Artist of the 2000–10 decade by Billboard.[2] She became known for wearing unconventional style of dress, often combining bold colors and vintage fashion. Her next album, Teenage Dream, was released on August 24, 2010 in the United States.
Perry had a long relationship with Travis McCoy; she is currently engaged to Russell Brand.
Contents[hide]

* 1 Early life
* 2 Recording career o 2.1 2001–07: Beginnings
o 2.2 2008–09: One of the Boys
o 2.3 2009–present: MTV Unplugged, Teenage Dream, and film debut
* 3 Music and themes
* 4 Style and image * 5 Personal life * 6 Discography
* 7 Filmography
* 8 See also
* 9 References * 10 External links

Early life

Katy Perry was born Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson in Santa Barbara, California.[3] The second child of two pastors,[4] she has an older sister and younger brother.[5] Her Evangelical mother, Mary Hudson (née Perry), grew up in Southern California and had "a tempestuous first marriage in Zimbabwe."[5] Her father, Keith Hudson, was a West Coast scenester in the 1960s.[5] Perry's maternal aunt and uncle were screenwriter Eleanor Perry and director Frank Perry,[6] through whom she is also related to Charles M. Schwab, the founder of the Bethlehem Steel Corporation.[7] Perry is of Portuguese[8] and German[9] ancestry on her mother's side, and English descent on her fathers side.

Perry was incorporated into her parents' ministry;[4] she sang in their church from ages 9 to 17.[3][10] She grew up listening to gospel music[11] and was not allowed to listen to what her mother called secular music.[10][12] Perry attended Christian schools and camps.[4] As a child, Perry learned how to dance in a recreation building in Santa Barbara. She was taught by seasoned dancers and began with swing, Lindy Hop, and jitterbug.[13] She took her GED after her freshman year of high school and decided to leave school to pursue a career in music.[14] Perry initially started singing "because I was at that point in my childhood where I was copycatting my sister and everything she did."[14] Her sister practiced with cassette tapes, and Perry took the tapes herself when her sister was not around. She rehearsed the songs and performed it to her parents, who suggested she should take voice lessons. She grabbed the opportunity and began taking lessons at age nine to 16. She enrolled in at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, and studied Italian opera for a short time.[14]
Recording career
2001–07: Beginnings

At the age of 15, Perry's singing in church attracted the attention of rock veterans from Nashville, Tennessee, who brought her there to polish her writing skills.[15] In Nashville, Perry started recording demos and was taught by country music veterans on how to craft songs and play guitar.[10][12] Perry signed to the Christian music label Red Hill, under which she recorded her first album at the age of 15.[16] Performing as Katy Hudson, she released the self-titled Gospel-rock album in 2001.[5][15] The album was unsuccessful, however, after the label ceased operations at the end of 2001.[16] She later changed her surname to Perry, her mother's maiden name, because "Katy Hudson" was too close to film actress Kate Hudson.[15][17] At the age of 17, Perry left her home for Los Angeles, where she worked with Glen Ballard on an album for record label Island.[18] The album was due for release in 2005,[3][15][16] but Billboard reported it also went nowhere.[16] Perry was dropped by Island Def Jam Music Group.[5] Some of Perry and Ballard's collaborations included "Box", "Diamonds" and "Long Shot", were posted on her official MySpace page. "Simple", one of the songs she recorded with Ballard, was released on the soundtrack to the 2005 film The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.[19]

Perry signed to Columbia Records in 2004. However, the label was not amenable with her vision, not putting her in the "driver's seat".[16] Instead, one of Columbia's ideas was to pair Perry with the record production team The Matrix, who was working on an album, to serve as its female vocalist. Although the album was later shelved,[20] she caught the attention of the music press: Her burgeoning music career led to her being named "The Next Big Thing" in October 2004 by Blender magazine.[3][16] With no album project ongoing, Perry began recording her own. Eighty percent completed, however, Columbia decided not to finish it and dropped her off the label.[16]
While waiting to find another label, she worked in an independent A&R company called Taxi Music. In 2006, Perry was featured in the tail-end of the video to P.O.D.'s single "Goodbye for Now".[21] She made a cameo appearance in Carbon Leaf's video, "Learn to Fly", and in Gym Class Heroes' video, "Cupid's Chokehold", playing the eventual love interest of lead singer Travis McCoy. Her songs eventually captured the attention of Virgin Records CEO Jason Flom, then head of Capitol Music Group, who signed her to Capitol Music in early 2007.[16]

2008–09: One of the Boys
After signing to Capitol Records, Perry began recording tracks for her official mainstream debut album, One of the Boys, and establishing her image was one of the immediate concerns of her management.[16] A campaign was started in November 2007 with the release of the video to "Ur So Gay", aimed at introducing her to the music market. A digital EP led by "Ur So Gay" was later released to create online buzz.[4][16] This was a successful move that resulted in bringing Perry to the attention of Madonna,[16] who mentioned her on KISS FM and KRQ's JohnJay & Rich morning show in Arizona. On March 10, 2008, she appeared as herself on the ABC Family television series, Wildfire, on the episode "Life's Too Short".[22]

While the buzz over Perry was building, she went on the next step of promoting the album, undertaking a two-month tour of radio stations. The album's official lead single, "I Kissed a Girl", was released on May 6, 2008. With the song climbing atop the charts, Perry embarked on the annual Warped Tour music festival, which her management used to "establish her as a credible performer and make sure she wasn't seen as just a one-hit wonder."[16] The single was a commercial success, peaking at number one for seven weeks on the Billboard Hot 100.[16] It has since become a major worldwide hit, topping charts in 30 countries,[20] including Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom.[23] On June 12, 2008, Perry appeared as herself on the daytime soap opera, The Young and the Restless,[22] and poses for the cover to the June 2008 issue of the fictional magazine Restless Style.[24]
Katy Perry performs live in Berlin, September 2008.

One of the Boys was released on June 17, 2008 to mixed critical reviews.[25] The album has reached number nine on the Billboard 200,[26] and has been certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.[27] Perry released her second single, "Hot n Cold", which became her second top three single in dozens of countries around the world, including the United States where it reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100,[16] as well as topping the charts in Germany, Canada, and Denmark. After Perry wrapped up her appearance at the Warped Tour, she went on tours in Europe. She later launched her first headlining tour, the Hello Katy Tour, in January 2009.[16] "I Kissed a Girl" earned Perry a nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the 2009 Grammy Awards.[28] Perry was nominated in five categories at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards, including Best New Artist and Best Female Video, but lost to Britney Spears.[29] She won Best New Act at the 2008 MTV Europe Music Awards, which she co-hosted,[30] and Best International Female Artist at the 2009 BRIT Awards.[31] On February 9, 2009, both "I Kissed a Girl" and "Hot n Cold" were certified three-time platinum by Recording Industry Association of America for individual digital sales of over three million.[32]
The Matrix's self-titled debut album, which features Perry, was later released via the team's label, Let's Hear It, during Perry's solo tour. When the release date was scheduled, "I Kissed a Girl" had been charting well. Matrix member Lauren Christy spoke to Perry about the decision, but she wanted to hold the release until the fourth single of One of the Boys had been dispatched. Despite their communication, The Matrix was released on January 27, 2009, via iTunes Store.[33]

In December 2008, Perry apologized to British singer Lily Allen for remarks in which she called herself a "skinnier version" of her, saying she meant it as a joke.[34] Allen retaliated and told a British radio station that she "happen[ed] to know for a fact that she [Perry] was an American version" of her because their record company needed "to find something controversial and 'kooky'" like her.[35]
Katy Perry performing at the 2009 Life Ball in Vienna
On May 16, 2009, Perry performed at the opening ceremony of the annual Life Ball in Vienna, Austria.[36] In June 2009, lawyers acting for Katy Perry opposed the recent trademark of Australian fashion designer Katie Perry who uses her own name to market loungewear.[37] Some media outlets reported this as a lawsuit, which Katy Perry has denied on her blog.[38] Katie Perry the designer reports on her blog that at a hearing with IP Australia on 10 July 2009, the singer's lawyers withdrew their opposition to the trademark.[39]

2009–present: MTV Unplugged, Teenage Dream, and film debut

In 2009, Perry was featured on two singles: a remix of Colorado-based band 3OH!3's song "Starstrukk" in August (the idea for the collaboration came after Perry's tour that featured 3OH!3 as the supporting act). The song was released over iTunes on September 8, 2009; and "If We Ever Meet Again", the fourth single off Timbaland's album Shock Value II in December.[40]

In October 2009, MTV Unplugged revealed that Perry was one of the artists to perform for them, and that she would be releasing a live album of the performance, including two new tracks, "Brick by Brick" and Fountains of Wayne cover "Hackensack".[41] The album was released on November 17, and includes both a CD and a DVD.[42]
Perry's new album is titled Teenage Dream [43] and it will be out August 24, 2010 in North America and August 30 worldwide.[44] The first single from the album is titled "California Gurls".[45] Capitol Records sent the song to U.S. radio on May 7, 2010.[46] The single took only four weeks to reach the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100, making it the fastest rising single from a Capitol Records artist since Bobbie Gentry's "Ode to Billie Joe" in 1967.[47] On July 22, Perry released the cover art for Teenage Dream, a painting by Will Cotton, which resembles the shots of Perry in the "California Gurls" video where she is lying naked on the cotton candy clouds.[48] Perry also revealed that the booklet of the physical edition of the album will smell like cotton candy.[49] On July 22, 2010, the album's second single "Teenage Dream" was leaked onto the web. It was officially released on iTunes the following day.[50] On August 3, "Not Like the Movies" was released on iTunes as the first of three planned promotional singles.[51] A week later on August 10, the second planned single, "Circle the Drain", was released on iTunes. The following week, on August 17, the album's final promotional single, "E.T." was released on iTunes.
Perry has announced her own fragrance to be released in autumn of this year, named "Purr". It will come in a cat-shaped bottle, and will be available through Nordstrom stores.[52][53]

Perry is set to make her film début, starring in the 2011 film The Smurfs, as Smurfette, alongside Neil Patrick Harris, Jonathan Winters, Alan Cumming, and George Lopez.[54]

Music and themes

Perry has a contralto vocal range.[55] Among Perry's musical influences are Alanis Morissette,[11][20] pop rockers Cyndi Lauper, Pat Benatar, Joan Jett, Shirley Manson,[56] and Freddie Mercury,[10] the late frontman of the British band Queen. Growing up listening to gospel music, Perry had few references when she began recording songs.[10] Asked by the producer with whom she would like to collaborate, Perry had no idea. That night, she went with her mother to a hotel. Inside, she turned on VH1 and saw producer Glen Ballard talking about Morissette;[10] Ballard produced Morissette's Jagged Little Pill, the album that had a "huge influence" on Perry.[15] She told her initial collaborator that she had decided to work with Ballard. The producer arranged a meeting for her and Ballard in Los Angeles. Perry presented him a song, and a day later she was called. Ballard developed Perry for a few years.[10]

Perry described her music by saying, "Someone kind of penned it for me the other day, and I've been using it ever since."[10] According to her, she has "changed a lot between the ages of 15 to 23."[4] Her first album dwells on Gospel music.[4][16] She related that her perspective in music was "a bit enclosed and very strict", and everything she did was church-related.[4] Her second album, One of the Boys, is described as "secular" and "rock," and reflects a departure from her religious musical roots.[57] Perry expects to record more pop songs for her next album.[13][58]
Perry is artistically involved in her projects, especially in the writing process. Since she could play guitar, she would start writing songs at home and present it to her producers. Perry is mostly inspired by specific moments of her life. She said it is easy for her to write songs about heartbreak.[10] Most of the themes in One of the Boys deal with heartbreak, teen adventure, and "puking into toilets".[15]

Perry's mother reportedly told British tabloid Daily Mail that she dislikes her daughter's music, calling it "shameful and disgusting".[4][59] Perry said her mother was misquoted and told MTV that it was false information.[59] Her songs "Ur So Gay" and "I Kissed a Girl" have received negative reactions from both religious and gay sectors.[59] The songs have been respectively labeled as being homophobic and promoting homosexuality, as well as "lezploitational".[4] MTV mentioned criticism suggesting that Perry is using "bi-curiosity" as a way to sell records.[59] Perry responded to the controversy surrounding "Ur So Gay": "It's not a negative connotation. It's not, 'you're so gay,' like, 'you're so lame,' but the fact of the matter is that this boy should've been gay. I totally understand how it could be misconstrued or whatever ... It wasn't stereotyping anyone in particular, I was talking about ex-boyfriends."[60]

Style and image
Perry is known for her unconventional style of dress.[13] It is often humorous, bright in color, and reminiscent of different decades, and she frequently uses fruit-shaped accessories, mainly watermelon, as part of her outfits.[56] Having learned dancing at an early age, she fancied about having her own style. Perry's transformation into an artist began with fashion, inspired by American film actress Dominique Swain's portrayal in 1997 film adaptation of the novel Lolita.[15] She defines her fashion style as "a bit of a concoction of different things".[13] Johnny Wujek, Perry's stylist, described her style, upon meeting her for the first time, as "very colorful and vintage".[61] Her fashion has caught the attention of designers, who were giving her nearly as much attention as fans of her music.[4][56]

In June 2008, a publicity photo that showed Perry posing with a switchblade was criticized.[62] The picture was defended as only an effort to give Perry a "sexy, harder edge".[62] The criticism leveled at her was mocked by Perry who subsequently posed with a spoon instead.[63]

Personal life

Perry dated Gym Class Heroes frontman Travis McCoy, whom she met in a recording studio in New York,[17] on and off for several years. After more than a year of friendship and casual dating, they became serious with their relationship right before they embarked into the 2008 Warped Tour. Perry and McCoy broke up in December 2008.[64] The two began dating again in early 2009 and broke up again a few months later. Perry is now engaged to British comedian Russell Brand after he proposed in December 2009.[65][66] In a YouTube interview, she said Brand would be a "perfect" father.[67]

Discography
* Katy Hudson (2001)
* One of the Boys (2008)
* Teenage Dream (2010)

Filmography
Year Title Role Notes
2008 The Young and the Restless Herself Episode 8,914
Wildfire Herself "Life's Too Short" (season 4, episode 8)
2010 The X Factor Guest Judge Series 7, Episode 2
Film
Year Title Role Notes
2011 The Smurfs Smurfette Voice

See also
* List of artists who reached number one in the United States
* List of awards and nominations received by Katy Perry

Katy Perry interview about her life

Song

Shakira

2010-08-29T00:32:00.000-07:00

Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll (born February 2, 1977),[2] known professionally as Shakira (pronounced /ʃəˈkɪərə/, Spanish: [tʃaˈkiɾa] or [ʃaˈkiɾa]),[3] is a Colombian singer, songwriter, musician, record producer, dancer, and philanthropist who emerged as a musical prodigy in the music scene of Latin America in the early 1990s. Born and raised in Barranquilla, Colombia, Shakira revealed many of her talents in school as a live performer, demonstrating her vocal ability with rock and roll, Latin and Middle Eastern influences with her own original twist on belly dancing. Shakira is a native Spanish speaker and also speaks fluent English and Portuguese.
After commercial flops with local producers on her first two albums, and being little-known outside Colombia, Shakira decided to produce her own brand of music. In 1995 she released Pies Descalzos, which brought her great fame in Latin America and Spain, and her 1998 album ¿Dónde Están los Ladrones? was a critical success. Since then she has gained many fans in semi-Hispanophone countries, and many non-Spanish-speaking countries, especially the United States. In 2001, aided by the extreme popularity of the music video for "Whenever, Wherever", she broke through into the English-speaking world with the release of Laundry Service, which sold over 13 million copies worldwide.[5][6] Four years later, Shakira released two album projects called Fijación Oral Vol. 1 and Oral Fixation Vol. 2. Both reinforced her success, particularly with the most successful song in the 21st century to date, "Hips Don't Lie".

She has won two Grammy Awards,[5] seven Latin Grammy Awards,[5] twelve Billboard Latin Music Awards[5] and has been Golden Globe-nominated.[5] She is also the highest-selling Colombian artist of all time, and the second most successful female Latin singer after Gloria Estefan, having sold over 50 million albums worldwide according to BMI.[8] Additionally, she is the only artist from South America to reach the number-one spot on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, the Australian ARIA chart, and the UK Singles Chart.[9] Shakira is to be given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame as well.[10][11] In the fall of 2009, Shakira released her sixth album She Wolf worldwide.

Shakira's latest track is the successful "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)", the official song for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, along with its Spanish language version, titled "Waka Waka (Esto es África)".[13] The song has received generally positive critical reception, and has become a worldwide smash hit.[14] On YouTube, the english version of the music video is the fourth most watched video, and third most watched music video of all-time with over 165 million views.
Her next studio album, the bilingual Sale El Sol, is due for an October, 2010 release, and will see her return to pop rock music
Contents

* 1 Early life
* 2 Career
o 2.1 1990–1994: Magia and Peligro
o 2.2 1995–1997: Pies Descalzos
o 2.3 1998–2000: ¿Dónde Están Los Ladrones?
o 2.4 2001–2004: Laundry Service
o 2.5 2005–2007: Fijación Oral Vol. 1 and Oral Fixation Vol. 2
o 2.6 2008–present: She Wolf, 2010 FIFA World Cup and Sale El Sol
o 2.7 Collaborations and other work
* 3 Personal life
* 4 Philanthropy and humanitarian work
* 5 Style
o 5.1 Music and voice o 5.2 Influences
* 6 Dancing
* 7 Acting
* 8 Records and achievements
* 9 Discography
* 10 Tours
* 11 Awards* 12 See also
* 13 Notes
* 14 References
* 15 External links

Early life

Shakira was born on February 2, 1977 in Barranquilla, Colombia. She is the only child of Nidya del Carmen Ripoll Torrado and William Mebarak Chadid, who are of Lebanese, Spanish (specifically Catalan) and Italian descent.[2][17][18] She has eight older half-siblings from her father's previous marriage
Shakira means "thankful" in Arabic.[20][21] It is the feminine form of the name Shakir. Her second name, Isabel, is also that of her paternal grandmother, meaning "my God is my oath", "my God's house" or "my God is abundance", and her name is a Spanish given name for Elizabeth. Her second surname name Ripoll is Catalan. She spent much of her youth in Barranquilla, a city located in northern Colombia. Shakira's business acumen is often attributed to a high IQ, which is reported in the entertainment press to be 140.[22]

Shakira wrote her first poem, entitled "La Rosa De Cristal" ("The Crystal Rose") when she was only four years old. As she was growing up, she was fascinated watching her father writing stories on a typewriter, and asked for one as a Christmas gift. She got her wish at age seven and continued writing poetry. These poems eventually evolved into songs. At the age of two, an older half-brother was killed in a motorcycle accident and at the age of eight, Shakira wrote her first song entitled "Tus gafas oscuras" ("Your dark glasses") which was inspired by her father, who for years wore dark glasses, to hide his grief.[23]

When Shakira was four, her father took her to a local Middle Eastern restaurant, where Shakira first heard the doumbek, a traditional drum used in Arabic music and which typically accompanied belly dancing.[24] Before she knew it, Shakira was dancing on the table, as restaurant patrons responded by clapping enthusiastically. It was then that Shakira said she knew she wanted to be a performer. She enjoyed singing for schoolmates and teachers (and even the nuns) at her Catholic school, but in the second grade was rejected for the school choir because her vibrato was too strong. The music teacher told her that she sounded "like a goat".[24][25] At school, she says she had been known as "the belly dancer girl", as she would demonstrate every Friday at school a number she had learned.[24] "That's how I discovered my passion for live performance," she says.[22]

When she was eight, Shakira's father declared bankruptcy. While the details were sorted out, she stayed with relatives in Los Angeles. On returning to Barranquilla, she was shocked to find that much of what her parents owned had been sold; as she later said "In my childish head, this was the end of the world."[19] To show her that things could be worse, her father took her to a local park to see orphans who lived there. The images stayed with her and she said to herself "one day I’m going to help these kids when I become a famous artist."[19]

Between the ages of ten and thirteen Shakira was invited to various events in Barranquilla and gained some recognition in the area.[26] It was at about this time that she met local theater producer Monica Ariza, who was impressed with her and as a result tried to help her career. During a flight from Barranquilla to Bogotá, Ariza convinced Sony Colombia executive Ciro Vargas to hold an audition for Shakira in a hotel lobby. Vargas held Shakira in high regard and, returning to the Sony office, gave the cassette to a song and artist director. However, the director was not overly excited and thought Shakira was something of "a lost cause". Vargas, not daunted, was still convinced that Shakira had talent, and set up an audition in Bogotá. He arranged for Sony Colombia executives to arrive at the audition, with the idea of surprising them with Shakira's performance. She performed three songs for the executives and impressed them enough for her to be signed to record three albums.[27]

Career

1990–1994: Magia and Peligro

Shakira's debut album, Magia, was recorded with Sony Music in 1990 when she was only thirteen years old.[5] The songs are a collection penned by her since she was 8, mixed pop-rock ballads and disco uptempo songs with electronic accompaniment, however it was hampered by a lack of recording and production cohesion. The album was released in June 1991 and featured "Magia" and three other singles. Though it fared well on Colombian radio and gave the young Shakira much exposure, the album did not fare well commercially as only 1,200 copies were sold worldwide.[24] After the poor performance of Magia, Shakira's label urged her to return to the studio to release a follow-up record.

Although little known outside of her native Colombia, Shakira was invited to perform at Chile's Viña del Mar International Song Festival in February 1993. The festival gave aspiring Latin American singers a chance to perform their songs, and the winner was then chosen by a panel of judges. Shakira performed the ballad "Eres" ("You Are") and won the trophy for third place. One of the judges who voted for her to win was then 20-year-old Ricky Martin.[5]

Shakira's second studio album Peligro was released in March 1993, but Shakira was not pleased with the final result, mainly taking issue with the production. The album was better received than Magia, though it was also considered a commercial failure due to Shakira's refusal to advertise it. Shakira then decided to take a hiatus from recording so that she could graduate from high school.[5] In the same year, Shakira starred in the Colombian TV Series "The Oasis", loosely based on the Armero tragedy in 1985.[28] Since then, the albums have been pulled from release and are not considered official Shakira albums but rather promotional albums.
1995–1997: Pies Descalzos

Shakira originally recorded the song "¿Dónde Estás Corazón?" (later released on her album Pies Descalzos) for the compilation album Nuestro Rock in 1995, released exclusively in Colombia.[29] “Pies Descalzos” album brought her great popularity in Latin America by the hit singles "Estoy Aquí," "Pies Descalzos, Sueños Blancos" and "Dónde Estás Corazón."[5] Shakira also recorded three tracks in Portuguese titled “Estou Aqui”, “Um Pouco de Amor”, and “Pés Descalços”.

Shakira returned to recording music under Sony Music along with Columbia in 1995 with Luis F. Ochoa, using musical influences from a number of countries and an Alanis Morissette-oriented persona which affected two of her next albums.[30] These recordings spawned her third studio album but first official, Pies Descalzos. Recording for the album began in February 1995, after the success of her single "¿Dónde Estás Corazón?". Sony gave Shakira $100,000 to produce the album since they predicted that the album would not sell past 100,000 copies. Starting with this album, Shakira began producing her own music, perfecting her vocals and most of all, practicing creative control over her music. Highly influenced by the American alternative market and British groups such as The Pretenders, the album's songs are melodic, musically surprising and gritty, with intellectual lyrics and an electronic/acoustic blend that effectively broke the formulaic mold of Latin pop with an authentic sound that hadn’t been heard before.

The album Pies Descalzos, was released in October 1995 in South America and in February 1996 internationally. It debuted at number one in eight different countries. However, it only managed to reach number one-hundred-eighty on the U.S. Billboard 200 but reached number five on the U.S. Billboard Top Latin Albums chart. The album spawned six hit singles, "Estoy Aqui" which reached number two on the U.S. Latin chart, "¿Dónde Estás Corazón?" which reached numebr five on the U.S. Latin chart, "Pies Descalzos, Sueños Blancos" which reached number eleven on the U.S. Latin chart, "Un Poco De Amor" which reached number six on the U.S. Latin chart, "Antologia" which reached number fifteen on the U.S. Latin Pop Songs chart and "Se Quiere, Se Mata" which reached number eight on the U.S. Latin chart.[31] In August 1996, RIAA certified the album platinum status.[32]

In March 1996, Shakira went on to her first international tour named simply the Tour Pies Descalzos. The tour consisted of 20 shows and ended in 1997. Also in that year, Shakira received three Billboard Latin Music Awards for Album of the Year for Pies Descalzos, Video of the Year for "Estoy Aqui" and Best New Artist.[33]

Pies Descalzos later sold over 5 million copies,[34][35] prompting the release of a remix album, simply titled The Remixes. The Remixes also included Portuguese versions of some of her well known songs, which were recorded as a result of her success in the Brazilian market, where Pies Descalzos sold nearly one million copies.[26]

1998–2000: ¿Dónde Están Los Ladrones?

Having received a World Music Award as the best selling Latin artist of that time, Shakira began preparing new material for her second studio album. She was also chosen from dozens of Latin singers to grace the cover of Time magazine in the article titled Era of the Rockera.

Her second official studio album, ¿Dónde Están Los Ladrones?, produced entirely by Shakira herself and Emilio Estefan, Jr. as the executive producer, was released in September 1998. The album, inspired by an incident in an airport in which a suitcase full of her written lyrics was stolen, became a bigger hit than Pies Descalzos. Allmusic and Rolling Stone both gave the album a four out of five stars rating. The album has reached a peak position of number one-hundred-thirty-one on the U.S. Billboard 200 and held the top spot on the U.S. Latin Albums chart for eleven weeks. It has since sold over 1.5 million copies in the U.S. alone, making it one of the best selling Spanish albums in the U.S. Eight of the album's eleven tracks became singles, including "Ciega, Sordomuda", "Moscas En La Casa", "No Creo" which became her first single to chart on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, "Inevitable", "Tú", "Si Te Vas", "Octavo Día", and the world-famous, Arabic tinged "Ojos Así". The latter two songs won Shakira one Latin Grammy each with six of the eight singles reaching the top 40 on the U.S. Latin chart.

As of 2010, ¿Donde Estan Los Ladrones? has sold ten million copies worldwide.[36] Shakira also received her first Grammy Award nomination in 1999 for Best Latin Rock/Alternative Album.[37] Shakira's first live album, MTV Unplugged was recorded in New York City on August 12, 1999. Highly acclaimed by American critics, it is rated as one of her best-ever live performances.[38] The live album earned the Grammy Award for Best Latin Pop Album in 2001 and gained sales of five million worldwide.[39] In March 2000, Shakira embarked on her Tour Anfibio, a two-month tour of Latin America and the United States. In August 2000, she won an MTV Video Music Award in the now-defunct category of People's Choice — Favorite International Artist for "Ojos Asi". On September 9, 2000, Shakira performed "Ojos Así" at the inaugural ceremony of the Latin Grammy Awards, where she was nominated in five categories: Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album for MTV Unplugged, Best Female Rock Vocal Performance for "Octavo Dia", Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and Best Short Form Music Video for the video for "Ojos Asi",[40] but she won only two of the awards. Shakira's performance of "Ojos Asi" at the awards show was voted as the Greatest Latin Grammy performance of all time.
[edit] 2001–2004: Laundry Service

Upon the success of ¿Dónde Están Los Ladrones? and MTV Unplugged, Shakira began working on an English crossover album. Thanks to other successful crossover acts, most notably that of Ricky Martin, Selena and Enrique Iglesias, the crossover of Spanish artists to the English market had a great surge of popularity in mainstream music and it was the next logical step to Shakira and her label for her career.[41] Shakira worked for over a year on new material for the album.

"Whenever, Wherever" ("Suerte" in Spanish countries) was released as the first and lead single from Shakira's first English album and third studio album throughout the period of August 2001 and February 2002. The song took heavy influence from Andean music, including the charango and panpipes in its instrumentation. The track was produced by Shakira, and it was an international success by reaching number one in most countries. It was also her first success in the U.S., by reaching number six on the Hot 100.

Shakira's third studio album and first English language album Laundry Service (Servicio De Lavanderia in Latin America and Spain) was released on November 13, 2001. The album debuted at number three on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart selling over 200,000 records in its first week. Laundry Service was later certified triple platinum by the RIAA in June 2004 as well.[42] and thus helped to establish Shakira's musical presence in the mainstream North American market. Seven songs from the album became international singles: "Whenever, Wherever" / "Suerte", "Underneath Your Clothes", "Objection (Tango)" / "Te Aviso, Te Anuncio (Tango)", "The One", "Te Dejo Madrid", "Que Me Quedes Tú" and "Poem To A Horse", with four of the singles becoming largely successful.

Because the album was created for the English language market, the rock and Spanish dance-influenced album gained mild critical success with some critics claimed that her English skills were too weak for her to write songs for it with Rolling Stone stating "she sounds downright silly" or "Shakira's magic is lost in translation." Shakira also was criticized by her Latin fans for seemingly abandoning her folk and rock roots in favor of contemporary American pop music. Despite this fact, the album became the best selling album of 2002, selling more than 13 million copies worldwide.[5][6] and became the most successful album of her career to date. Around this time, Shakira also released four songs for Pepsi for her promotion in the English markets: "Ask for More", "Pide Mas", "Knock on My Door" and "Pideme El Sol", included in the extended play, Pepsi CD.

In November 2002, Shakira embarked on the Tour of the Mongoose with 61 shows occurring by May 2003. The tour was also her first worldwide tour, as legs were played in North and South America as well as Europe and Asia. At Aerosmith's MTV Icon in April 2002, Shakira performed "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)". Also in 2002, Shakira joined the likes of Cher, Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, Mary J. Blige, Anastacia, and the Dixie Chicks for VH1 Divas Live Las Vegas. In September 2002, Shakira won the now-defunct International Viewer's Choice Award at the MTV Video Music Awards with "Whenever, Wherever". Shakira also won the Latin Grammy Award for the category of Best Short Form Music Video for the Spanish version of the video. In October of that year, she won five MTV Video Music Awards Latin America for Best Female Artist, Best Pop Artist, Best Artist — North (Region), Video of the Year (for "Suerte"), and Artist of the Year.

In November 2002, Shakira’s label Sony BMG released her Spanish greatest hits compilation Grandes Éxitos. A DVD and ten-track live album, called Live & Off the Record, was also released in 2004, reaching sales of 3 million worldwide, and commemorating the Tour of the Mongoose.

2005–2007: Fijación Oral Vol. 1 and Oral Fixation Vol. 2

After promotion for Shakira's third studio album ended in 2003, Shakira chose to step out of the spotlight to record new music. Many possible release dates for her fourth studio album were announced but later delayed until early 2005 when Shakira announced the title of her fourth record and that Rick Rubin would be the executive producer of the album. It was later announced that the album would instead be two albums.

Shakira's fourth studio album, Fijación Oral Vol. 1, was released in June 2005. The lead single from the album, "La Tortura" reached the top 40 of on the Hot 100 after being released in April 2005 and receiving large scale success on radio. The song also featured the Spanish balladeer Alejandro Sanz. It also spent a record of twenty-five weeks at number one on the U.S. Latin chart. Shakira became the first artist to perform a Spanish language song at the MTV Video Music Awards in 2005 as well.

Contrary to low expectations, Fijación Oral Vol. 1 was extremely well-received. It debuted at number four on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 157,000 copies in its first week. It has since sold over two million copies in the U.S., earning a 2x Platinum certification from the RIAA. Due to its first week sales, the album became the highest debut ever for a Spanish language album. After only a day of release in Latin America, the album earned certifications. In Venezuela, it earned a Platinum certification, in Colombia, a triple Platinum certification while in Mexico, the album exceeded shipments and was unavailable after only one day of release. The album sold over one million copies in three days worldwide. Four other singles were also released from the album. "No", "Dia De Enero", "La Pared" and "Las De La Intuición", with each single reaching number one in countries worldwide.

On February 8, 2006, Shakira won her second Grammy Award with the win of Best Latin Rock/Alternative Album for Fijación Oral Vol. 1.[43] Shakira received four Latin Grammy Awards in November 2006, winning the awards for Record of the Year, Song of the Year for "La Tortura", Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album for Fijación Oral Vol. 1.[44] Fijación Oral Vol. 1 has since sold over 5 million copies worldwide.[45]

Before the release of Oral Fixation Vol. 2, Shakira's second bilingual studio album, Shakira appeared at the MTV Europe Music Awards 2005 in Lisbon, Portugal, where she performed "Don't Bother", the lead single from the album, minutes before winning an award in the category of Best Female Artist. "Don't Bother", however, failed to achieve chart success in the U.S. by missing the top 40 on the Hot 100. It did, however, reach the top 20 in most countries worldwide.

Shakira's second English studio album and fifth studio album, Oral Fixation Vol. 2 was released on November 29, 2005. The album debuted at number five on the Billboard 200, selling 128,000 copies in its first week. The album has gone on to sell 1.8 million records in the U.S., earning a Platinum certification from the RIAA. Oddly enough, the album didn't fare as well as its Spanish counterpart in the U.S., selling a few hundred thousand less records overall. Oral Fixation Vol. 2 has also gone on to sell over 8 million copies worldwide.[46] The cover of the album featured Shakira as Eve with forbidden fruit was also considered controversial, and had to be altered in several countries which would not sell the album with that cover.

Despite the commercial failure of the album's lead single in the U.S., it went on to spawn two more singles. "Hips Don't Lie", featuring Wyclef Jean, was released as the album's second single in February 2006. The song went on to become the highest selling single of the 21st century and became Shakira's first number one single on the Billboard Hot 100, in addition to reaching number one in over fifty-five countries. Shakira and Wyclef Jean also recorded a Bamboo version of the song to serve as the official theme of the FIFA World Cup 2006. Shakira, along with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, received the most nominations for the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards with "Hips Don't Lie", but she won only the award for Best Choreography. Shakira later released the third and final single from the album, "Illegal" featuring Carlos Santana, in November 2006. The single reached number one in some European countries and on the U.S. dance chart, though it failed to reach the Hot 100.

Shakira embarked on the Oral Fixation Tour, in June 2006. The tour consisted of 125 shows between June 2006 and July 2007. The concert also visited all six continents. One show in Mexico City was performed for free, and earned an audience of over 200,000. This concert sets the record for the highest attendance of any concert in Mexican history. Shakira also performed on July 9, 2006 at the FIFA World Cup final in Germany. In November 2007, the Oral Fixation Tour DVD was released and is also available in High Definition Blu-Ray format.[47] The two versions of the DVD have sold over 16 million copies worldwide.

In February 2007, Shakira performed at the Gramy Awards for the first time at the 49th Grammy Awards and earned the nomination for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals for "Hips Don’t Lie" with Wyclef Jean, though she did not win the award.
2008–present: She Wolf, 2010 FIFA World Cup and Sale El Sol

During an online chat with her fans in El Heraldo in February 2008,[48] Shakira revealed that work on her sixth studio album was about to begin. Furthermore, at Shakira's cousin Isa Mebarak's album release party in Colombia, Shakira's father William Mebarak stated that Shakira was currently at work writing and producing new songs for her upcoming album. This was being done in "her own studio", which many fans thought to mean the studio at her home in the Bahamas.[49] Shakira recorded 2005's Fijación Oral Vol. 1 and 2006's Oral Fixation Vol. 2 there as well.

After spending two weeks in London, Shakira flew to Colombia for a peace-promoting concert in Leticia (at the three way border of Colombia, Peru and Brazil) with Carlos Vives. Followed by hundreds of thousands of fellow Colombians, Shakira was calling for the release of hostages being held by rebels in Colombia and an end to similar kidnappings in the region.[50] Afterward, it was reported by Noticias Caracol in Colombia that Shakira returned to her home studio in the Bahamas and continued recording "a little something" with members of Vives' band. It was later confirmed that Shakira was working with the likes of RedOne, Wyclef Jean and Luis F. Ochoa on her sixth studio album. RedOne later stated that Shakira was in "an experimental phase" and that she had been working on the album in Los Angeles, Miami, Vancouver, London, Uruguay and the Bahamas.[51][52]

In early 2008, Forbes named Shakira the fourth top-earning female artist in music industry.[53] Then, in July 2008, Shakira signed a 10-year contract with Live Nation, an international touring giant.[54] The touring group also doubles as a record label which promotes but does control the music that their artists release. Regarding Shakira's contract, Jason Garner, the global music chief of Live Nation stated that: "Shakira is one of the few truly global artists. She can sell music and tickets in nearly every corner of the globe."[55] Neither Shakira's representatives nor Live Nation would confirm the value of the deal, but people close to the negotiations said that depending on Shakira's performance over the 10 years, it is likely to be worth between $70 million and $100 million. Shakira's contract with Epic Records calls for three more albums as well - one in English, one in Spanish, and a compilation, but the touring and other rights of the Live Nation deal were confirmed to begin immediately.

"She Wolf", the lead single from Shakira's sixth studio album, premiered on July 13, 2009.[56][57][58][59] Shakira wrote and produced the song with John Hill, and Sam Endicott (lead singer and songwriter of The Bravery).[60] The Spanish version titled, "Loba", premiered on the same day as well. "She Wolf" and "Loba" then became available for digital download the following day.[61] The video for "She Wolf" premiered on MTV on July 30, 2009.[61] The single was successful worldwide, reaching number one in Latin America, number two in Germany, Ireland, Italy, Estonia and Spain, number three in Switzerland and Austria, number four in the UK, France and Greece, number five in Canada and Belgium, number six in Finland, number nine in Japan, and number eleven in the US.

Also in July 2009, Shakira's official website announced that "The full album is She Wolf due out in October 2009 from Epic" and it "features a predominantly English track list".[62] The site also announced that a Spanish album will be released in 2010.[62]

She Wolf was released in October 2009 internationally and then on November 23, 2009 in the U.S. The album received mainly positive reviews from critics, but only managed to sell 89,000 copies in its first week in the U.S., earning the number fifteen spot on the Billboard 200. It has gone on to sell only 300,000 records in the U.S., becoming her least successful album there. However, the album has been moderately successful worldwide, having been certified Gold in Russia, Ireland, Switzerland, Poland, France, Argentina, Greece, and Hungary, Platinum in Spain, the United Kingdom, and the Middle East, 2x Platinum in Colombia and Mexico, and 3x Platinum in Taiwan. To date the album has sold 1.5 million records worldwide, becoming Shakira's least successful studio album to date in terms of sales.

The album's second single, "Did It Again", was released in October 2009 and was originally due for a U.S. release, though this was later canceled. The single reached the top 40 in most countries worldwide. "Give It Up To Me", featuring Lil Wayne was released as the album's second U.S. single in November 2009 and reached the top 40 in Canada and on the Hot 100. The album's U.S. release was delayed in order for Shakira to record the song, which was originally due to be featured on its producer Timbaland's album, Timbaland Presents Shock Value II and would have featured Shakira. However, she chose to record it for her album with Timbaland's rap verse being scrapped in favor of a verse from Flo Rida. Plans for the single changed again when Lil Wayne requested to be featured on the song, with this later happening. The album's third and final single, "Gypsy", was released in February 2010 and reached the top 40 in Europe but failed to reach the top 40 in the U.S. or in South America, becoming a mildly successful single.

In May 2010, it was confirmed through Shakira's official website that she will embark on a global tour. The site announced that the tour will begin in North America in September 2010. The post also announced the first three confirmed dates and stated that additional dates will be announced soon, adding that "The tour will bring Shakira's spectacular show to top arenas and a host of additional cities throughout the summer and fall".[63]

It was initially announced that Shakira would release a Spanish album in 2010 after the release of She Wolf, similar to what she did with Oral Fixation, but Shakira later stated that the album would instead be a bilingual project, which will contain Spanish and English songs. She also stated that it was due for a September, 2010 release.[64]

Shakira collaborated with the South African group Freshlyground to create the official song of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)", which is based on a traditional Cameroonian soldiers' Fang song named "Zangalewa" by the group Zangalewa or Golden Sounds. The song was made popular in her native Colombia in 1987 through west African DJs in Colombia.[65] The single later reached the top 20 in Europe, South America and Africa and the top 40 in the U.S. and was performed by Shakira at the World Cup kick-off and closing.

Sale El Sol will be released as Shakira's seventh studio album on November 2, 2010.[16] In June 2010, during an interview with Billboard magazine, Shakira announced that her new album would be released in September.[66] She stated in the magazine that "I see it [the new album] as having two currents," she stated. "One is a lot about love and love experiences and emotions. And the other side of it is very joyful, and upbeat." Shakira also revealed that the music on the album would reflect influences from both the Dominican Republic and Colombia. "It’s a little more Latin on one side and a little more rock ‘n roll on the other side," she stated. She later compared her new material to the Oral Fixation era's music, stating that she was "going back to basics" for the record.[67] The album has since been delayed to a November release with the lead single "Loca" currently due for an early September release.[16] She shot the video for the lead single in Barcelona in August, and is expected to be released sometime in September.

Collaborations and other work

In 2003, Shakira wrote a song called "Come Down Love" with Tom Mitchell for the Hollywood movie The Italian Job starring South African actress Charlize Theron and Mark Wahlberg, but the song was not included on the soundtrack of the same name.

In late 2006, Shakira and Alejandro Sanz collaborated for the duet Te lo Agradezco, Pero No, which is featured on Sanz' album El Tren de los Momentos. The song was a top ten hit in Latin America, and topped "Billboard" Hot Latin Tracks chart. Shakira also collaborated with Miguel Bosé on the duet "Si Tú No Vuelves", which was released in Bosé's album Papito, which celebrates his thirty-year career.

In early 2007, Shakira worked with American R&B singer Beyoncé for the track "Beautiful Liar", which was released as the second single from the deluxe edition of Knowles' B'Day. In April 2007, the single jumped ninety-one positions, from ninety-four to three, on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, setting the record for the largest upward movement in the history of the chart at the time. It was also number one on the official UK Singles Chart. The song earned them a Grammy Award nomination for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals. The song was one of Knowles' most successful worldwide, as it was particularly popular in Spanish-speaking countries such as Argentina and Spain, where it topped charts.

According to Billboard, Shakira, along with Lil Wayne would collaborate on a new track for Carlos Santana's greatest hits CD titled Ultimate Santana.[68] However, this collaboration was cancelled, and Shakira and Lil Wayne were replaced by Jennifer Lopez and Baby Bash.[69]

Shakira is featured on Annie Lennox's song "Sing", from the album Songs of Mass Destruction, which also features other twenty-three other female singers such as Madonna, KT Tunstall, Faith Hill, Dido, Celine Dion, Melissa Etheridge, Joss Stone, Fergie, Anastacia and Pink.[70][70]

In late 2007, Shakira and Wyclef Jean recorded their second duet "King and Queen". The song was featured on Wyclef Jean’s 2007 album Carnival Vol. II: Memoirs of an Immigrant.
Shakira performing with Usher and Stevie Wonder at the We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial

Shakira performed on January 18, 2009 at the Lincoln Memorial "We Are One" festivities in honor of the inauguration of President Barack Obama. She performed "Higher Ground" with Stevie Wonder and Usher. She also performed during the evening of January 20, 2009 at the Neighborhood Ball for the President's inauguration. The song she performed was Van Morrison's "Bright Side of the Road". It featured Shakira on harmonica.

In March 2009, Shakira appeared on the album Cantora 1 by the Argentinian folk singer Mercedes Sosa on the song "La Maza", which both singers sang at the ALAS concert in Buenos Aires in May 2008.[71] Shakira wrote the lyrics and co-wrote the music for two new songs that are featured in the movie Love in the Time of Cholera, based on the acclaimed novel by Colombian author Gabriel García Marquez. García Marquez himself asked Shakira to write the songs.[72] The songs that Shakira lent to the soundtrack were "Pienso en ti", a song from Shakira's breakthrough album Pies Descalzos, "Hay Amores" and "Despedida". "Despedida" was nominated for Best Original Song at the 65th Golden Globe Awards but did not win. It was rumored that the song would also be nominated for an Academy Award, but it was not, with a source calling the fact that it was left off the nominees the Academy's "worst snub.[73]

Shakira collaborated with the South African group Freshlyground to create the official song of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)". She headlined the closing ceremony on July 11, 2010 as well.[74][75][76]

In August of 2010, Shakira recorded a song with Dora the Explorer called "Todos Juntos." The song is featured on the soundtrack We Did It! Dora's Greatest Hits, which was released on August 17, 2010. The song will also be featured on a Dora television special titled "Dora's Explorer Girls" to air on November 7, 2010 on Nickelodeon.[77][78]

Personal life

Shakira was raised Roman Catholic.[79] Shakira currently lives in The Bahamas. In 2000, she started dating Antonio de la Rúa, the son of the then President of Argentina Fernando de la Rúa, a romance that made headline news throughout Latin America. In March 2001, he proposed to her. There have been many rumors regarding the couple over the years. In June 2007, Latin American media speculated that the couple had finally split up. On the previous days, Shakira and Antonio were seen in a restaurant in New York City, facing and denying the rumors one more time.[80] Shakira's future mother-in-law Inés Pertiné claimed the wedding would take place in September 2007 in the mansion which Shakira owns in the Dominican Republic, but the wedding did not happen. She also said that Shakira has already ordered Argentine designer María Pryor to design her wedding dress.[81] All this was denied by Shakira herself in Mexico.[82]

De la Rúa and Shakira remain engaged.[83] A Twitter update from her on September 4, 2009 stated (translated from the Spanish) "We are neither married nor fighting [contrary to rumors]. We are very together and very good. 9 years!"[84] Shakira has stated their relationship already works as a married couple, and that "they don't need papers for that."[85]

Shakira is interested in world history and frequently studies the history and languages of the countries she visits.[86] After her Oral Fixation tour ended in summer 2007, Shakira attended a class in Los Angeles at UCLA, on the History of Western Civilization. She used her middle and last names, Isabel Mebarak, and told the professor she was visiting from Colombia so as to avoid being recognized as a celebrity.[87][88] Shakira is a cousin of model and 2005–2006 Miss Colombia, Valerie Domínguez.[89][90]

Philanthropy and humanitarian work

In 1995, Shakira founded the Pies Descalzos Foundation. It is a Colombian charity with special schools for poor children all around Colombia. It was funded by Shakira and other international groups and individuals. The name of the foundation is taken from Shakira's third studio album called Pies Descalzos, released in 1995.

During her career, Shakira has performed at a large number of benefit concerts. In 2002 she sang at a Party in the Park concert fundraising for the Prince's Trust. That same year she performed at Divas Live which support VH1's Save the Music Foundation. On July 2, 2005 she performed her hits "Whenever, Wherever" and "La Tortura" on the Live 8 benefit concert at the Palace of Versailles, near Paris. On July 7, 2007, the singer opened the German leg of Live Earth in Hamburg. Her set included "Don't Bother", "Inevitable", "Día Especial" (with Gustavo Cerati) and "Hips Don't Lie".[91] Shakira also performed at the "Clinton Global Initiative", where she performed her hits "Underneath Your Clothes", "Inevitable" and "Hips Don't Lie". On May 17, 2008 Shakira and twenty other Latin American and Spanish artists performed in Buenos Aires and Mexico City to raise money for Shakira's Latin America in Solidarity Action "America Latina en Accion Solidaria" (ALAS Foundation) charity.[92] This concert attracted 150,000 people in Buenos Aires. Although tickets were free, the demand exceeded the supply; some fans who were fortunate enough to secure free tickets resold them.[93]
Shakira, Alejandro Sanz and the King of Spain during the IberoAmerican Summit of El Salvador

She has agitated against the implementation of the Arizona statute SB1070 against illegal immigration.[94]

Shakira is a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and is one of their global representatives. "Shakira, like all our Goodwill Ambassadors, was chosen based on her compassion, her involvement in global issues, her deep commitment to helping children, and her appeal to young people around the world. We're very pleased to have Shakira join the UNICEF family. I know she'll help bring UNICEF's mission to the audience who will have the most impact on our future – young people themselves", said UNICEF's Executive Director Carol Bellamy.[95]

On April 3, 2006, Shakira was honored at a United Nations ceremony for creating the Pies Descalzos Foundation. At the event, the singer said, "Let's not forget that at the end of this day when we all go home, 960 children will have died in Latin America."[96]

On September 28, 2007 at the Clinton Global Initiative, it was revealed that Shakira received a commitment of $40 million from the Spanish government to help the victims of natural disasters. An additional $5 million was to be donated to four Latin American countries, to be spent on education and health. As part of the May 2007 concerts, her ALAS Foundation was able to solicit commitments of US$ 200 million from philanthropists Carlos Slim, Mexico’s richest man, and Howard Buffett, son of U.S. investment guru Warren Buffett, the singer announced on April 15, 2008.[97]

In December 2007, Shakira visited Bangladesh to appeal for the victims of Cyclone Sidr. She spent 3 days with the victims and visited children affected by the disaster in schools built by UNICEF and participated in the distribution of family kits and warm clothes. She said that little was left of the school she visited in the village of Mirzapur, but it still provided an "oasis" for the children. "I am more convinced than ever that education is the key to so many of the difficulties that our children face in countries like mine or in developing countries like this one. It's the key to a better and safer world," she said.[98]

Shakira served as the Honorary Chairperson for "Action Week" 2008 (April 21–27). The event is sponsored by the Global Campaign for Education (GCE), to generate awareness about the Education for All Act. She spoke with the U.S. Congress, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, and World Bank President Robert Zoellick to promote a move towards Global Education. Angelina Jolie served as last year's chair.

People En Español announced in their December 2008/January 2009 issue that Shakira is the "Humanitarian of the Year" as part of their "Las Estrellas del Año" (Stars of the Year) awards.[99] Shakira was also ranked at number 48 on the list of Top 50 Most Charitable Celebrities by OK! magazine. It reported that she donates approximately $55,000 to charity yearly.[100]

On her 32nd birthday, Shakira opened a new $6-Million school in her hometown Barranquilla, which was sponsored by herself and her Pies Descalzos Foundation.[101]

On December 7, 2009 Shakira was honored as a guest at the University of Oxford to give a speech about her work with children and education. She was chosen by the Oxford Union and joined the ranks of Albert Einstein, several US Presidents, Mother Teresa, and the Dalai Lama XIV, as a chosen speaker. During the speech, Shakira said, "That is how I want the youth of 2060 to see us: That our mission for global peace consisted of sending 30,000 educators to Afghanistan, not 30,000 soldiers. That in 2010, world education became more important than world domination."[102]

In March 2010, she was awarded a medal by the United Nations' International Labor Organization in recognition of being, as UN Labor Chief Juan Somavia put it, a "true ambassador for children and young people, for quality education and social justice."[103]

Style

Music and voice

Shakira is known to have adopted many genres, including folk, mainstream pop and rock. In an interview with Rolling Stone she said: "My music, I think, is a fusion of many different elements. And I'm always experimenting. So I try not to limit myself, or put myself in a category, or... be the architect of my own jail".[104] Her earlier Spanish albums, including Pies Descalzos and ¿Dónde Están Los Ladrones? were a mix of folk music and Latin rock, while her cross-over English album, Laundry Service and her later albums were influenced by pop rock and pop Latino.[105] Her 2009 album, She Wolf is more like electropop and dance music.[106]

Influences

Shakira has told many interviewers that she had grown fond to listening to oriental music, which influenced many of her earlier works. For example, Shakira used the Indian theme for her performance of "Hips Don’t Lie" at the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards in New York City.[107] She has also been influenced by her Arabic heritage, which was a major inspiration for her breakthrough world hit "Ojos Así".[108] She told Portuguese TV "Many of my movements belong to Arab culture."[108] She also cites her parents as major contributors to her musical style.[108]

In childhood, Shakira preferred rock and roll music, listening heavily to her favorite rock bands like Led Zeppelin,[109] The Beatles, Nirvana, The Police and U2.[110] She lists John Lennon as her #1 musical influence. She was also deeply influenced by The Rolling Stones, AC/DC, The Who, The Pretenders, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Cure, Tom Petty, Depeche Mode, The Clash, Ramones, who influenced on her many prominent songs.[111] In a recent interview to Elenco magazine, she noted that in her opinion the perfect songs are "Imagine" by John Lennon and "No Woman, No Cry" by Bob Marley.[112]

Shakira made several covers of prominent artists such AC/DC and Aerosmith, using them to sing in her tours, resulting in performances of "Back in Black"[113] and "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)" during her Tour of the Mongoose. She also sang the classic Elvis Presley song "Always On My Mind" at the VH1 Divas Live.[citation needed]

She also has strongly influenced by Andean music and South American folk music, using her native instrumentation for the Latin dance-pop "Whenever, Wherever" and in more serious and mournful "Despedida", marking it the song of my dreams.[114] Shakira recently performed two songs for two separate Haiti benefit events: "I'll Stand By You", by The Pretenders, and "Solo le Pido a Dios" by Mercedes Sosa.

Dancing

Shakira is well known for her dancing in various music videos and in concert. Her moves are based on the art of Arabic belly dancing, a part of her Lebanese heritage. She often performs barefoot. Shakira says she learned this form of dance as a young teen to overcome her shyness. She also mentioned in a MTV interview that she learned how to belly dance by trying to flip a coin with her belly.[115] The intense training has afforded her a fluidity in her body movement most seen in the videos to her hits "Ojos Así", "La Tortura", "Hips Don't Lie", "Whenever, Wherever / Suerte", "Beautiful Liar" "and "She Wolf / Loba". She has had several belly dance choreographers, including award-winning Bellydance Superstar Boženka.[116] As the MTV Making the Video for "La Tortura" reveals, she worked with Jamie King on the choreography, but ended up creating most of it herself.

Acting

Shakira appeared in the Colombian telenovela El Oasis in 1995, playing the character of Luisa Maria.[117] In December 2009, Shakira appeared as herself in the Ugly Betty episode "The Bahamas Triangle".[118] In 2010, Shakira appeared as herself in an episode of Wizards of Waverly Place.[119]

She was invited personally by Gabriel Garcia Marquez to play a role in Love in the Time of Cholera, but declined due to the nudity involved.[120]
Records and achievements

According to BMI, Shakira is the highest-selling Colombian artist of all time, having sold more than 50 million albums worldwide.[121] According to Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems, "Hips Don't Lie" was the most-played pop song in a single week in American radio history. It was played 9,637 times in one week.[122] Shakira became the first artist in the history of the Billboard charts to earn the coveted number one spots on both the Top 40 Mainstream and Latin Chart in the same week doing so with "Hips Don't Lie".[122]

"La Tortura" broke the record on the Billboard's Hot Latin Tracks chart, appearing at #1 more than any other single (a total of 25 non-consecutive weeks).[123] According to Yahoo!, "Hips Don't Lie" is the Best-Selling Single of the Last 10 Years, which is apparently the best-selling single since 2000.[124] According to Forbes Magazine, Shakira was the fourth highest-earning woman in music for 2008 behind Madonna, Barbra Streisand and Celine Dion.[125] According to Nokia, Shakira has topped up more music downloads in the last year than any other Latino artist, and She Wolf topped the Top 10 Latino downloads.[126]

Discography

Main article: Shakira discography

* Pies Descalzos (1995)
* ¿Dónde Están Los Ladrones? (1998)
* Laundry Service (2001)
* Fijación Oral Vol. 1 (2005)
* Oral Fixation Vol. 2 (2005)
* She Wolf (2009)
* Sale El Sol (2010)

Tours

* 1996–1997: Tour Pies Descalzos
* 2000: Tour Anfibio
* 2002–2003: Tour of the Mongoose
* 2006–2007: Oral Fixation Tour
* 2010–2011: Tour of Earthly Delights

Shakira Interview About Her Life

WAKA WAKA

Ali Zafar

2010-08-16T01:55:00.000-07:00

Ali Zafar also known as the Prince of Pop (born May 18, 1980 in Lahore, Pakistan), is a Pakistani musician, actor, painter and model probably most noted around South Asia for his music, including his hit songs like Channo, Rangeen, Chal Dil Merey, Dekha, Masty and Sajania. He started his singing career with the hit song Jugnuon Se Bhar Le Aanchal in the film Shararat, directed by Pakistani actress and director Samina Peerzada.

Early life and career

Zafar was born to two professors at the University of the Punjab. He initially attended the C.A.A. Public School and later moved to the Beaconhouse School System from where he topped in his matric examinations. He then went onto GC College and completed his FA. Later he graduated from the National College of Arts as a painter in 2002 with honors. Before entering the Pakistani musical scene, Zafar worked as a model for several commercial advertisement besides acting in television. He worked in the Pakistani television serial Lunda-Bazar, Kanch Ke Par and in the teenage sitcom Kollege Jeans. He was also in the music video of Preeto sung by Abrar-ul-Haq.

Music career

Zafar made his debut as a musician with the album Huqa Pani, released in Pakistan in 2003 and worldwide in 2005. The album was an instant hit, selling over 600,000 worldwide and winning several major awards and nominations. It also put him into the league of the most popular artists ever to have come out of Pakistan with a massive fan following locally and internationally. He was described by The Hindu as "take a Kishore Kumar-like voice, club it with yuppie Ibiza-ish electronic beats, and add a bit of nostalgic lyrics".^[1]

His comparison to Kishore Kumar was frequently made initially but with time he proved to be perhaps the most versatile singer in the modern generation with a distinct vocal tone and qualities, specially during his folk and Sufi renditions in the "Coke Studio Sessions", where he surprised his audiences with live renditions of difficult notes with much ease and ranging his singing from pop to folk to semi-classical. His new songs, namely "Allah Hu", "Yaar Dhadhi Ishq" (a cover), "Nahin Ray Nahin" and "Daastan-e-Ishq" won the hearts of millions all over the world once again and earned him a new era of fan following.

He won the award for "Best Album" category at the Lux Style Awards in 2004 for his massive hit album Huqa Pani and also the "Best Male Artist" at the 2008 MTV awards.^[2] In addition to the album's popularity being reflected in the music stores and by critics, it has been widely claimed that Himesh Reshammiya plagiarized one of the most well-known tracks from the album, Rangeen, for the song Dillagi Mein Jo.^[3] Soon Pritam too copied his track "Channo" as "Chori ki Baatein" in the film Fight Club.

Zafar launched his second album "Masty" nationwide in November 2006. He has since released four videos from the album called "Masty", "Sajania", "Dekha" and "Aasmaan". A press conference for the release of the album was held in Lahore. The album was released under the banner of Fire Records. "Masty" was released in India in February 2007. The album contained two additional remixed tracks and was launched by "FrankFinn Records".

He released his third and long awaited video of the single, "Dekha", from his second album, which was the most expensive music video of Pakistan, costing more than seven million rupees. The video was shot in Malaysia, produced by the Lux Company, and had the famous Pakistani actresses/models, Reema Khan, Meera, and Amina Haq, starring in it. Zafar also won the "Youth Icon" award in the Lux Style Awards 2007, in Malaysia.

His personality has been described as multi-talented. Besides being a singer, painter, model and an actor, he has proved himself as a good music director and producer by directing and producing his music video "Ek Pal" from his first album Huqa Pani which was a big hit nationwide.

Ali Zafar announced in August 2010, that he is working on his third album, which he hopes to release in mid-2011. Not only that, the album will also consist of him doing an duet with singer, Ahmed Jahanzeb.

Film career

Ali Zafar Comic Movie "TERE BIN LADEN"was released 16 july 2010 and gross 50 million in opening weekend ,$150,000 million in Britain,U.A.E and Australia,before it,s U.S release.This film collected [7.11] Crores at Box Office.

Personal life

Zafar married his long-time-fiance Ayesha Fazli on July 28, 2009 in Lahore.^[4] On March 7, 2010, he became a father to a baby boy, who he named Azaan Zafar.^[5]

Filmography

Actor

Tere Bin Laden (2010)

Discography

Albums

Masty (Released on December 1, 2006)

Huqa Pani (Released on November 21, 2003)

Famous Songs

From his second album Masty

- Dekha
- Aag
- Sajania
- Aasmaan
- Masty

From his first album Huqa Pani

- Channo
- Huqa Pani
- Rangeen
- Chal dil Merey
- Jugnuon se bhar le aanchal

Single(s)

- Those For Truth

Awards

Indus Music Awards 2005 - Best Pop Artist.
Asian Bollywood Music Awards 2005 - Best Pop Music Album in Pakistan Huqa Pani.
Indus Music Awards 2004 - The Best Album Huqa Pani.
Indus Music Awards 2004 - The Best Debut Artist.
Lux Style Awards 2004 - Best Music Album Huqa Pani.
Lux Style Awards 2007 - The Youth Icon Award.

References

^ Bhumika, K (September 27, 2005). "Chords & Notes". The Hindi.
^ "Lux Style Awards 2004 exclusively on Sony Entertainment Television Asia (official press release) (PDF)". June 25, 2004. http://www.setasia.tv/pdf/luxawards_2004.pdf.
^ "Aashiq Banaya Aapne - When Himesh meets Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan". IndiaGlitz. August 4, 2005. http://www.indiaglitz.com/channels/hindi/musicreview/7695.html. Retrieved 2006-05-29.
^ Ali Zafar Gets Married to Ayesha Fazli
^ "Ali Zafar is now a father!". 9-3-2010. http://www.pakium.com/2010/03/09/ali-zafar-is-now-a-father. Retrieved 11 June 2010.

Usman Shani

2010-08-16T01:54:00.000-07:00

Personal

Usman Shani married Aeysha Nida Yusuf on December 22, 2007.

Music

Usman Shani has released 2 albums and 2 of his tracks, one from each album has become a hit. Album titles are:

Morey Nain
Jaisay Jantay Nahein

"Morey Nain" features the famous solo, "Hath se Hath" - and the other album has the hit track "Jaise Jante Nahin". graduation in interior designing from NCA Lahore. From a very young age Usman Shani liked musical instruments more than toys and he was greatly inspired by his father who was a music lover and used to play a few musical instruments like sitar,flute etc.

As time passed Usman's attraction converted into passion and he decided to take it as a profession. Usman Shani has also taken basic classical music training from late Ustad Talib Hussain Jafri. Usman Shani is of the view that Classical music is base and without base nothing is complete.If someone wants to do well in music he must learn classical music.

Usman Shani was and still is a great fan of Mohammad Rafi. Usman Shani is in process of finalizing few songs for Pakistani and Indian films. In future,Usman has the desire to do more film songs because Usman feels that his voice is more suitable for film playback.

Usman Shani can play a Harmonium and a Guitar, but his wish is to play all music instruments in the world because dozens of instruments attract him so much. Being a playback singer and having classical training Usman loves to sing live.

In Usman's opinion, one thing which needs serious attention is that there is no music academy in Pakistan. It should have been done much earlier because the new generation has no idea how much they can learn from our musical heritage and this is only possible through an academy. That's why he has the wish to found a music academy in the future.^{[citation needed]}

Usman as an Actor

Usman Shani has stated in one place that he is soon to become an actor. Usman Shani is acting in an air force Drama Serial 'Wusatain' Written by 'Amjad Islam Amjad' and produced by 'ARY DIGITAL'. Once the drama has been released, and played on the TV, only then we would be able to see if he is a successful actor.

Orphans Relief Trust

Kashmir Orphans Relief Trust (K.O.R.T) started after the devastating earthquake that happened on the 8th October 2005 in Pakistan and Azad Kashmir.

Raheem Shah

2010-08-16T01:53:00.000-07:00

Rahim Shah (Urdu, Pashto: رحیم شاہ; born December 12, 1975 in Karachi) is a leading Pakistani pop singer. He started from Peshawar, NWFP, and is currently based in Karachi, Pakistan. He sings in Pashto, Urdu and Punjabi.^[1] He is an ethnic Pathan'

Early years and personal life

Rahim Shah was born in Karachi where he was cultured and educated yet his ancestry origin is from Swat which has been the reason for the dearth of apparent Pashto vision in his life. Rahim Shah is multi-lingual in fluent Pashto, Urdu and Punjabi.^[2] Swat is his ancestral home, he speaks his ethnic language Pashto fluently.

Rahim Shah's solo career began in the late 1990s with lots of hits to his credit from the onset, to mention the song 'GHUM' which broke popularity records. 'GHUM' isn't Rahim Shah's personal composition; it is an English folk song or tappa, sung by an anonymous singer. Haroon Bacha a well-known Pashtun singer also sang 'GHUM', but it was Rahim Shah who made the song a hit because he translated the ‘tappa’ into Urdu and gave the song his own arrangement. In short span of time Rahim Shah has shown his singing talent beyond belief. He sang 'GHUM' under the supervision of 'Salman Alvin' and recorded his album working extremely hard on making it different to others. The song turned out to be a huge hit and was highly appreciated by the people.Rahim don't have any problems in his life may be in feacture. Rahim Shah has been dancing over the recent plagiarism of his song by the Indian singer Altaf Raja who copied Rahim Shah's version of the song 'GHUM' and through that Altaf Raja gained popularity on satellite channels.

Music

His Pashto album 'PEERA' became an instant hit after its release. Another album called 'SABARO' had success with the tracks 'TAP TAP' and ‘PAYAL', in the same year he released another Pashto album titled 'MEDDA MEDDA'. After taking a short time of reflection he returned back to work bringing another hit with the song 'CHANNA'. He also worked on three videos that were ‘PRIYA’ and ‘RANG LAI MEHNDI’ directed by Sarwar whereas Suhail Javed directed his third video ‘TERE ISHQ NE’. Rahim Shah’s ultimate favourite song has to be ‘JHOOLA’ which he wrote and sang to his mother whom he dearly loves.

Rahim Shah once said the only difference he saw between his debut album and his current album is the ‘Music Arrangement’. Rahim Shah now feels he is ready to fulfil his initial desire of becoming a playback singer; it will place him on track according to his proven successes. Rahim Shah has stressed that there are very few people who produce professional music and look to making commercial music hoping for and instant hit with a song making this a very common practise. He believes that it is the listeners/s who dictate whether a melody is polpular or disliked. Even if a commercial song becomes a hit it is very short lived, it’s only the good melodies that survive time and continue to be liked for generations. In Urdu (main song sunata tha or main interested ho gaya or main gana gata tha or shoke hogaya songs ka)

His new ‘12 track’ album has taken a year to produce and will be released by the help of FIRE RECORDS (GEO TV). Rahim Shah has placed a real touch to his arrangements and used authentic music in the songs. The album contains music from three genres: film based music, folk music and pop music. Currently he has also been working on a video with professional focus on high budget videos with visual and marketing aids, which are an essential requirement within today’s music industry. Rahim Shah is known to have said, "There is no doubt that we (Pakistani’s) have got very good music but they (Indians) have a very good market.

Audience in India

Rahim Shah attracted the attention of an Indian audience with his song "Pehli Tu Kabhi Kabhi Gham tha", a tune which was sung in Pashto by renowned Pashto singer Haroon Bacha. This was later re-copied by Indian singer Altaf Raja. Rahim Shah still has somewhat of a fan base in India.

Interests

Rahim Shah's favourite singers are Salman Alvi, Nayyara Noor, Sonu Niigam and Asha. He has interest in welfare work but doesn't like to ask for donations. If GOD wills then Rahim Shah would carry out the welfare project with money from his own pocket. He said about his short hair, “it’s better a singer is remembered for his cheerful sweet sounding vocals than his long hair".

Discography

Albums

His albums are as follows:

Ghum - debut (1999)
Saba Ru (2001)
Laila
Peera
Channa (2003)
Pyar Nahin Milta (2004)
Yarana (2005)
Chercha (2007)
Maa'ma Dey (September 2009)

Singles

Bewafa
Danga Datha
Ghum
Chhum Chhum
Channa
Jhula
Payal
Ghanam rangi
Mama Dey (2009)

Aamir Saleem

2010-08-16T01:52:00.002-07:00

Aamir Saleem (Urdu: عامر سلیم) is a Pakistani singer. He has numerous hits in the early 1990s such as "Woh Taron Bhhari" & "C.B. Chali Ana". He also had a big hit later in 1993 with "Ajnabi". Apart from music Aamir is also into TV productions. He has directed many videos and road shows with famous anchor Ali Salman on MTV Pakistan with the name of Bad Company. He is also hosting a live show on PTV National and on FM 107. Aamir Saleem released his 6th Album which is still his last under title of "Dil Da Quater". This album mainly features Punjabi songs.

History

Aamir Saleem started singing when he was in school and he bought his first guittar after working in a hotel as a receptionist in summer holidays. He formed his first music band with the name "Image",his best friend naveed mugees was on guittar and alim arshid was on keyboard .After that he moved to Karachi in 1987. He used to sing with different bands to make money and record his first solo album that took three years to complete.

His first solo album, "Musafir" was a hit in 1991 among all age groups. His song "Woh Taron Bhari" was hit and his album sold well. It was released by Shalimar recording Company but unfortunately Aamir Saleem could not get financial benefits from his best selling album.

Albums

Musafir - 1991
Ajnabi - 1993
Humsafar - 1995
Mohabbat - 1997
Khwaab - 2001
Dil Da Quater - 2006

Saleem Javed

2010-08-16T01:52:00.001-07:00

Mohammad Saleem (Urdu محمد سلیم) better known as Saleem Javed is a Pakistani pop singer born in Hyderabad Pakistan. He emerged to fame in the 1980s,^[1] though, he was already known in some quarters before that, as a semi-classical singer due to his work in the classical industry.

Najam Sheraz

2010-08-16T01:50:00.000-07:00

Najam Sheraz (Urdu: نجم شیراز) is a Pakistani pop singer, musician, composer and comedy actor. He is most prolific singer; indeed he is a household name in Pakistan. Many of his songs have become anthems the world over. His latest album, eight in his career, "Najam" has been released recently both in India and Pakistan. His global peace song "Only Love" was selected by International Olympics Committee for Beijings Olympics 2008 Torch Relay in Islamabad.

History

Najam Sheraz was born in Multan, Pakistan on August 2, 1969. A natural sportsman, he played professional cricket with cricketing legends such as Inzamam-ul-Haq, Waqar Younis, and Mushtaq Ahmed. He is graduate of University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore where he studied and graduate in B. Tech. in civil engineering. He formed his first band with his elder brothers Booby (Dr. Zubair Adnan in Rawalpindi Pakistan) and Joji (Salman Nadeem in Brampton, ON, Canada) called Brother Rhythm in 1987. Both brothers till date seriously consider themselves better, more sophisticated music lovers and musicians than the much famous younger brother.

His second band came together in 1989. Wet Metal was at that time considered the best live band in the circuit. Performing in almost 1,000 shows all over the country, Najam Sheraz established himself as one of the strongest voices on stage.

He has sung and composed song for the new Aditya Narayan Movie Shaapit, titled "TERE BINA JIYA NA JAYE"

Solo career

In December 1993 the band members parted ways and Najam Sheraz began working on his solo career. His first solo single, 'In Sae Nain', was released in September 1994. It was an instant hit, selling more than 300,000 copies. 'Sohna Chata Hoon' his second single, received critical acclaim with its release in March 1995. It was soon followed by the release of his first solo album 'Khazana' in February 1996 and the video release of 'Larki', which brought him to the forefront of the musical mainstream. 'Khazana' sold a million copies, supported by the videos 'Aajana' 'Yeh Baat Kise Maloom Nahin' and 'Pyar Ki Piyas'. This album took Najam on his first foreign tour to Bahrain where he achieved huge success.

The lyrics of the song "Pyar Ki Pyas" were penned by Tahir Gul Hasan for a pop band named Wet Metal that had Najam Sheraz as the lead singer. The music was composed, played (except the lead guitar), recorded and mixed by Tahir at his own studios: Sound On Sound, Karachi.

Wet Metal's entire album's lyrics, music and recording came from Tahir Gul Hasan but the group disbanded before the album was finished. In 1993, "Pyar Ki Piyas" became the band's first single on TV. Najam Sheraz would later use "Pyar Ki Pyas" in his successful studio album: Khazana.

His next project was an experimental album, an eastern classical-rock fusion called 'Rakh Aas' with the band Karavan in November 1997.

His second solo album, 'Roop Nagar', was released in 1999 in Pakistan. Its first video release, 'Pal Do Pal Ki Chahat', was the first 35 mm music video to ever be produced in Pakistan. Najam was instantly signed by Pepsi Cola International in Pakistan and BMG-Cresendo in India. This album took him on his first North American tour to more than 10 cities. He also performed in Kuwait, where he was the first ever live act from Pakistan, and was especially well received.He has worked intensively in Europe and India with frequent visits to North America as well. His song for Anti Narcotics Force in 2007 became the Force's anthem and he has been acclaimed as an Ambassador-at-large by the ANF for his work with youth and deprived classes.

Breakout

Sheraz's first international release in 2000 was 'Pal Do Pal Ki Chahat'. In the same year, 20th Century Fox launched the film Split Wide Open. Sheraz's song 'Mera Jee Nahin Laage' was included on the soundtrack along with Air Supply, Asha Bhosle and Garbage. With this achievement, Najam Sheraz became the second Pakistani artist after Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan to be included on the soundtrack of an international film.

In February 2000, Sheraz released his first Punjabi album, 'Pyar Karannu Dil Karda', which produced hits like 'Pyar Karannu Dil Karda', 'Rabba', and 'Kajla'.

In February 2002 he released his fifth album, 'Jaisay Chaho Jiyo', which produced hits like 'Jaisay Chaho Jiyo', 'Ahista Ahista' and the huge success 'Aao Wahan Chalen'.

The Cricket World Cup of 2002 saw the success of 'Jeeto Mere Laal', which was also dedicated to the Pakistani Blind Cricket World Cup Champions.

In the Ramadan of 2002, the hamd 'Yeh Mamla Koi Aur Hai' became a major hit. The intensity and spirit of the song became so popular that it precedes every concert performance and audiences of every age and creed join voices in its recitation.

On 14 August, 2003 saw the launch of 'Hamari Pehchan' and 'Gillay Shikway Sub Bhula Do'. 'Hamari Pehchan' was directed towards raising nationalistic spirit, whereas 'Gillay Shikway Sub Bhula Do' focused on reuniting towards peace and brotherhood.

'Shahpar', a song about the Pakistan Air Force, was released on 6 September, 2003.

The Ramadan of 2003 saw the release of the album 'Yeh Mamla Koi Aur Hai'. Its release was imminent due to the success of the single of the same name in 2002. It included other naats such as 'Rahain Bhatakne Walay', 'In Fizaon Sae Aage', 'Gillay Shikway Sub Bhula Do', 'Shahpar', 'Aae Watan Pyare Watan', Allama Iqbal's 'Lab Pae Aati Hai Dua' and 'Kar Liya Sauda'.

Discography

Early experience:

Brother Rhythm – 1987
Wet Metal – 1989 performed more than 1000 shows around the country Pyar Ki Piyas 1993 first single on Tv
Solo Career began in 1994 – to date * In say Nain 1994 no 1
Sona Chahta hoon 1995 no 2 was banned from National Radio-Reason given: Lyrics and vocal performance too wild for the youth
Hawa Ka sipahi 1995 official Airforce song
Yeah Baat 1996 was censored on National TV Reason given: Against Establishment was aired heavily on satellite a few years later

Solo Albums: Album: Khazana – 1996 – Lips Records sold more than one Million copies Singles:

Larki 1996 no 1
Aajana 1996 no 1
Ae Aurat 1997 sound track of a special play for the Airforce Shahpar
Karavan The Rock Band Project:
Rakh Aas 1997 Pop music was banned on TV Reason given: long hair and jeans give a bad impression of the youth
In Fizaon Say Agay 1997 Official Golden jubilee song for the Airforce
Signed up with Pepsi Cola International 1999

Album: Roop Nagar – 1999 – Sonic/BMG Singles:

Mahia 1999 was censored on National TV Reason given : intense visuals
Amar Kahani 1999 World Cup Cricket song with Pepsi Cola was censored Reason given: Performance too wild for National TV
Pyar Karannu Dil Karda – 2000 – Lips Records first album in Punjabi language
Pal do Pal Ki Chahat – 2000 – BMG Cresendo (India)
Mera Ji Naheen Lagae 2000 became the soundtrack of 20th Century Fox's movie "Split Wide Open" along with Air Supply, Garbage, Asha Bhoslay..and a few others
Signed up with the No 1 Tea Company Tapal Tea Pvt.LTD.

Album: Jaisay Chaho Jiyo – 2002 – Sadaf Stereo Singles:

Jaisay chaho Jiyo 2002 no 1
Aao Wahan Chalain 2002 no 1
Aahista Aahista 2003
Rakh Aas – Karavan – 1997 – VCI Records
Mera Jee Nahin Laage – Included on the Soundtrack of 20th Century Fox film “Split Wide Open” –March 2000
Title song “Suraj Girhan” for PTV Drama Serial “ Suraj Girhan” – 2000
2 songs included in a UK released compilation album “Love Rocks-The Beginning” released by Gladiator Records- 28 October 2002
Jeeto Mere Laal 2002 –World cup cricket song later on dedicated to the Blind Cricket World Cup winners sponsored by Tapal Tea Pvt. Ltd.
Yeah mamla Koi Aur Hai 2002 a message of world peace and brotherhood first ever spiritual acapella Hamd by any popstar in the Muslim world no 1

Album :Yeah Mamla Koi Aur Hai 2003 - Label Event Records/Sadaf - Best seller in Pakistan UK USA Canada South Africa Album :Najam 2008 - FrankFinn Music India and Fire Records Pakistan - The album features Chris Eaton, Dan Wheeler, Natalia Williams, UK's famous Jazz Singer, Signe Anderson etc. Singles:

Yeah Mamla Koi Aur Hai 2002
Rahain Bhataknae Walay 2002
Kar Liya Soda 2003
Gilay shikway 2003 against War and terrorism
Shapar 2003 Official song for the Airforce
Ae Watan 1997 Tribute to the legendary Classical Maestro " Amanat Ali Khan

National Song “Hamari Pehchaan” – Dedicated to the nation on 14 August 2003 - Sponsored by Tapal Tea Pvt. Ltd.

Song “Jaise Tu (Harjaee)” for the soundtrack of GEO TV's Drama Serial “Daira” 2003
Shahpar – Air force Day Song – 6 September 2003
9th SAF Games 2004 3 songs for the 9th SAF Games opening and closing ceremonies in Pakistan “Rising Above - Buland Saab Taasubaat Sae” “Peace For All” and “Remember We Will”
Janbaz 2004 A tribute to Armed Forces sponsored by the largest tobacco company Lackson Tobacco Pvt.LTD.
Composed the song “Bheegay Hont Tere” for the Bollywood Film “Murder” produced by Mahesh Bhatt and Directed by Mukesh Bhatt which won all the film and music awards in 2005
Album "Menu Tere Naal 2004 Ten years of Najam Sheraz

Singles:

In Say nain 2004 version featuring 15 of Pakistan's top Musicians and Artists no 1
Menu Tere Naal OST of the Bollywood movie Murder no 1
Hamari Pehchan no 1
Rabba no 1
Peace for all
Song "Aa Mere Paas Aa" for the soundtrack of Hum TV's Drama serial Malika 2005
National Anthem of Pakistan reproduced for the first time since 1947 launched from the Presidency at 12AM on the 14th of August the Independence Day of Pakistan on all the TV Networks
Yeah Pal 2005 OST for the Bollywood Film Kalyug
Tribute song Jan Nisar to the Police Department of Pakistan.
Tribute Song Salam dedicated to the Armed Forces for their efforts during the Kashmir Earthquake 2005 also performed for UN and NATO forces in Kashmir.
Tribute song Zinda Qaum dedicated to the Nation for their united efforts during the Kashmir earthquake 2005.
Aa Mere Piyar Ki Khushbu Ost for the ARY TV's Drama Serial Aa Mere Piyar Ki Khushbu 2005
Signed up with the Largest Telecom Company Mobilink/Orascom for their biggest campaign to date to promote National harmony and tolerance also celebrating 20 million customers nationwide
Mohabbat Ki Zuban 2006 no 1 wrote, composed and performed the theme song of the campaign. The video of the song is also the largest budgeted video made in Pakistan to date. The song has also become a mobitune for the Telecom's 20 million customers.
I love you more than Anything 2006 no 1 Single from the upcoming Album featuring International singing and dancing group Heartbeat and Hisham (Reef)
Currently working on the 8th solo Album in UK with Chris Eaton as co-producer featuring the musical talents of Dan Wheeler , Mark Edwards, Miles Bould,Matt Weeks, Collin, Paul Burton (aka Paulie Poppadom) Natalie Williams and Signe Andersen.

Sponsorships:

Pepsi Cola International signed Najam Sheraz up for the year 1999
Tapal Tea Pvt. Ltd. signed Najam Sheraz up for the years 2001- 2003
Composed, sang and Produced the 50th Anniversary song for Coca Cola International - 2003
Mobilink/Orascom signed Najam Sheraz for their biggest campaign to date to promote National harmony and tolerance also celebrating 20 million customers nationwide. Acting Experience: * Long Play “Qurbani”. Played an aspiring music director in search of a break into the film industry. -1998
1 Episode of “Seth And Company” a comedy serial. Played a double role – as self and that of “Jabbar Plumber” - 1999
2 part Comedy Serial “Kirkit”. Played the role of the Captain of a street cricket team - 1999
2 Episodes of PTV Comedy Serial “Ahista Ahista”. Played self. Song “Ahista Ahista” from the album “Jaisay Chaho Jiyo” was used as the tile song-2002

Comparing Experience:

Toshiba Bomba Show – BBCL Productions A musical showcase and game show of 13 episodes in which various Artists were invited to perform and interact with myself– 1999/2000
Ramzan on the Streets – GEO TV A 4 episode game show based on the spirit and essence of Ramzan

Tours:

Bahrain – December 1996
USA/Canada – October/November 1998
Kuwait – December 1998
India – May 1999
India – March 2000
Norway – August 2003
UAE - Dubai – November 2003
UAE - Dubai – March 2004
Bahrain – April 2004
UAE - Dubai – May 2004
USA – June 2004
USA/Canada – August/September 2004
India - August 2004
UK - December 2004
Dubai - Bollywood Music Awards - February 2005
UK - Bradford Festival - June 2005
UK - July 2005
Norway - Oslo Festival - August 2005
UK - August 2005
USA - New York Pakistan Independence Day Parade - August 2005
India - September 2005
Kashmir - Earthquake Relief and Rehab Program - October 2005
UAE - Dubai - December 2005
UK - East London - Global Peace and Unity Event 2005 - December 2005
Canada - Toronto - Reviving The Islamic Spirit Conference 2005 - December 2005
UK - May 2006
India - Mumbai - June 2006
UK - London - June 2006
UK - Manchester August 2006
UK - London October 2006
UK - East London - Global Peace and Unity Event 2006 - November 2006
Manchester - UK - December 2006
UK- February 2007

Awards:

Best New Artist of the Year – Pro Audio Show 1996 – Karachi
Best Music Album of the Year – Yeh Mamla Koi Aur Hai – Lux Style Awards 2004 – Dubai
Best Male Artist of the year – Indus Music Awards – 2004
Maymar-e-Watan Award 2004 - Sindh Provincial Assembly - Karachi
Special Award for the Hamd “Yeh Mamla Koi Aur Hai” – Indus Music Awards – 2004
Indo-Pak Celebrity Peace Cricket Match - March 2004 – Sharjah. Received the Man of the Match and Best Bowler Awards
Best OST Award for a Bollywood Film Murder Song Menu Tere Naal -Bollywood Music Award 2005

Rabi Peerzada

2010-08-16T01:49:00.000-07:00

Rabi Peerzada (also spelled as Rabi Pirzada), is a Pakistani pop singer. She was born in Quetta on February 3, but natively belongs to Muzaffarabad, Azad Kashmir. She is a daughter of Ex Pak army officer Major Humayoon Peerzada. She is the only female Karate Black-belt holder from Punjab province.

Rabi Peerzada was a drummer and an occasional singer in her college life. But she was started her career as a Host for weekly television show Sunday Ke Sunday, she also hosted a musical show Sur Sangeet. Rabi was also worked in television play Koi To Aaye Ga as an actress.

Her first song was Dadi Kuree released in 2004, Dadi Kuree, brought Rabi a lot of popularity. Her first music album Jadoo was released in 2005. In 2006, she was released her second album Mujhe Ishq Hai.

In December 23, 2006 she was married to Ali.

Albums

Dadi Kuree, (2005)
Mujhe Ishq Hai, (2006)

Nusrat Hussain

2010-08-16T01:48:00.000-07:00

Nusrat Hussain (Urdu: نصرت حسین) started in the music industry with Vital Signs,^[1] and he even appeared in the "Dil Dil Pakistan" video. Earlier, he played keyboards with bands that his frieds formed in Islamabad.

When Salman Ahmed, a member of the band (but who was not in the band when the Dil Dil Pakistan video was released) went his separate way, Nusrat joined him to form a Band with Ali Azmat as lead vocalist, a band called Junoon. If Vital Signs were the pioneers of pop music in Pakistan, Junoon were the pioneer of sufi rock^{[citation needed]}, an eclectic mix of rock'n'roll and traditional ethnic music with religious undertones.

After spending some time with Vital Signs, and Junoon, Hussain ventured on his own and released a solo album titled (Amrit). It was a sincere effort that reflected Nusrat's skills and experience in the music industry. Unfortunately, the album did not do quite as well as expected. It could have been that he was a relatively unknown in the pop music scene.

Nusrat Hussain is a professional pilot and flies the Airbus A310 of Pakistan International Airlines as a Captain (PIA).

Nazia and Zoheb

2010-08-16T01:46:00.000-07:00

Nazia and Zoheb (Urdu: نازیہ اور زوہیب) were a Pakistani pop group from Karachi, Sindh formed in 1980. The group comprised of two siblings, Nazia Hassan and Zoheb Hassan, who were a singing sensation and pop icons in Pakistan and all of South Asia. They were also regarded as pioneers of the Pakistani pop music scene during the 1980s. Nazia and Zoheb are also one of the most successful group in Pakistan with sold more than 55 million albums sold worldwide^[1] , making them one of the world's best-selling music artists.

The group initially gained prominence from their music single "Aap Jaisa Koi" first featured as a soundtrack for the Indian film Qurbani. The song was also part of the group's debut album Disco Deewane released in 1981 by Indian producer Biddu. The album was the best selling album in all over Asia at that time and it also changed trends of music in Pakistan and was the first South Asian album that was also a hit in Brazil, Russia, South Africa and Indonesia. The duo released their second album Boom Boom in 1982 which was also the soundtrack for the Bollywood movie Star, based on the life of both the brother and sister. After two years the band recorded their critically acclaimed Young Tarang (1984) which is the first video album release in Pakistan. The video album sold 40 million copies worldwide and became the highest selling video album. Nazia and Zoheb released their fourth studio album, Hotline (1987), which featured the duo's younger sister, Zahra Hassan, on tracks "Soja" and "Telephone Pyar". The group released their last studio album Camera Camera in 1992, which was also the first album produced by Zoheb Hassan.

Before the release of their fifth studio album, Nazia and Zoheb announced during a launching ceremony that it would be their last album. The album did not achieved the same success as the previous releases did and only received average reaction from critics. After the album's release, Nazia left her singing career to focus on her personal life. Zoheb went on to pursue his career as a solo artist and released his debut album Kismat in 2006.

History

Early years (1975-1981)

Nazia and Zoheb spent their childhood in Karachi as well as London. In late 1970s, both siblings attended and sang at "Sang Sang Chalien" and "Kaliyon Ke Mala", famous musical shows for children hosted by the music maestro Sohail Rana. Ironically, in the early days Zoheb was not so interested in music at all. He used to shy away from TV shows. According to him when it was time to record a show he would hide behind a sofa. But his mother convinced him to accompany Nazia to the children's tv show. Later he developed a keen interest in playing guitar and requested famous musician Alamgir to give him guitar lessons. In mid 70s Nazia and Zoheb's family shifted to London and both continued music but only as a hobby.

It the early part of 1980 the duo's father invited Indian actors Vinod Khanna, Zeenat Aman and Feroz Khan to a dinner while they were in London shooting the film Qurbani. Feroz Khan, who was also the producer of the film, inquired who the guitar in the corner of the dining room belonged. Zoheb promptly answered it was his. He asked Zoheb to play a number. He did so accompanied by Nazia on vocals. Feroz Khan were extremely impressed with the talent of duo and since he required a female vocalist for his film he asked Nazia if she would play back for Zeenat Aman. Luckily their parents agreed and hence a new kind of music never heard before in the sub-continent was introduced what is now Asian pop. Nazia's number "Aap Jaisa Koi" broke all records as the fastest and highest selling record of all time not only in the sub-continent but in all of Asia. The song was a huge success in India and despite Nazia being a Pakistani, she gained overnight fame there.^[2] In 1981, Nazia won the Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Award for the single "Aap Jaisa Koi".^[3]

Breakthrough era (1981-1983)

After the success of the song "Aap Jaisa Koi", the film Qurbani became a hit in India and Nazia Hassan along with her brother Zoheb Hassan went on to collaborate with Biddu, a UK based Indian music producer; who also composed the song "Aap Jaisa Koi", on numerous other projects. Nazia became the first playback singer to release a studio album when she and her brother released their debut album Disco Deewane on April 3, 1981. The album broke record sales in Pakistan and India and even topped the charts in the West Indies, Latin America and Russia. This particular album is credited as pioneering the pop culture in the sub continent, outselling international albums such as Saturday Night Fever.

The sales from the group's debut album were over 14 million from all over the world. The album release made both the siblings established musicians in Pakistan. Nazia and Zoheb were called in for an interview by the BBC. Their interview went this way: "This is BBC News from London. Welcome to BBC News Today. We have with us a teenage duo by the name of Nazia and Zoheb from Pakistan, who not only rock the music scene back home but have also revolutionized the Asian Music scene by introducing Asian pop. Their album Disco Deewane has sold over 14 million records, not only in Asia, but, also in far off regions in South America, South Africa and Russia. So tell me Nazia and Zoheb, what is the secret of your success?"

“Well, I don’t know, I think the reason is, we never copied anyone and we've always tried to come up with original music that young people can identify with and above all simply because we do what we enjoy the most,” came the reply from Nazia.

Nazia Hassan recorded some videos in London for her album. She also recorded the English version of the single "Disco Deewane", named "Dreamer Deewane" for the UK charts. The group's debut album became the first Pakistani album to appear on the UK charts.

After the release of their debut album, Nazia and Zoheb were offered by Biddhu to act in the Bollywood movie Star, based on the life of both the brother and sister, but they refused to act and chose singing. On December 31, 1982, the group released their second studio album Boom Boom and was the soundtrack for the film. Nazia made an appearance in the film, singing the film's title song, "Boom Boom". Although the film did do well at the box office, the album was an instant success and lead to increasingly popularity of the pop duo in Pakistan and India.

The song "Nigahoon Say Duur" from the film, sung by Nazia and composed by Biddu, was not included in the album. Whereas, "Khushi (Teri Hai Meri Khushi)" was included in the album but was not featured in the film. All the songs from the album were declared super hit and got a strong position at the local music charts. "Boom Boom" topped the charts internationally. Nazia and Zoheb's second album became the first Pakistani album to have surround quality and Dolby effects.

Continued success (1983-1989)

Nazia and Zoheb released their third full length studio album Young Tarang on December 24, 1984. The album was composed and produced by Biddhu. It was the first album in Pakistan to feature music videos. The album sold more than 40 million copies worldwide and set the record of being the most selling video album of all time.

When both the duo were working on their third studio album, they decided to come up with some new idea. The idea was to produce an album containing music videos. It was totally a different thing in Sub Continent to make the music videos of songs as they were technically so high of cost and expensive. The duo went to directors like John King and Amit Khanna, Amit was famous for his film Sheeshe Ka Ghar in that era, who directed the music videos of the singles "Zara Chera Tu Dekhao", "Sunn" & "Dosti". Four music videos were shot in London, United Kingdom. Amit & John also worked on "Pyar Ka Jadu", "Dum Dum Dede", "Ankhien Milane Wale" & "Aag".

In 1984, Nazia and Zoheb also hosted a television programme called "Young Tarang Show". In 1985, the duo acted in the PTV, Pakistan state television, show "Aap Ke Liye". On November 24, 1987, Nazia and Zoheb released their fourth studio album Hotline. This album was the last album on which the group worked with the Indian producer Biddu. The album featured the duo's younger sister, Zahra Hassan, on tracks "Soja" and "Telephone Pyar".

By the end of the 1980s, Nazia and Zoheb became the most popular pop group of Pakistan. In 1988, Nazia and her brother Zoheb appeared with music maestro Sohail Rana in his television program, "Sung Sung". In the following year, Nazia and Zoheb hosted the groundbreaking show "Music '89". The show was produced by Shoaib Mansoor. It was the first-ever all pop-music stage show airing on television. The show launched the careers of many new rising bands and singers and became a popular show in Pakistan. The show was aired during the reign of General Zia-ul-Haq, Nazia and Zoheb hosted the most highly watched and controversial music ever broadcast on Pakistani television. The reason for its success was that it gave the youth of Pakistan a voice and an opportunity to express themselves in an era that was highly religious and culturally stunted. The programme "Music '89" a show which was watched more than an international cricket match catapulted at that time relatively new acts such as Vital Signs, Jupiters, Ali Azmat, etc to instant recognition. Nazia Hassan also hosted another show, "Dhanak" on PTV in the same year, 1989.

Retirement (1990-1995)

In 1991, Nazia and Zoheb recorded their fifth studio album, Camera Camera. Before the album's release, Nazia and Zoheb announced that it would be their last album during a launching ceremony held in Pearl Continental Hotel, Karachi, Sindh. On May 24, 1992, the duo released their last album composed and produced by Zohaib Hassan and Bappi Lahri. It was not successful like the group's previous albums and received average reaction from critics. In this album Nazia sung a Punjabi song “Tali Thay Thale” which ruled the music world in Pakistan just like before when "Aap Jaisa Koi" was released 12 years ago. This song was composed by Mian Sallahudin Yousaf and Zoheb Hassan. The album as an overall was a huge hit in Indonesia and Pakistan. The album also proved to be In the last album of Zoheb Hassan with his sister Nazia Hassan, due to Nazia's health concerns was geared to propagate an anti narcotics campaign with songs like "Nasha Na Karo". This album topped the charts in Indonesia, outselling George Michael. Zoheb Hassan's blockbusters like 'Wala Wai' and 'Kyun' proved his vocal versatility.

After the album's release, Nazia left her singing career to focus on her personal life. The composer of her albums, Biddu had composed a song, Made in India and wanted Nazia to sing in it but the retired Nazia refused to sing a song that may offend Pakistan. After Nazia's refusal, the song was offered to Alisha Chinai, who accepted the offer and marked the birth of Indipop. In 1995, Nazia went on to marry and decide not to sing again. Zoheb went on to handling his father's extensive business in Pakistan and the UK. He was also appointed Advisor to Governor Sindh for the Image Promotion of the Province of Sindh.

Nazia's death and beyond (2000-2002)

Nazia died of lung cancer in London on August 13, 2000 at the age of 35.^[4] She was admitted to North Finchley Hospice three days earlier when her condition deteriorated. She showed signs of mild recovery the day before she passed away and it was thought that doctors would allow her to go home. But early Sunday morning, her mother, Muneeza Hasan, was called to the hospital where her daughter had started coughing heavily at around 9:15am. She died within minutes. Nazia is buried at the Muslim Hendon Cemetery in London.

On Saturday, March 9, 2002 at the Nazia Hassan Tribute Concert, held in Karachi, the classic lineup of Vital Signs performed together on stage—for the first time in almost 7 years. The concert was attended by an enthusiastic audience and it was their original line-up which went up on stage, a line-up that hadn't played together ever since mid-1990, but still stole the show. The Vital Signs, reunited for a nostalgic 30-minute-stint at the high-profile Nazia Hassan Tribute Concert. The band realized that though a whole new generation of pop fans has grown up and their brand of pop music is still well remembered. After the Nazia Tribute Concert, the pop industry was rife with speculations that the Vital Signs were set to record their long-awaited fifth album but these speculations were denied by the band.^[5] On March 23, 2002 the Government of Pakistan has conferred upon Nazia Hassan the highest civilian award Pride of Performance. The award was presented to Mrs. Muniza Basir, mother of Nazia Hassan, by the President of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf in an official ceremony held at Islamabad.

In 2003, Nazia's family established a charitable organization named after her. The organization was established in continuation of her life long charitable and social efforts to make the world a better place to live in for all irrespective of colour, creed or religion.

Her brother Zohaib Hassan help set up a charity foundation named after her to help in creating support systems for children in need as well as providing homes for them. The foundation also sponsors awards in recognition of individuals who promote greater harmony between cultures. The recipients of these awards will be selected from all fields ranging from music and the arts to science, sport, business, engineering, humanities and charitable work, politics, etc. The Nazia Hassan Foundation seeks to promote fusion between different cultures, traditions and beliefs.

(2006)

Zoheb Hassan acted in the drama serial "Kismat" in 2006 and released his solo album of the same title in 2006. This article contains official information and all the information has been confirmed by Nazia & Zoheb's Family.

Legacy

Pakistan's vibrant contemporary music scene owes itself to Nazia Hassan's redefinition of pop. In fact, the biggest nineties bands including the Vital Signs and the Jupiters got a platform on "Music '89". Nazia also had a seismic impact in India. She has contributed to the development of the present isomorphism of Bollywood music and pop: “She set - well ahead of its time - the personal album trend in India”, spawning the likes of Alisha Chinai, Lucky Ali and Shweta Shetty. After the huge success of their music, Nazia and Zoheb were signed by EMI Group and were the first South Asian singers to be signed by an international music company.

Besides music, Nazia and Zoheb has the honour of starting a noble trend of working for the under privileged and poor. All their money earned from music was spent for charity. Both the brother and sister supported the “Inner Wheel Club” of India to help with funds for them. In Pakistan, an organization “BAN” for fighting against the curse of narcotics was established. Nazia and her brother belonged to many charity organizations and worked with their mother Muniza Basir in the low income areas of Karachi to help the needy and sick. Nazia and Zoheb worked with Javed Jabbar, former Information Minister, to raise funds for children in Rajasthan. Nazia Hassan went to a very large number of schools to collect toys for the poor children and gave talks on the subject of social awareness for the under privileged. Nazia never forgot the love and support of all the schools and always spoke with great affection for them. The worthy staff and the students of St Joseph’s Convent School, Mama Parsi School and many others had gone out of their way to help the cause.

Surprisingly, music was only a hobby for Nazia and though her achievements in this field were any one’s dream come true, she lived away from the glitzy world and led a secluded and simple life. She completed her education in the UK, got a law degree and then worked in the United Nations in the Security Council. Nazia continued her social work even in New York and worked for children from the UN platform.

Nazia Hassan is known to be the "Sweetheart of Pakistan" and today is still the symbol of grace, sacred beauty and innocence and is frequently compared to Princess Diana as she was known to possess a heart of gold. Nazia and Zoheb both spent their teenage lives between Karachi and London.^{[citation needed]}.

Discography

Albums

Disco deewane (1980)
Star/Boom Boom (1982)
Young Tarang (1984)
Hotline (1987)
Camera Camera (1992)
Kismat - Zohaib (2006)

Films

Qurbani - Nazia (1980)
Star (1982)
Dil Wala (1986)
Ilzaam (1986)
Main Bulwaan (1986)
Mera Saaya (1986)
Sheela (1987)
Saaya (1989)

Solos

Our Love Last Forever (1981)
Dreamer Deewane (1981)
Nigahon Se Durr (1982)
Then He Kissed Me (1988)
Don't Think Twice (1988)
Ankhien Band Karo (1995)
Star of Asia (2002)
Medlay (2002)
Sathi Ray (2003)
Khobsorat (2003)
halla gulla(1982)
sheela o my sheela(1982)
takta munni mana(1982)
mein aya tere liye(1982)
tonight pyar karo(1982)
guzar rahi hai khazan
aana aankhon mein

TV appearances

Kaliyon Ki Mala (1975)
Sang Sang Chalien (1977)
Disco Deewane (BBC Show 1981)
Disco Deewane (DD 1 1981)
BBC News (1981)
Zia Moh-u-Din Show (Channel 4 1981)
David Sole (1981)
David Essex (1981)
Young Tarang Show (DD 1 1984)
Aap Ke Liye (PTV 19 December 1984)
PTV Election Transmission (1985)
Show Time (PTV 1986)
Yes Sir No Sir (PTV 1987)
TV Hits (1987)
BBC Show (1987)
PTV Awards (1988)
Then He Kissed ME (1988)
Don't Think Twice (1988)
Music 89 (1989)
Dhanak (1989)
Aap Ke Mehman (1990)
PTV 25 (1990)
Mehman-i-Khasosi (1990)
Studio 2 (1990)
Eid Show (1992)
Eye Witness (1993)
Kaliyan (1990 - 1991)
Pro Audio Show (1995)
Sawaire Sawaire (PTV 1997)
PTV World (1998)
Zee TV (1999, Nazia Hassan's Last TV Appearance)
Zee Tv (2000)
Tribute Concert to Nazia Hassan (2002)
PTV Prime (2000)
PTV Nite Time Transmission (2002)
PTV Awards (2002)
Face of The Year (2002)
Black & White (Indus Vision 2002)
PTV Ramdan Transmission (2003)
Face of The Year (2003)
Gaye Ge Dunia Geet Mere (Geo TV, 2003)
Kismet Show (Geo TV, 2006)
Hum Morning Show (Hum Tv, 2007)
Marina Morining (ARY Digital, 2007)
Baat Niklay Gee Tu (ARY Digital, 2007)
Tribute to Nazia Hassan" (Play TV, 2008)
Nazia Hassan Ke Salgirah" (MTV, 2008)
Subah Sawaire with Shaista" (ARY OneWorld, 2008)
Sunday with Bushra (Geo Entertainment, April 27, 2008)

TV commercials

Sitara Sapna Lawn
Lipton (1990)
Lipton (1991)
Lipton (1992)
Walls Cornetto (2001)
Polio Compaign (2002)

TV dramas

Kismet (Geo Tv, 2006)

Faakhir Mehmood

2010-08-16T01:45:00.000-07:00

Faakhir Mehmood (Urdu: فاخر محمود) is a Pakistani singer and music composer. He started out his career in a Pakistani musical group called Awaz. However to conflicts of interest the band split and they all went to become solo artists. The band Awaz also consisted of well known musician Haroon.

Faakhir has produced three albums as prior to 2006. His 2000 debut album, Aatish, was a big hit. His song in the album called Dil Na Lagey was the number one song for many weeks and was the best national song of the year 2000.

His latest album is Mantra. On that album there is a song called Jiya Na Jaye, in which Faakhir shares a duet with Indian singer Sunidhi Chauhan. Another song in that album called Mahi Ve won two awards in the India Sangeet Awards, in which he also performed.

One reason why Faakhir's music is popular is because of its unique use of diverse music and lyrics. He has a lot of Western and European influences in his music. His song Dil Ruba which is a track with Spanish influence and his song Kabhi Kabhi Pyar Mein were also instant hits. His single Sub To Suniyeh was also a big hit. As of 2007, Faakhir has decided to take a break on his music career so he can spend more time with his family.

Awaz

Faakhi attended the University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore but moved to United States. After graduating with a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering from the George Washington University in the United States in the early 1990. It was his university years when he met with Asad Ahmed and Haroon. Together, they formed the band Awaz.

Solo career

Faakhir started working on his album ‘Aatish’ in July 2000 by releasing his 1st single in August, a national song ‘Dil Na Lagay’. This national song become an instant hit and topped the music charts in Pakistan..

Riding on his wave of success he performed in New York and Washington DC where he sang to crowd of more than 30,000 people.

The same year he charmed a large audience in Dubai, UAE.

2001 was perhaps the most gratifying year for Faakhir as an artist as his other two releases, ‘Kabhi Kabhi Pyaar Mein’ and ‘Dilruba’ both topped the charts and became instant hits.

The song ‘Kabhi Kabhi Pyaar Mein’ won a Lux Style Awards while his other single ‘Dilruba’ (Pakistan’s most expensive Music Video, shot in Spain) was also nominated for best video and Direction at the same prestigious ceremony.

As a performer

The neutrality of this section is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved. (April 2010)

“To me music is like the stars in the sky, it does to the soul, what the stars do to break the muteness of the stark black sky” -Faakhir

His acts are filled with energy, charged with unmistakable enthusiasm and a charismatic voice to compliment all the magic that unfolds on stage.

His ‘Sage Traits’ has enabled him as a much sought-after and liked performer. His heartthrob personality and melodious songs come together in perfect harmony to create a ‘concert; out of any ordinary ‘show’.

“The most promising act to come up these days is surely Faakhir” -The News July 22, 2001

Faakhir’s live shows have taken his ’music and magic’ to many countries in the world including the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Asia in addition to big and small cities across Pakistan.

Faakhir has performed alongside International contemporaries from the region and Europe including, Sukhbir and Stereo Nation to name a few.

Faakhir has to his credit having done the most numbers of shows with International Artists in Pakistan.

As a soloist

“Multi skilled Faakhir has been compared with Adnan Sami Khan because he is trained as a musician, writes his lyrics, composes music, produces and sings”

Eastern Eye, London June 29, 2001

Now that I have started singing, I know there is no turning back. And the more I get involved in it now, the more I realize what I have been missing- at least not any more. -Faakhir

Faakhir’s long association with Awaz was a satisfying experience. His dedication, compositions and arrangements for the band led to many smash hits. Its success can be measured from the fact that these hits still echo in people’s mind and come to their lips besides being aired on TV and radio regularly. His famous works include, ‘Mr. Fraudiye’, ‘Ae Jawan’, and ‘Shawa’ just to name a few.

After deciding to go solo, Faakhir started work on his debut Album, ‘Aatish’.

In July 2000, his efforts bore fruit as his very first song for the album; Dil Na lagey won him instantaneous approval and recognition as a singer. He song stayed on music charts as ‘Number one’ of many weeks before being declared as the best national song for the year 2000 by a local FM Radio Station.

Awards

Pride of Performance Award (Musics)

Discography

Albums

Aatish (2002)
Sub Tun Sohniyeh (2003)
Mantra (2005)

Trivia

Faakhir is an Electrical Engineer.
He is a former member of the Pakistani group, Awaz, in which he used to play the keyboard.

Malkoo

2010-08-16T01:44:00.001-07:00

Malkoo is a popular singer in Punjab, Pakistan. He was born Mohammad Ashraf Malik in Sargodha, Pakistan. He has performed in numerous countries ^[1]. In addition to performing, he writes lyrics, and has penned many hit songs for other singers. Waris Baig's album Aa Ja Nach Lay was written and composed by Malkoo.^{[citation needed]}

He is best known for re-popularizing the song "Kala Jora Pa", which became a hit in Pakistan and has since been performed by many other artists.^{[citation needed]}

Early life

Malkoo was born on June 4. He attended Malikwal Government High School. Currently he lives in Lahore.

Hadiqa Kiyani

2010-08-16T01:42:00.000-07:00

Hadiqa Kiani (Urdu: حدیقہ کیانی) is a female Pakistani pop singer. After working on a successful music project with Adnan Sami, Kiani released her successful debut album, `Raaz'. After a musical ban imposed on her from the government, Kiani successfully returned to the music scene with her second effort, `Roshni'. It remains her best selling album to date and helped establish her as both a musical icon and the country's leading female vocalist.

Kiani followed up Roshni with a more mature album, `Rung'. In 2007, she became the first Pakistani mainstream artist to release a complete English album, `Rough Cut'. Kiani is also a judge on a new singing reality show in Pakistan called LG Awaaz Banay Star. She released her fifth album, `Aasmaan' in June 2009. One of the most successful musicians in Pakistan, she has been awarded the Tamgha-e-Imtiaz.

Early life

Kiani was born on August 11. She is the youngest of 3 siblings. Her father died when she was 3 years old. Kiani recalled the experience of losing her father in a talk show called Heart to Heart on ARY. She said it was very difficult for a few years for her family as issues had risen after her father's death. Her mother was, nevertheless, very brave throughout their upbringing, she added. Her mother Khawar was principal of a government all-girl school while Kiani and her older siblings were growing up. After her father's death and the resultant loss of financial support the family had to use the school as a temporary home. Kiani and both her siblings had a knack for music, and so her mother and the school enlisted her in the Pakistan National Council of the Arts. Kiani then performed in front of a crowd of a thousand people at Liaqat Memorial Hall Pindi.^[1]

She went on to study at Viqar-un-Nisa Noon Girls High School Pindi. She represented Pakistan in International children festivals in Turkey, Jordan, Bulgaria, and Greece, winning various medals along the way.^[1] She also used to be on Sohail Rana's "Rang Barangi Dunya"; a weekly musical.^[1]

As an eighth grader Kiani moved from birth place Rawalpindi to Lahore. She was then enrolled in "Naya Aligarh Public School". She then went on to Kinnaird and Govt. College due to her excellent academic performance^[1] and earned a Masters Degree in Psychology.

Raaz

Kiani released her debut album Raaz (Secret) in 1995. Kiani wrote the lyrics for her first single, "Jeevan" (Life). The album spawned a string of radio friendly tunes and generally had favorable reviews. One reason why Kiani's album did well was because it was not common for female singers to release albums at the time. She was, furthermore, the first female singer to release a pop album after a former pop singer, Nazia Hassan, gave up her musical career in 1993. Kiani's ability to sing in various dialects also helped the album gain momentum.

Still, Raaz performed well. The album's success was highlighted by it being mentioned in an article which recapitulated the major events in Pakistan's music history. The article stated "Hadiqa Kiani successfully releases debut album Raaz".^[2] She also won "NTM Viewer's choice award" for the best female Singer of Pakistan in 1995.^[3].

In 1996, Kiani's debut album had sold over 700 thousand copies. She kept on releasing singles from the album, all of which were received well. These included "Yaad", "Tu Agar Mil Jaata", "Jaan E Jan", and "Manne Di Mauj".

Roshni

In 1998 Kiani began working on her second music album, Roshni (Light). The album was dedicated to her nephew Sonu ( her older sister's son ). Kiani takes good care of her nephew and considers him a significant person in her life. The first single off the album, "Tu Nawa Tu Sada" was released before the album was released. Kiani then released a second single, "Inteha-e-Shauq". It was designated the official theme song for the Pakistani Cricket team for the Cricket World Cup that year. Both songs, being patriotic, gained favorable reviews, however "Inteha-e-Shauq" was much more successful for Kiani. On November 1, 1998 Kiani released `Roshni'. Initial album sales were powered mostly by "Inteha-e-Shauq", which made the final listing of the album along with "Tu Nawa Tu Sada".

Hadiqa's third single off the album, "Dupatta" was an instant success. Its video was inspired by the sci-fi film The Matrix and was the highest-budget video in Pakistan in 1999. "Dupatta" also gained more popularity than any other single Kiani had released before from her debut single. The song is also listed in the Twenty Best Pop Songs Ever for Pakistan, where it is positioned at #15.^[4] The success of the song was attributed to its quasi-bhangra rhythm with fat, funky techno beats and Hadiqa’s "dreamy-meets-husky vocals" which made the results "stunning".^[4] In the wake of Dupatta's success Kiani soon went on to be widely accepted as the country's leading female vocalist.^[4]^[5]

Capitalizing on "Dupatta's" success, Kiani went on to release two other moderate hits, "Roshni" and "Woh Kaun Hai". She then delivered once again by releasing a sixth single off the album, "Boohey Barian" which went on to become an even bigger hit for her than "Dupatta".

Kiani's massive success in 1999 was highlighted when she won PTV World Viewer's Choice Award for the best female singer in 2000.^[3]. She also released a seventh single off the album, "Intezaar".

`Roshni' sold over a million copies in Pakistan alone. Kiani's image also became a signature look in cities like Karachi. The album is listed in "The 20 Best Local Pop Albums Ever" for the country, positioned at #15.^[4] Hadiqa is just one of two female singers in the entire list. The other one is Nazia Hassan. The review stated

This is the album with which Hadiqa finally overcame her reputation of being a folksy Nazia Hassan imitator. Glided across various different genres in a single album, from millennium techno to crisp FM Pop and the usual Folk-Pop thing. The brilliant production continues to be the highlight here.

In another list called "The 10 Best Local Pop Albums...ever" Roshni was placed at number 9.^[6] The review also highlighted Hadiqa's status rise by stating

However, on the excellent and crisply produced "Roshni", not only did Hadiqa manage to ultimately become the next Nazia, but the way she so effortlessly glided through the many distinct genres she explores on "Roshni" (from Neo-Filmi-Pop to FM-Pop to Techno), elevated her status to being one of the post-modern Indo-Pak pop scene's leading "pop diva"

Kiani's success got her signed by "UniLever" for celebrity endorsement of Lipton Yellow Label in 2001. In 2002, she was signed again by "UniLever" for Sunsilk Shampoo. Throughout 2001 and 2002, she performed live concerts in USA , Canada , UK, Middle East, Far East, Australia, Norway, Greece, Bulgaria and Turkey on multiple occasions.^[3]

Rung

Hadiqa Kiani released her third album Rung (Colors) in September 2002, for which she'd chosen the album title herself. Prior to Rung's release, Kiani sang an OST for a drama called Cheray. The song also made the final listing on Rung.

The first single released from Rung was "Yaad Sajan". The song helped the album sales propel throughout September and August 2002 and was an instant hit. It didn't however make it as big as "Dupatta" or "Boohey Barian", but generally got great appreciation.

Where Kiani released multiple videos for her previous albums within months after the album release, she didn't do so with Rung because of a personal crisis in her life. Her marriage was seeing problems. Issues with her marriage saw her being removed from the spotlight for the rest of 2002, and early 2003. Rung's sales slowly declined since no other single had been released. Her divorce was finalized in March 2003. She decided to take a few months off from her music career then. As a result, Rung's sales seemed stalled.

She returned to promote the album in June 2003, almost 10 months after she'd released "Yaad Sajan" with a new single "Ranjhan" and several stage performances and tours around the country. She then released other singles off the album throughout 2003 and 2004. These included "Jogi Bun Kay Aa", "Mahi", and "Dholan".

Her newer singles saw her videos seeing a drastic improvement in standard and concept. In "Jogi Bun Kay Aa" Kiani plays various roles of women, including a traditional Japanese, an Arab, and a tribal woman. She played the role of a vampire in her video for "Mahi". The video was also sending the message to not judge people of different faiths and casts, and to not stereotype. It was the highest budgeting video of the year 2003. Despite the setback from her divorce, Kiani's album sales picked up through 2003 and 2004. In 2004, she received the Best Female Pop Singer Award by Indus Music, the first 24 hour music channel of Pakistan.^[3]Dr.Asim Raza won an award for best video for directing her video Mahi.

Rung got mixed reviews from experts. Overall it didn't capitalize on the momentum she generated by Roshni. Many argue that this is due to the fact that Rung has more mature slow paced ballads than Roshni, while some say the turmoils of her personal life. However Kiani still remained a strong figure in the industry, despite the setback. Her name was mentioned in a list called "Pakistani Pop's 10 most Influential Acts Ever", where she positioned at number 9. She is also one of just 2 female singers in the list, with the other being Nazia Hassan.^[7] A UK based Magazine declared Hadiqa as the 22^nd greatest music maker of South Asia out of Top 50, also mentioning on how she raised the standard of music videos in the country.^[8]

Worldwide Performances

Her increasing popularity was further highlighted in 1997 when Kiani became the first Asian singer ever to perform on the British National Lottery Live BBC1 (estimated viewership 16.6 million). Later on she worked on two more shows with Bally Sagoo for BBC 2 and ITV before moving to perform in the U.S. Her U.S. tour covered 15 states and a show in Canada too. The same year Kiani performed on several other international events such as "Celebration Hong Kong 97", alongside other singers like Lisa Stansfield, Wet Wet Wet, Michael Learns to Rock, All-4-One and The Brand New Heavies.^[3] By the end of the year she became the first Asian female singer ever to be signed by Pepsi Cola International. She is also the second female in the world to achieve this, with the first being Gloria Estefan.^[3]

Kiani didn't release any single to promote Rung sales in 2005 and 2006. However, she continued to build on her success by touring heavily these years. Most of the time she was the official representative of Pakistan appointed by the government.

On August 11, 2005, Kiani performed in Nagoya for the Prime Minister of Japan Mr.Junichiro Koizumi. Kiani was invited to perform in Toronto on 14 Aug, 2005 by The Pakistani Consulate. She performed in Houston on 13^th August 2005. The show was at Sam Houston Race Park, and it was attended by over 15000 people. Chief guest of the show was Sheila Jackson Lee who is a member of the US House of Representatives. Kiani was asked to take out the lucky draws of PIA and she announced the names of the lucky winners.^[8] She then performed at the "Mets" in "Shea Stadium" New York on August 18, 2005. She also performed at the Pakistan Day Parade in New York on August 28, 2005.

She performed in Malaysia on the 2nd October 2005 at the newly built Convention Centre in Kualalampur downtown. The Honorary Prime Minister of Pakistan Mr.Shaukat Aziz was the chief guest of the show. The show was part of Expo 2005 in Malaysia. Important business and political personalities from both countries attended the show. She sang a Malay song, not a Pakistani song.^[8]

Kiani represented Pakistan on the 25th Anniversary of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) Research Centre for Islamic History, Art and Culture (IRCICA) in Turkey. Islamic Countries such as Azerbaijan, U.A.E, Iran, Qatar, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Kuwait, Lebanon, Egypt, Sudan, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Tanzania, Turkey, Pakistan and Yemen took part in the celebrations. The event was organized by Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. She performed at the AKM concert Hall on 23 November 2005. Among the audience were musicians from various countries. The biggest surprise for the audience was when Hadiqa sang "Sanalama" (Turkish song of Living Legend "Sezanaksu"). Hadiqa told the audience that as Turkey stood beside Pakistan in good and bad times, she wanted to convey the love of Pakistani people for the Turks. She also told that she visited Turkey as a child star in 80s and represented Pakistan in the International Children's Festival in Turkey so had beautiful childhood memories associated with Turkey. The audience gave her a standing ovation. At the end of her performance, The Mayor of Istanbul presented a bouquet of flowers to her. After her performance she received invitations for Pakistan to participate in the upcoming Art festivals in various countries such as Iran, Syria, Qatar and Lebanon. During her stay in Istanbul she officially visited various historical sites in Turkey and conveyed the love of Pakistan for Turkey. Her performance in Istanbul was important news in various Turkish News papers.^[8]

Kiani performed in China for the Chinese 2nd Premier on 21st Feb, 2006. She performed for President George W.Bush on 4 March 2006. Commenting on her performance, Bush said he liked her accent and wanted her to perform in USA.^[9] She performed for the Crown Prince of Brunei Al-Muhtadee Billah Bolkiah on 29 May 2006.^[9]

Kiani performed for Mrs.Laura Bush on September 21, 2006 at The Kennedy Convention Centre, Washington, D.C.. She closed the year by performing for HRH Prince Charles on October 30, 2006, and the Chinese President on November 23, 2006.

2005-2006 music contributions

Though Kiani couldn't release music and didn't promote sales for Rung due to her touring in these years, she still remained a strong figure in the industry due to her contributions and experiments. She also won an Indus Music Award for the Best Female singer for the second time in 2005.^[3]

Throughout 2005, Kiani did not release any video to promote Rung. She did however sing in various collaborations with other male singers. She sang the OST for a drama on HUM TV called "Aas Paas" with singer Atif Aslam. She sang 2 more OST's for the same channel, one being "Koi Lamha Gulab Sa" with Ahmed Jehanzeb, and another solo OST for a drama called "Tum Meray Ho". She also was featured in Najam Sheraz's single "In Say Nain" alongside many other featured artists. She was the only female artist in that song. She also performed for a special show on ARY's The Musik called "Re-Mastered", where she sang her songs and covered popular band Fuzon's song Teray Bina. In the same show, Fuzon covered her song Boohey Barian, and asked her to sing with them on their closing number, Aankhon Ke Sagar.

Kiani also performed for Geo TV in May 2005 for their show called "Geo Applause". The show was held at Sailing Club Karachi, and it was attended by large number of important personalities of the pop industry. Hadiqa sang songs that were mostly slow in tempo. Hadiqa told the audience in the beginning of the show that she would sing songs that she personally liked and those might not be people's choice. It was also her return to hosting a show after over a decade. In the show, she gave a tribute to The Carpenters by singing their song "I Need to Be in Love". According to the producer of the show (Nadeem J), it was the best "applause" ever recorded for Geo.^[10]

In January 2006, Kiani released a single, "Iss Bar Milo". Although the song was off her album Rung, it was used instead to promote a recently formed duo between her and Aamir Zaki. They both had planned to release an English album soon. The song became a huge success, and its video continue to build on the trend of videos Hadiqa had released. In the video Kiani plays a schizophrenic patient at a mental institution for women. Reviews for the rock song were extremely favorable, with people appreciating her acting and her decision to sing different genres.^[11]

Kiani had released another video in 2006. She was featured on UK based producer Khiza's album Loyal To The Game. The album's lead single, "Mehr Ma" featured Hadiqa. The song was a massive success in Pakistan, and was seen as a great return for Hadiqa after her ballads in Rung. This was highlighted by the fact that Khiza's same album in Pakistan was titled Mehr Ma and not Loyal to the Game. Also, the album cover in Pakistan only has Kiani on it, not Khiza. In the video, Kiani is seen with different hairstyles and outfits. Kiani also cut her hair short and dyed it red for the video. Its reviews have been extremely favorable. One source says "'Mehr Ma', which starts off the album is easily the best track on it. With Kiani showcasing her top-notch vocals and the music, which remains hip-hopish yet very desi, thanks to the usage of sitar, tabla makes it an excellent number."^[12] Hadiqa also performed the song at the 2006 Lux Style Awards, and was called the best performer of the night in reviews.^[13] For a while, Mehr Ma was the second highest hits of all of Hadiqa's videos on Youtube, only trailing Boohey Barian that was until 2009.

Adoption

In late October, 2005, Kiani became the first person to adopt a baby from the earthquake. She has named the baby boy "Naaday Ali" and officially announced her adoption decision on Geo TV the same night she adopted him on a live show. She then proceeded to announce it in an official press release.

There have been some conflicting opinions with Kiani adopting a baby. Some people argued as to why she was allowed to adopt when there were laws passed against adoption to prevent human trafficking. This however wasn't a strong basis of argument, others said, since the baby was given to her, and it was not she who applied for him. Hadiqa has applied for official adoption of the baby ever since the law against adoption were released. Since the adoption she has married again. She claims the reason to be "wanting to give [her son] Naad-e-Ali the love of a father".

Tamgha-e-Imtiaz

On March 23, 2006, Kiani was awarded the Tamgha-e-Imtiaz by the Government of Pakistan, one of the highest civil awards of the country, in acknowledgement of her services in the field of music and for shining an encouraging light on the country for over a decade. The award was announced on August 14, 2005 but the ceremony was performed on March 23 of the next year.

Yeh Hum Naheen

In March 2007 Kiani was one of the many artists featured in a widely popular track called "Yeh Hum Naheen". In this song, various Pakistani artists joined to send out a message that people should stop blaming Muslims for the killings of other innocent Muslims. The song also conveys an anti-terrorism sentiment. Other artists in the song are Haroon, Ali Haider, Ali Zafar, Shafqat Amanat Ali, Strings and Shuja Haider.^[14] The song has been picked up by international stations like Fox News and BBC and has amassed over 70,000 downloads.

Rough Cut

In 2007 Hadiqa Kiani released her fourth studio album, Rough Cut, a collaboration with Aamir Zaki. The album had seen frequent delays in its release both due to Kiani's busy schedule in 2005 and 2006 and due to the fact that Amir Zaki had moved to Canada while the album was being recorded. With the release of `Rough Cut', Kiani became the first Pakistani (Main Stream) artist to release a complete English Album.^[8] It is also her only album thus far which her website has officially put up for sale online.

In April 2007 Kiani released the first single for the album, titled "Living This Lie", a song which talks about the stressful life of being a star. The same week, Kiani was named "Hotstepper of the week" for a Karachi-based magazine.^[15] The magazine also stated that

Ultimately, as long as Hadiqa is around, there is still hope for women in the patriarchal music world of Pakistan.

Kiani's second single that was released from the album is titled "All The Same". Rough Cut failed to perform on the charts and didn't sell as much as Kiani's older works. Many experts have said that since an overwhelming majority of people in the country do not understand English the album didn't sell as well. It has not yet been confirmed whether Kiani will release a third single from the album. However, there are rumors that the track "City of Fallen Angels" will get a video release in which Karachi will be the city referred to in the song.

The single titled "Living This Lie" got nominated for "Best English Song" for "The Musik Awards" in 2007. Due to the emergency situations occurring in the country in 2007, however, the awards were called off. Hadiqa also got nominated for Best Female Singer in the same awards.

Post-Rough Cut

In August 2007 Kiani was one of the performers for the London Day Parade at Trafalgar Square, London which was broadcast by Geo TV to celebrate 60 years of Independence for Pakistan. Hadiqa was the only singer who performed completely live that day. She was also part of the closing act for the show with the popular patriotic song "Jeevay Pakistan" alongside Ali Zafar.^[16]

She also released an Urdu single titled "Zindagi" which is a rock-themed song about the life (Zindagi) of Pakistani children. The song was released a few weeks after the London Day Parade and as of May 2010 is her latest video. She also stated in an interview that she plans to release an Urdu album and concentrate on its production shortly after "Rough Cut"'s release, and she has already completed four tracks for it.^[17] However it is not clear if Zindagi will be a track on that album.

Kiani did not perform as much internationally as she did in years before, and she even toured around Pakistan less frequently towards the end of 2007 (primarily due to the state of emergency and the turmoils the country went through). However, earlier in 2007 (May 19) Hadiqa performed at Dead Sea Marriott Jordan at the World Economic Conference. Hadiqa’s performance was on the 2nd day of the 3-day event while American singer Lionel Richie performed on the 1st day at the same venue. During her performance Hadiqa performed an Arabic song “Aa We Nos” (originally sung by Nancy Ajram). Jordanian performers accompanied Hadiqa during that song.^[9]

Pakistan Idol

Hadiqa Kiani will appear as a judge on an upcoming TV show on Geo TV called Pakistan Idol. The show itself has seen airing date delays due to the crisis in the country in the Winter of 2007. Hadiqa will also do an interview for Pakistan Idol soon.^[18] It hasn't been announced when the interview will take place.

As of August 1, 2008 Geo TV announced that the show and its auditions have been put on hold until further notice.

2008-2009

Kiani has been relatively inactive so far in 2008, performing only at a few non-televised concerts. The reason for her sudden absence is claimed to be her mother's paralysis in 2006. It is since that time that Hadiqa has been taking care of her mother. More information on the matter has not been disclosed.

Despite her absence Kiani recently performed at a cricket match between Pakistan and Bangladesh on April 20, 2008. It is hoped that more information on the performance will eventually follow.

Kiani released a statement on her Facebook site and to the press to announce her divorce from her second husband, citing a long-distance relationship as the main cause of the breakup.

Aasmaan

In June 2009, Kiani switched record labels to Fire Records and released a new album titled "Aasmaan" (translated: sky) on June 17, 2009. It is Kiani's first album in local languages since her release of "Rung" back in 2002. In the album, she sings in Urdu, Punjabi, Hindko, Pashto, Persian, and many other dialects. One song in the album has vocals featured by her older brother (and manager) Irfan Kiani. She has also collaborated with UK producer NAT-Z on two tracks of the album, "Sohnya" and "Dil Mera". She also sings a Pashto duet with Pashto singer Irfan Khan.

The first single of the album is "Sohnya". The official video of "Sohnya" was premiered a day before Kiani released the album. Since then the song+video has stayed on the Aag10 Charts for over a month thus Hadiqa Kiani received a Shield from Aag10 for being the Artist of the Month.^[19]

Within the next month Hadiqa released her second single off the album titled "Tuk Tuk". The video was directed in India by Sajan Agarwaal. This was Hadiqa's first video ever to be shot in India. Rightfully, the video communicates a strong Bollywood theme; Hadiqa Kiani told her fans of her Facebook site that the video was a Parody of "A Filmy Muhallaha".

The album has stayed Number One on the Vibes Charts of INSTEP Magazine for one year now consistently. At the end of 2009 Aasmaan was named the Best Album of 2009 according to sales volume, popularity and internet downloads.

Every single released from the album `Aasmaan' has reached number one. "Sohnya" was number one AAG10 Charts for over a month and was titled the best Pop Song of 2009 according to The Nation. "Tuk Tuk" has been Number One on UK's Prime Tv Charts. "Az Chashme Saqi" has been Number One on PlayTv Charts for quite some time. At the end of 2009 it was declared the third best music video of 2009 according to Koolmuzone.

Then came February 2010, Hadiqa Kiani had collaborated with relatively unknown Pashto singer Irfan Khan for a remix of his song "Janan". The song has become Hadiqa's biggest hit till date and some say that it has even topped "Boohey Barian". "Janan" had reached over one million views on Youtube within a few months of its video debut. Janan was even mentioned in the Los Angeles Times, it was the first Pakistani pop song to ever be mentioned in the newspaper. Kiani nailed the Pashto accent and has fully embraced the Pashto culture. Some Pakhtoons even started to call her Hadiqa Pathani, Kiani then started a massive trend in Pakistan of embracing Pashto culture, girls started to wear Pashto style dresses imitating Hadiqa's looks on the red carpet etc. The song broke barriers, Kiani being a Punjaban singing a Pashto song and appealing to not only Pakistani Pashto audiences, but to the world wide audience. "Janan" has brought Hadiqa Kiani back to an "Icon" status in Pakistan for the youth.

Irfan Khan

2010-08-16T01:41:00.000-07:00

Irfan Khan is a Pakistani pop singer singing in both Pashto and Urdu. His claim to fame came with the release of a Pashto single "Pekhawar Khu Pekhawar De" which translates into "Peshawar Is Peshawar", a song he wrote after his hometown. He recently recorded a single with Hadiqa Kiyani called "Janaan"

Background

Irfan Khan was born on May 5 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates where his father worked as a Manager for a Pakistani Bank. Irfan started his education at Al- Saddiq Islamic School in Dubai. At the age of 6, he moved with his family to Pakistan, where continued his schooling in Swat and later on in Azad Kashmir. He did his Metric from Peshawar Model School, inters from Edwards College, Peshawar and got his BA Degree in Communication Design from the University of Peshawar.

Career

From the epoch of schooling he took part in Naat competitions. In college he realized his passion for Music, where he started exploring Pashto music. Fortunately this was the beginning of new Era in Pakistani media where private channels were taking foothold. He recorded his first Pashto single “Pekhawar Khu Pekhawar de” which Khyber TV broadcasted, and which became an instant hit and put Irfan in the growing Pashto music scene.

Irfan went on to record his first Pashto album “Brekhna” which was very well received within the Pashtun community in Pakistan, Afghanistan and overseas. The songs soon emerged all over internet and were downloaded all around the world. His song “Zema De Stergo Na Panaa Gulaba" was especially well received overseas, which describes the longing of expatriates for their homeland.

Irfan went onto participate on various television shows and live performance including a solo concert in Boston and in Kuala Lumpur.

Current work

Irfan is currently recording his first Urdu album “Chounay Da”. The songs are being composed and recorded in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad. He also recorded a video for the title song from this Album in Atlanta.

Faisal Kapadia

2010-08-16T01:39:00.000-07:00

Faisal Kapadia (Urdu: فیصل کپاڈیا) is a member of the very popular Pakistani pop band Strings. Faisal was born on June 29, 1971 in Karachi, Pakistan. Growing up, he learned classical music, vocals, and guitar. He is married to Seema Kapadia and has 2 sons Armaan and Gibran. He is a Ismaili Nizari Muslim (Aga Khani) by faith.

Faisal's hobbies include playing cricket, playing XBox with his nephew Saif and practicing the guitar.

Faisal Kapadia has directed a number of music videos for his band. Strings success came in 1992 after the launch of the song Sar Kiye Yeh Pahar, the song was an instant hit and so was Strings. Strings made its entry into the Bollywood music in 2006.

Junaid Jamshed

2010-08-16T01:38:00.000-07:00

Junaid Jamshed (Urdu: جنید جمشید; born September 3, 1964) is a Pakistani recording artist who gained fame as the frontman of the pop group, Vital Signs in 1987 with the hit song, Dil Dil Pakistan, and remained in demand throughout the 1990s. In 1994, he released his debut solo album, Junaid of Vital Signs, which also quickly became a national hit, followed by Us Rah Par in 1999 and Dil Ki Baat in 2002.

Early life and education

Junaid Jamshed is the son of Group Captain (retd) Jamshed Akber Khan and Nafeesa Akber Khan. His father was a Pakistan Air Force officer. He belongs to a Pashtun and Urdu-speaking family. Jamshed studied pre-engineering courses in PAF College in Karachi before joining University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore. Though, he applied to join Pakistan Air Force but later moved on to a career in Aeronautical Engineering due to his weak eye sight.^[1]

Music career

Vital Signs

Though the Vital Signs were launched in early 1986 in Rawalpindi by Rohail Hyatt and Shahzad Hasan (Shahi), it was a while later when Jamshed, then a young aeronautical engineering student from Lahore, joined them as their lead singer.^[2] Though their hit debut single, Dil Dil Pakistan, released on 14 August 1987, skyrocketed them into fame, the song's success was not seen by him as something that would turn him into a professional musician. Jamshed, who wanted to become a professional engineer, initially didn't want to have anything to do with music other than just treating it as a hobby.^[2]

However, Rohail and Shahzad soon managed to convince him otherwise.^[3] After a string of chart topping songs, the band split in 1994 and Jamshed began his solo career, achieving even more success.^[4]

Solo career

Jamshed released his first solo album, Junaid of Vital Signs in 1994. The album's name was later changed to Tumhara Aur Mera Naam. This was followed by Us Rah Par in 1999. Us Rah Par went on to become one of the best selling albums of that year. The album included several hit numbers such as, Us Rah Par, Na Tu Ayegi, Aankhon Ko Aankhon Ney and O Sanama. In 2000, Jamshed released his next album, The Best of Junaid Jamshed, which contained remixes of some of the hit singles of the Vital Signs era. His last solo album, Dil Ki Baat, was released in 2001.

In 2003, BBC World Service conducted an international poll to choose ten most famous songs of all time. Around 7000 songs were selected from all over the world. According to BBC, people from 155 countries/territories voted in the poll. Dil Dil Pakistan was ranked third among the top 10 songs.^[5]

Devotion to Islam

In 2004, Jamshed renounced music and devoted his life to Islam.^[6] He is now an active member of the Islamic preaching Tablighi Jamaat. He is also noted for opening a clothing store selling Khaadis (a form of Kurta-Shalwar).

Influence

Jamshed has been both the indicator and agent of shifts in Pakistani youth culture. In 1987 he took Pakistani media by storm with his band's hit patriotic number Dil Dil Pakistan, viewed as one of the most popular songs of all time. This was a turning point in Pakistan's music history which ushered in a new era of pop musical bands and produced many fine singers and musicians. These bands represented and inspired the youth. Fourteen years later, the September 11 attacks and the consequent Afghan war radicalized many youngsters and again Jamshed was first to represent and encourage that change. He renounced popular music, claiming it to be Haraam^[2], and devoted a significant amount of his time to preaching Islam.^[7] Jamshed now sings Urdu and English nasheeds.

Charity work

Junaid Jamshed is also actively involved in charity work and has been associated with the Muslim Charity since 2003. Under the leadership of Junaid Jamshed Muslim Charity has achieved a great deal in the last few years and expanded its operations to 16 countries.

Discography

Solo albums

1994 - Junaid of Vital Signs (also known as Tumhara Aur Mera Naam)
1999 - Us Rah Par
2000 - The Best of Junaid Jamshed
2001 - Dil Ki Baat

Haamd-o-Naat Albums

2005 - Jalwa-e-Janan (English: The sight of The Beloved)
2006 - Mehboob-e-Yazdaan (English: The Beloved of God)
2007 - Badr-ud-Duja (English: The night's full moon)
2008 - Yaad-e-Haram (English: Remembrance of Haram)
2009 - Badee-uz-Zaman (English: The wonder of the age)
2010 - Rahmatul-lil-Alameen (English: The Mercy to the Universe)

Awards and honours

2007: Tamgha-e-Imtiaz^[8]

Hit singles

Dil Dil Pakistan
Multazim Par
Tum Milgaey
Goray Rang Ka Zamana
Sanwali Saloni
Aitebaar
Tumhara Aur Mera Naam
Pehli Dharkan
Jo Kehna Hai
Mehndi Ki Raat
Aankhon Ko Aankhon Ne
Us Rah Par
Na Tu Aaegi
Dil Ki Baat
Yaarian
Tum Kehti Ho
Yeh Shaam

Ahmed Jahanzeb

2010-08-16T01:36:00.000-07:00

Ahmed Jahanzeb Usmani (born May 28, 1978) is a Pakistani pop singer and composer. Famously known as AJ, he was born in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. Jahanzeb is one of the few singers of the country, who have been trained in classical music and that is why he mostly sings soul stirring slow songs. Jahanzeb as a singer, performer & musician, is one who displays mastery not only over vocal & instrumental music but also in the art of showman ship. Jahanzeb was trained under the guidance of Ustad Rais Khan, who made him his shagird (pupil) in a beautiful ceremony called Rasm-e-Gandha Bandhi held at Sheraton Hotel in 1988. The ceremony, one of its kind to be ever held in India and Pakistan, was a very grand affair and was attended by celebrities, dignitaries and media people.

Early childhood

Jahanzeb started singing since he was four years old. The Wonder Boy is a title given to him by Gulf’s Khaleej Times. Jahanzeb is the son of Capt. Safir Ahmed a renowned and active music lover whose regular musical evenings organized entirely through his own persistent love for the art are the features, most connoisseurs in the city are well aware of, growing up in this environment stimulated Jahanzeb who began to sing when he was only 4 years old and it was quite sure that his continual efforts and unflinching interest would one day dear its fruits, and certainly so it did happen.

At the age of 4 years, Jahanzeb gave his first public performance at VIP annual program attended by well over 10,000 people. At the age of 5 years; he appeared in the most popular Pakistan Television TV show Neelaam Ghar. At the age of 7 years, he was invited to perform in Dubai at the Pakistan Day show, at Hyatt Regency, the host being the Pakistan Welfare Society of Sharjah, after the performance Gulf Weekly called him Talent at the Tender Age, and Khaleej Times named him the Mini Maestro. A few months later, he was invited by the world renowned electronic company Sony to attend a musical conference in Bahrain where delegates form 50 nations were invited.

Jahanzeb became the youngest singer to launch his first album titled The Wonder Boy at the age of 8 years, it was a memorable occasion as Government Dignitaries, film and television personalities were present to congratulate him on this amazing achievement. It is quite possible recording an album at the tender age of 8 might have created an event unforeseen in the history of light music.

In August 1988, Jahanzeb received the Special Child Award at the Cassette Melody Awards. He was the first artist of his age to get this award. A US-based magazine referred to him as the "next Mehdi Hasan in the making". Furthermore, he proved his talents on 5 February 1989, on his Rasm-e-Gandha Bandhi, he showed the world that how important Taleem (education) is from a good Ustad (teacher). Jahanzeb was completely changed form the day Ustad Rais Khan accepted him as his shagird (pupil). Sunday Times, South Africa called him the 'Singing Sensation from Pakistan', when he toured South Africa in 1990 and performed all over with an estimated 40 shows. SABC Radio Lotus awarded him the title of 'Youngest Ghazal Singer', and was also named 'Youngest Singer/Performer/Musician' by a South African channel.

Early career

On his return to Pakistan, Jahanzeb was awarded the Governor Insignia by Mahmood A. Haroon, Governor of Sindh in 1991. He also became the youngest artist to be registered as a composer, 'Category A' by PTV, Karachi centre.

In 1992, following his success tour of South Africa in 90's, he was again invited this time by the "South African Police" for their charity concerts. Jahanzeb toured the country with a whopping 50 shows for this noble cause. The year 1996 brought another milestone in his career, when he became the youngest and the first artist to perform at the National Defence College of the Pakistan Army in the presence of the high brass of the Army.

2000 - present

The Millennium was another turning point, when Jahanzeb released his first hit single Ek Bar Kaho, which catapulted him to the top as it was an instant hit. It broke all the records and became the highest selling single of all time, selling 5 million CD's and cassette's in Pakistan and over the world and stayed at the top of the charts for a record 20 weeks. Tu Jo Nahin, another mega hit followed Ek Bar Kaho. Tu Jo Nahin was a techno-track and with Jahanzeb's captivating vocals, blew the away charts and it was clear that Jahanzeb was here to stay.

In 2002, Jahanzeb had the honor of performing alongside superstars from across the border like Raageshwari, Jazzy B and others in Dubai for a local TV channel.

In 2003, Jahanzeb launched his long awaited album, Parastish, a record breaking album, which instantly went to the top of the charts and became the fastest and the highest selling album of the year breaking all previous records. BBC named it the number one South Asian album of 2003.

In 2004, the Pakistan consulate in UAE invited Jahanzeb to perform in the Pakistan Pavilion at the launch of the Dubai Shopping Festival at Global Village, Dubai, where he enthralled an audience of almost 100,000 people. In the same year, Pakistan Blind Cricket Council invited him to perform at a reception held in the honor of the visiting Indian Blind Cricket term, which was also attended by Veteran Bollywood actor-turned director, Sanjay Khan, along with his wife.

Later that year, Jahanzeb represented Pakistan at the Indo-Pak Peace Concert, a historical event held at the Royal Palm Golf Club in Lahore, where he performed alongside some of the biggest stars form across the border who were performing for the first time on Pakistani soil. He made Pakistan proud and had the honor to perform along with musical duo of Jatin-Lalit, Akshay Kumar, Shilpa Shetty, singer, Shaan and Babul Supriyo, Sunidhi Chauhan and comedian Sajid Khan. The concert was a huge success and was widely appreciated by the press and media of both the countries.

In 2005, Jahanzeb performed at the Asian Bollywood Music Award held in Dubai along with renowned Indian artists like A.R. Rehman, Sonu Nigam, Jatin-Lalit, Lucky Ali, Sunidhi Chauhan, VJ Sophiya and many other leading actors and actresses like Diya Mirza, Yana Gupta and Isha Koppikar. In the same year, he represented Pakistan at the 'Help Concert' held in Mumbai, for the Prime Minister's Tsunami Relief Fund, which was headed by Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh. The show was organized by the famous Bollywood star, Sanjay Dutt and Jahanzeb performed along the best of the best of Indian film industry and his performance was very much appreciated.

In 2007, Jahanzeb was asked by legendary director, Shoaib Mansoor to be part of his debut film Khuda Kay Liye also known as In the Name Of God. Jahanzeb sang 4 songs out of the 9 for the film. These included, Humaray Hain, Tilak Kamod, Janie Janie and Bandiya Ho. The film broke all previous Pakistani film records and ran house full for more than 6 months successfully. The film played a ground breaking role in the revival of Pakistani cinema. The film was also released worldwide and was a hit, and Jahanzeb feels proud to be a part of film history also, as it was his first stint as a playback singer and it proved fruitful. The music of this film broke all records as being sold out the day it was released and for being the highest selling album for a film and still attracting audiences.

In 2008, Jahanzeb signed a 5-year contract with India's leading music film company TIPS. He finished work on his second album which was produced and recorded in India by TIPS. The album titled Laut Aao was released worldwide in June 2008. The album has 10 songs and 6 have been written by the famous poet and lyricist of Bollywood cinema, Sameer. The album was a huge hit with Chandni Raat Mein, the debut single being a smash hit and topped the Pakistani Pop charts.

Jahanzeb also runs a professional audio recording studio by the name of Urban Sound Factory and has been producing OST's for many drama serials, teleFilms, soaps and documentaries. The most recent project was the internationally acclaimed film Khuda Kay Liye.

During his career, Jahanzeb has performed in well over 1500 shows all over the world and is still going strong. He has never followed the culture of lip-synching, which has dominated the music scene for a long time. He always performs live as he strictly believes that performing on DAT/CD severely limits the feel of the artist and is sheer injustice to the audience and his training in classical music.

Albums & OST

Wonder Boy (1987)
Parastish (2003)
Daira (2004)
Burning Borders-BBC (2005)
Laut Aao (2008)

OST's & Singles

Laila Majnoon - OST (2000)
Ik Baar Kaho Tum Meri Ho - Single (2001–2002)
Sheeshay Ka Mahal - OST (2003)
Mujhay Pyar Chahye - OST (2004)
Dard Itna Tha - OST (2005)
Ajeeb Zindagi Hai - Single (2006)
Socha Na Tha - Single (2006)
Aisa Bhi Hota Hai - OST (2007)
Hamaray Hain feat. Shuja Haider - OST Khuda Kay Liye (2007)
Tiluk Kamod OST - Khuda Kay Liye (2007)

Zille Huma

2010-08-16T01:34:00.000-07:00

Zile Huma (Urdu: ظل ہما) is the daughter of the late Melody Queen Madam Noor Jehan and the only of her four daughters to follow in her mother's footsteps. Today, she is a popular Pakistani pop singer.

History

Zile Huma was born into a filmi and musical family in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. She was the youngest of the three children of famed singer/actress, Madam Noor Jehan and filmmaker, Syed Shaukat Hussain Rizvi. Her mother loved her and raised her and her brothers with much affection. She provided them with all the comforts in life. When she was a child, her parents were divorced. Her father, Syed Shaukat Hussain Rizvi demanded the family's studio, Shahnoor Studios, in return for her custody. Her mother gladly signed the property papers to get her daughter back. Growing up in Pakistan, singing and music became her passion but during her childhood, her mother refuse to allow her to undergo training in music.

At an early age, she married jeweler, Aqeel Butt, and settled down for a married life with her husband. The marriage produced four sons, two of whom can be named. They are Mohammad Ali Butt Working at a leading Cellular Company, Ahmed Ali Butt, lead vocalist of the Pakistani rock band E.P. Muatafa Ali Butt and Hamza Ali Butt, an upcoming name in the Pakistani film industry. Now, due to raising her children, she could not pursue her passion for music. Unfortunately, she had a stormy married life and her marriage was ruined. It was the solitude that rekindled her desire and music became her companion. She divorced her husband and decided to pursue a musical career.

In the early 1990s, after having decided to make music her profession, she commenced formal education in music under Ustad Ghulam Mohammed, her mother's Ustad. She said in an interview, Learning at that age wasn't easy game but I had made up my mind to keep on learning as learning never ends. Today, she is a popular Pakistani pop singer and had earlier released an album paying tribute to her late mother.

Zohaib Hassan

2010-08-16T01:33:00.000-07:00

Zoheb Hassan (born: November 18, 1966) is a self retired Pakistani pop icon, and left the music industry after the sad demise of his sister and sub-continental pop legend, Nazia Hassan.

Career

Zoheb Hassan is now CEO of B&H International Pvt Limited [www.bh.com.pk] one of Pakistan's leading media & entertainment companies and Director of Hassan International, a leading Pakistani real estate group with substantial holdings in the UK. He is also the Advisor to Governor Sindh and holds office at the prestigious Governor House in Karachi. Zoheb is presently organising Pakistan's 4th Media & Entertainment Expo www.mex.com.pk which held in June 2009.

Early career

He and his late sister Nazia spent their childhood in Karachi as well as London. In late 1970s, both siblings attended and sang at "Sang Sang Chalien" and "Kaliyon Ke Mala", famous musical shows for children hosted by the music maestro Suhail Rana. Ironically, in the early days Zoheb was not so interested in music at all. He used to shy away from TV shows. According to him when it was time to record a show he would hide behind a sofa. But his mother convinced him to accompany Nazia to the children's tv show. Later he developed a keen interest in playing guitar and requested famous musician Alamgir to give him guitar lessons. In mid 70s Nazia and Zoheb's family shifted to London and both continued music but only as a hobby.

It the early part of 1980 Hassan's father invited Indian actors Vinod Khanna, Zeenat Aman and Feroz Khan to a dinner while they were in London shooting the film Qurbani. Feroz Khan, who was also the producer of the film, inquired who the guitar in the corner of the dining room belonged. Zoheb promptly answered it was his. He asked Zoheb to play a number. He did so accompanied by Nazia on vocals. Feroz Khan were extremely impressed with the talent of duo and since he required a female vocalist for his film he asked Nazia if she would play back for Zeenat Aman. Luckily their parents agreed and hence a new kind of music never heard before in the sub-continent was introduced what is now Asian pop. Nazia's number "AAp Jaisa Koi" broke all records as the fastest and highest selling record of all time not only in the sub-continent but in all of Asia.

Later Zoheb debuted in 1981 with album Disco Deewane, a groundbreaking^{[citation needed]} album that was a mega hit^{[citation needed]} in over 23 countries of the world. This particular album is credited^{[by whom?]} as pioneering the pop culture in sub-continent, outselling international albums such as Saturday Night Fever. Indian pop singers like Lucky Ali, Alisha Chinoy and Baba Sehgal, and Pakistani pop singers like Vital Signs, all are said to be inspired by the early work of Nazia and Zoheb Hassan.^{[citation needed]}

In 1982, Nazia and Zoheb released their second album Star/Boom Boom, once again achieving great success, Star was a bollywood movie and Zoheb rendered majors hit like 'Ooee Ooee, Dheree Dheree and Zindagi. Star was followed by yet another two hit album "Young Tarang" (1984), and "Hot Line" (1987) making Nazia and Zoheb into the most famous duo of Asia comparable to the Carpenters and Donnie and Marie Osmond. Nazia Hassan and Zoheb Hassan are still regarded^{[by whom?]} as the most influential international artists to come out of the sub-continent.

Zoheb sang duet songs with his sister Nazia; famous songs include "Dosti", "Tere Qadmon ko", and "Dum Dum DeDe". He also scored hit solo songs, including "Zara Chehra to", "Paisa" and "Pyaar ka jaadu".

During the reign of General Zia, Nazia and Zoheb hosted the most highly watched and controversial music ever broadcast on Pakistani television. The reason for its success was that it gave the youth of Pakistan a voice and an opportunity to express themselves in an era that was highly religious and culturally stunted. The programme Music '89 a show which was watched more than an international cricket match catapulted at that time relatively new acts such as Vital Signs, Jupiters, Ali Azmat, etc to instant recognition.

In 1992 Zoheb Hassan released last album with his sister Nazia Hassan, Camera Camera; it was huge hit in Indonesia and Pakistan. The album which was to be their last due to Nazia's health concerns was geared to propagate an anti narcotics campaign with songs like "Nasha Na Karo". This album topped the charts in Indonesia, outselling George Michael. Zoheb Hassan's blockbusters like 'Wala Wai' and 'Keon' proved his vocal versatility.

In 1995, Nazia went on to marry. The marriage ended in divorce just before the demise of Nazia Hassan on August 13, 2000. Zoheb took some time off from music, only to make a reluctant comeback as a solo artist with a soundtrack album Kismet in 2006. Notable songs include "Kismet", "Fashion" and "Jeena". Zoheb also acted in the Kismet Drama Serial which was aired as a 26-episode serial on GEO Television.

Zoheb Hassan also sang for SAF Games in 2001, performed on PTV Awards Ceremony (2002), sang as a guest singer in Najam Sheraz's 'Unn Se Nain', 'Khubsorat Banao' a song written by Nazia Hassan and in a few jingles.

http://www.zohaib.info

Personal life

Zoheb Hassan did his B.B.A from Richmond College London and joined his father's extensive business based in Pakistan and United Kingdom. He also started his own media company,B & H International, which has now become one of Pakistan's leading media & event management companies. His company has to date organised over 200 events in the past decade. Major annual events include Sindh Festival, Media & Entertainment Expo, Face of the Year,etc. He also organised a special Tribute Concert for his beloved super star sister, Nazia Concert at the Karachi Gymkhana Cricket Ground. Now a days he is also the Advisor to the Governor of Sindh on Sindh Promotion. Zoheb married Gina in September 1998, and is a father of two daughters, Allyana and Amelia and one son Azmeer.

Zoheb's ancestors

Zoheb’s father Mr. Basir Hassan is a known businessman and his mother Mrs. Muniza Basir was an active social worker in her youth. Zoheb’s grandfather and Basir Hassan’s father, Nawab Syed Saghiruddin Hassan was the Vice President of Muslim League, Delhi and owners of the 1st Ginning Mill in Multan, Pakistan. Some of their friends included Nawabzada Liaquat Ali Khan, the first Prime Minister of Pakistan and Justice Wajihuddin.

Zoheb’s great grandfather, Khan Bahadur Syed Basiruddin Hassan was very active in social work. He was the founder of Anjuman-e-Himayat-e-Islam, Governor of Lady Dufferin Hospital, and Trustee of Fateh Puri Mosque and built seven primary schools in Delhi.

Discography

Albums

Disco Deewane (1980)
Star/Boom Boom (1982)
Young Tarang (1984)
Hotline (1987)
Camera Camera (1992)
Kismat (album) (2006)

Films

Star/Boom Boom (1982)
Dil Wala (1986)
Ilzaam (1986)
Sheela (1987)
Saaya (1989)

Solo's

Our Love Last Forever (1981)
Dreamer Deewane (1981)
Don't Think Twice (1988)
Ankhien Band Karo (1995)
Star of Asia (2002)
Medlay (2002)
Sathi Ray (2003)
Khubsoorat (2003)

TV appearances

Disco Deewane (BBC Show 1981)
Disco Deewane (DD 1 1981)
BBC News (1981)
Zia Moh-u-Din Show (Channel 4 1981)
David Sole (1981)
David Essex (1981)
Neelam Ghar (1983–1988)
Young Tarang Show (DD 1 1984)
Aap Ke Liye (PTV 1985)
Youth Festival (1985)
PTV Election Transmission (1985)
TV Hits (1987)
BBC Show (1987)
7Th PTV Awards (1987)
PTV Awards (1988)
Don't Think Twice (1988)
Aap Ka Zamir (1987)
Music 89 (1989)
Nazia Zoheb Dubai show 89 (1989)
PTV Silver Jublie Show (1989)
Private Eye
Aap Ke Mehman (1990)
PTV 25 (1990)
Mehman-i-Khasosi (1990)
Studio 2 (1990)
Eid Show (1992)
Kaliyan (1990–1991)
Pro Audio Show (1995)
PTV World (1998)
PTV Top Ten (1999)
Zee Tv (2000)
Tribute Concert to Nazia Hassan (2002)
PTV Prime (2000)
PTV Nite Time Transmission (2002)
PTV Awards (2002)
Face of The Year (2002)
Black & White (Indus Vision 2002)
PTV Ramdan Transmission (2003)
Face of The Year (2003)
Gaye Ge Dunia Geet Mere (Geo TV, 2003)
Kismet Show (Geo TV, 2006)
Hum Morning Show (Hum Tv, 2007)
PTV ED Live Transmission (August 13, 2007)
Marina Morning (ARY Digital, October 31, 2007)
Baat Nikley Gee Tu (ARY Digital, December 26, 2007)
Tribute to Nazia Hassan (Play TV, 2008)
Nazia Hassan Ke Salgirah (MTV, 2008)
Subah Sawaire with Shaista (ARY OneWorld, 2008)
Sunday with Bushra (Geo Entertainment, April 27, 2008)

TV dramas

Kismet (Geo Tv, 2006)

Nazia Hassan

2010-08-16T01:32:00.001-07:00

Nazia Hassan (Urdu: نازیہ حسن) (April 3, 1965 – August 13, 2000^[1]) was an iconic first Pakistani pop singer. Her song "Aap Jaisa Koi" from the Indian film Qurbani made her a legend and pop icon in Pakistan and all of South Asia in the 1980s where she is admired and loved even today, several years after her death. She is also known as Lady Diana of Southeast Asia, as she was graceful, intelligent and beautiful person.Nazia Hassan has sold over 55 million copies worldwide

She was best known with the titles of The Queen of Pop Singing and Sweetheart of Pakistan. She was the most influential and popular female singer and probably one of the few real pop singers of the 1980s and the 1990s in Pakistan.

Early life and Career

1975-1980: Beginning & Aap Jaisa Koi

Nazia Hassan was born in Karachi, Pakistan and from an early age showed interest in music.^[2] Nazia began her singing career during the late 1970s, when she appeared on several television shows on PTV as a child artist. Her professional career started at the age of fifteen when she provided the lead vocals for the song Aap Jaisa Koi from the 1980 film Qurbani. Nazia was introduced to the film's director Feroz Khan by his friend in the United Kingdom. The song was a huge success in India and despite Nazia being a Pakistani, she gained overnight fame there.^[3] In 1981, Nazia won the Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback for Aap Jaisa Koi.

1981-1987: Pop Singing

After the success of Aap Jaisa Koi, Qurbani became a big hit and Nazia collaborated with Biddu, a UK-based Indian music producer; who was also the composer of Aap Jaisa Koi, on numerous other projects. In 1981, Nazia became the first playback singer to release an album after the release of her first album, Disco Deewane. The album broke record sales in Pakistan and India and even topped the charts in the West Indies, Latin America and Russia. This album became a mega-hit and Nazia became an established pop singer in Pakistan. This album also had vocals of her brother, Zohaib Hassan.

After the release of Disco Deewane, Nazia and Zoheb were offered by Biddu to act in a movie, but they refused to act and chose singing. Nazia's second album Star/Boom Boom was released in 1982. The soundtrack of the album was used in the movie Star. Nazia made an appearance in the film, singing the film's title song, Boom Boom. The film did not do well at the box office but the album became a successful album and increased the popularity of Nazia and her brother Zoheb in Pakistan and India.

Nazia's third album, Young Tarang was released in 1984. It was the first album in Pakistan to feature music videos. The album sold 40 million copies which set the record of most selling video album of all times. This album became Nazia's most famous album and one of the most popular albums of Asia. Ankhien Milane Wale was the most popular song in the album and became one of the most popular songs in Pakistan and has aired on television numerous times. After the release of Young Tarang, Nazia returned to singing for Bollywood movies as a playback singer.

Nazia's fourth album, Hotline was released in 1987. Aa Haan was the most popular song of this album. It was the second best selling album of Nazia.

1989-1992: Music '89, Camera Camera & Retirement

By the end of the 1980s, Nazia had become the most popular pop singer of Pakistan. In 1988, Nazia and her brother Zoheb appeared with music maestro Sohail Rana in his television program, Sung Sung. In the following year, Nazia and Zoheb hosted the groundbreaking show Music '89. The show was produced by Shoaib Mansoor. It was the first-ever all pop-music stage show airing on television. The show launched the careers of many new rising bands and singers and became a popular show in Pakistan. Nazia hosted another show, Dhanak on PTV in the same year, 1989.

In 1991, Nazia and her brother Zoheb recorded her fifth album, Camera Camera. Before the album's release, Nazia and Zoheb announced during a launching ceremony that it would be their last album. The album was released in 1992. It was not successful like Nazia's previous albums and received average reaction. After the album's release, Nazia left her singing career to focus on her personal life. The composer of her albums, Biddu had composed a song, Made in India and wanted Nazia to sing in it but the retired Nazia refused to sing a song that may offend Pakistan. After Nazia's refusal, the song was offered to Alisha Chinai, who accepted the offer and marked the birth of Indipop.

Legacy

Besides music, Nazia has the honour of starting a noble trend of working for the under privileged and poor. All their money earned from music was spent for charity. Nazia supported the “Inner Wheel Club” of India to help with funds for them. In Pakistan, an organization “BAN” for fighting against the curse of narcotics was established. She belonged to many charity organizations and worked with her mother Muniza Basir in the low income areas of Karachi to help the needy and sick. Nazia worked with Javed Jabbar, former Information Minister, to raise funds for children in Rajasthan. She went to a very large number of schools to collect toys for the poor children and gave talks on the subject of social awareness for the under privileged. Nazia never forgot the love and support of all the schools and always spoke with great affection for them. The worthy staff and the students of St Joseph’s Convent, Mama Parsi School and many others had gone out of their way to help the cause.

She is known to be the "Sweetheart of Pakistan". Nazia Hassan is still the symbol of grace, sacred beauty and innocence and is frequently compared to Princess Diana as she was known to possess a heart of gold. Nazia spent her teenage between Karachi and London.^{[citation needed]}.

Personal life

Nazia was the daughter of a well-known businessman Mr. Basir Hassan and an active social worker, Mrs. Munizeh Basir. She had two siblings, a brother Zohaib and a sister Zahra, both of whom became singers. Nazia was married on March 30, 1995 to Mirza Ishtiaq Baig. They had a son born on April 7, 1997 named Arez. Nazia's marriage with Mirza Ishtiaq Baig was a complete failure and she got divorced on August 4, 2000.

Death

Nazia died of lung cancer in London on August 13, 2000 at the age of 35.^[1] She was admitted to North Finchley Hospice three days earlier when her condition deteriorated. She showed signs of mild recovery the day before she passed away and it was thought that doctors would allow her to go home. But early Sunday morning, her mother, Muneeza Hasan, was called to the hospital where her daughter had started coughing heavily at around 9:15am. She died within minutes. Nazia is buried at the Muslim Hendon Cemetery in London.

The Government of Pakistan has conferred upon Nazia Hassan the highest civilian award Pride of Performance. The award was presented to Mrs. Muniza Basir, mother of Nazia Hassan, by the President of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf in an official ceremony held at Islamabad on 23 March 2002. In 2003, Nazia's family established a charitable organization named after her. The organization was established in continuation of her life long charitable and social efforts to make the world a better place to live in for all irrespective of colour, creed or religion.

Discography

Albums

Disco Deewane ( 1980 )
Star/Boom Boom ( 1982 )
Young Tarang (1984)
Hotline (1987)
Camera Camera ( 1992 )
Boom-Boom-The Biddu Experience (1995)

Films (Playback Singer)

Qurbani (1980)
Star (1982)
Dil Wala (1986)
Ilzaam (1986)
Main Bulwaan (1986)
Sheela (1987)
Saaya (1989)

TV appearances

Kaliyon Ke Mala (1975) -- Appearance as a child artist - Nazia Hassan sung Dosti Asa Naata
Sang Sang Chalien (1977) -- Appearance as a child artist
Disco Deewane (BBC Show 1981)
Disco Deewane (DD 1 1981)
BBC News (1981)
Zia Moh-u-Din Show (Channel 4 1981)
David Sole (1981)
David Essex (1981)
Young Tarang Show (DD 1 1984)
Aap Ke Liye (PTV 1985)
PTV Election Transmission (1985)
Show Time (PTV 1986)
Yes Sir No Sir (PTV 1987)
TV Hits (1987)
BBC Show (1987)
PTV Awards (1988)
Then He Kissed ME (1988)
Music '89 (1989); Hosted by Nazia Hassan & Zoheb Hassan
Dhanak (1989); Hosted by Nazia Hassan
PTV 25 (1990)
Mehman-i-Khasosi (1990)
Studio 2 (1990)
Eid Show (1992)
Eye Witness (1993)
Kaliyan (1990–1991)
Pro Audio Show (1995)
Nawrang (1995); Hosted by Nazia Hassan and Dr. Farooq Baig
Sawaire Sawaire (PTV 1997)
PTV World (1998)
Zee TV (1999, Nazia Hassan's last TV appearance)

TV commercials

Sitara Sapna Lawn (1986)
Lipton (1990)
Lipton (1991)
Lipton (1992)

Haroon

2010-08-16T01:30:00.000-07:00

Haroon Rashid (born 11 May 1973 in London, United Kingdom), popularly known as Haroon is a Pakistani pop singer, composer, musician and producer.^[1]^[2] He has sold nearly three million CDs and tapes worldwide.^[3]

Born to a Pakistani father and a New Zealander mother, Haroon began playing the guitar and composing songs at the age of 13. He formed his first band, Idiosyncracies, in school with schoolmates at the age of 14.

Music career

Awaz

After graduating in the early 1990s with a degree in Business Administration from the George Washington University in United States, he formed the band Awaz^[4] with a couple of musician friends, Faakhir and Assad Ahmed.^[5]

Haroon and the band made a video of Janeman, a song which Haroon had composed when he was 16. Haroon sent it to MTV Asia, and the song became the first Urdu/Hindi pop song to air on MTV.^[6]

At their peak, Awaz was the biggest musical band in Pakistan, and released three successful albums and two big singles between 1993 and 1999. Awaz was one of the pioneering bands in Pakistani pop music, and influenced many future musicians.

Solo career

Haroon's first solo album, Haroon Ki Awaz, which he produced, engineered and recorded, was successfully released in October 2000.^[7] The songs, Yaara, Pyareya, Jeekay Dekha, Chan Vergay from that album were released as singles with music videos. Other songs such as Fire Inside and Paisa commented on the socio-economic and political situation in South Asia at the time.

In 2001 and 2002, Haroon toured the UK and USA. In 2001, Haroon received the "Outstanding contribution to Asian music" Award from the BBC Asia Awards show.^[8]

Haroon's second solo album was the melodic, Lagan. This album included Mahbooba, a fusion of Asian and Arabic music with Lebanese singers accompanying Haroon. The song was a major hit, with a music video shot at the Pyramids of Giza.

Following this success, Haroon embarked on a world tour from early 2003 to mid 2005, performing in Oslo, Madrid, Copenhagen, Brussels, Glasgow, New York, Toronto and smaller cities such as Calgary and Oakland.

Some of his performances drew crowds in the tens of thousands, and he boasted a strong fan base in the UK, USA, and Dubai. He performed several times in front of sellout audiences at Wembley Arena, London, and at the BBC Asia awards (Birmingham, NEC) watched by two million on television.

Haroon released his third solo album, Haroon Ka Nasha in March 2007^[9], again composed, recorded, produced, engineered and mixed by himself at his personal studio.^[10]

Discography

Albums

Haroon ki awaz (2000)
Lagan (2003)
Haroon Ka Nasha (2007)

Singles

Janeman - (1994)
Diya - (1994)
Mr. Fraudiay - with Awaz (1996)
Aye Jawan - with Awaz (1997)
Main Na Manoo Haar - with Awaz (1996)
Jadoo Ka Chiragh - with Awaz (1995)
Jeekay Dekha - (2001)
Pyareya - (2001)
Yara - (2001)
Tu Hai Kahan - with Junaid Jamshed and Strings (2001)
Mahbooba - (2002)
Mehndi - (2002)
Dil Se - (2003)
Jao Tum - (2003)
Goriye - Remix (2005)
Jiay Jaye (2006)
Jua Khela (2007)
Ishq Nasha (2007)
Nahi Hai Yeh Pyar (2008)
Ibtada-e-Ishq (2009)
"Nahin Hai' ft KOSTAL (2010)

Ali Haider

2010-08-16T01:29:00.001-07:00

Ali Haider (Urdu: علی حیدر) is a former Pakistani singer and actor. He has had numerous hits in the early 90s such as Poorani Jeans. He also had a big hit later in the 1990s with Chand Sa Mukhra. Besides singing, he has acted in numerous TV serials on PTV. Among the successful dramas was Chand Sa Mukhra, which used his hit song as the theme music. He also sang the theme music for the serial Chandni Raatein. He has a large fan following in Pakistan and India and with South Asian expatriates around the world. After resignation from music in 2009, Haider has become a sana khawan, and has released 3 religious albums, Mola Dil Badal Day, Shor Hai Mehshar Ka and Tuluh E Fikr.

Career

Ali Haider grew up in the neighbourhood of Firdous Colony in Karachi, and was pursuing a Civil Engineering degree at NED University when his showbiz career began.

Since the 1990s, Ali Haider has produced over sixteen music albums of which dozens of songs were top hits and became very popular. These earned him a place among the top singers of Pakistan.

His first album was Jane Jan Sun which included the title songs of jawaniyan, and Dhoop Kinare sung along with Nayyara Noor. This album was released by EMI and is obsolete in market, however, it may be found in some collections. The 2nd album he released was entitled "Chahat". The music was given by Bunny and a song with Sadaf Munir (now Sadaf Iqbal). That album was purchased by HMV India. Two of the most popular songs from the album were "Chahat" and "Ajnabi".

With the moderate success of the his second album, he released his third album, titled Qarar, which was much better than his previous two albums. It consisted of songs such as Qarar (the title song), Shehnahee and Jadu Kiya, which went on to become top hits. The music was composed by Amir khan, Bunny and Ali Haider himself. As Haider improved so did his music, his fourth album, Sandesa produced the hit songs Purani Jeans and Sandesa. These went to the top of the charts and remained at the top for a number of weeks.

His next album, Pakola Album did moderately well with songs such as Zaalim Nazron Say and Laila making it into the charts. His sixth album, Dastaan is known to be the best album, Haider has produced since his career started. It shot straight to number one and brought him great popularity at the time. In this album he produced a variety of music genres that suited pretty much anyone. The songs responsible for his popularity were Walawai, Papa Mummi and Ranjha Heer.

After some time, Haider released the album "The Best of Ali Haider", which pretty much summoned up that he is ending his music career. The album included all his major hits and favourite songs he has produced in the past. Some of the songs included in this collection were Purani Jeans, Walawai, Qarar and Sandesa. Later he went on to released another compilation to the previous album that was entitles Sayoni.

After sometime Haider released another two albums, Saaiyan and Jadu in which he has produced quite a number of popular tracks that did prove to be successful. Haider released his 15th Album in 2007 titled "Janey Do". This album also featured three previous songs with significant modifications. The all time favourite "Purani Jeans" made a return with a hard rock format. Qarar and "Agar Pyar" from the 1993 album Sandesa were also featured.

Haider has also acted in the Lollywood film titled Chalo Ishq Larain which was released in 2002. He was also seen playing the small role of Himself in the Bollywood film Main Osama which was directed by the controversial film Maker Faisal Saif. This feature film hit the cinema halls worldwide in 2008.

His reputation of recent years has taken a hit after an alleged drunken romp with an upcoming model Neha Ahmed that led to police action after complaints from residents where this is alleged to have taken place. More recently he has quit singing.

Resignation from Music

On 23 June 2009, Geo News reported that Ali Haider decided to resign from the world of music, which was also confirmed by the former singer and a Pakistani music website PakiUM.com.

His last music album was released on the internet named Stop and Think..? in 2009 shortly after his decision to quit music. Ali Haider donated all the proceeds from this Album to Charity.

He has since then released a religious songs album in the praise of Allah (God). His latest religious Album is Moula Dil Badal Dey, which consist of Hamds, Naats and different poetry on current situation of Muslim Ummah. He is also a Noha Khawan and has released his first Noha album in 2010, Shor Hai Mehshar Ka. He also released a manqabat album in 2010 called Tuluh E Fiqr.

Discography

Albums

Jane Jan Sun - 1988
Chahat - 1989
Tarang - 1990
Qarar - 1991
Sandesa - 1993
Sanwala Saloona - 1994
Dastaan - 1995
Jania - 1996
Mahi - 1998
Saiyyaan - 1999
Jadoo - 2000
Chandni Raatein - 2002
Tera Naam Liya To - 2003
Purani Jeans (Remixes) - 2006
Jaanay Do - 2007
Stop and Think ...? - 2009
Moula Dil Badal Dey - 2009
Shor Hai Mehshar Ka - 2010
Tuluh E Fikr - 2010

Fakhar-e-Alam

2010-08-16T01:28:00.001-07:00

Fakhar-e-Alam (Urdu: فخر عالم) (b. January 19, 1976 in Lahore, Pakistan) is a Pakistani actor, VJ and singer, popular for introducing the pop/bhangra genre of music in Pakistan. Though he is still considered a pioneer of pop/bhangra music culture in Pakistan, now he is much more popular for hosting TV shows and appearing in military/governmental sponsored music shows. As a social worker, Alam has a huge fan base and is respected for his untiring relief efforts in the wake of the October 8, 2005 earthquake in Pakistan.

Career

Alam burst into the scene in 1993 by launching the super hit single "Bhangra Pao" and establishing himself as the king of pop/bhangra/rap music in Pakistan. The single then made way as the first Pakistani video to be shown on MTV. Though not isolating himself from music, he simultaneously began to host the music show "Music Channel Charts", interestingly the same program which launched Alam's debut single.

Following his first album and VJing stint, he jointly performed "Pyar diyaan Gallaan" with the bands Fringe Benefits and Arid Zone. Though his patriotic single 'Proud Pakistani' with Nadeem Jaffery was notable, Alam's later albums did not make any ground in the Pakistani music scene. He later switched to acting and hosting TV shows. Fakhar also starred in a Lollywood movie Very Good Dunya, Very Bad Log as a hero along with filmstar Nirma - the movie did not meet much success. But Alam won the National film award for best actor for his debut film. He has more than 4000 TV shows under his belt as an anchor and a host. He was known for his high energy performances on stage, though he never performed after the 2005 earthquake. He was awarded the presidential medal Sitar e Eesaaar by President Musharraf for his humanitarian work in the 2005 earthquake. Fakhr Alam was also flown to USA by CNN for a worldwide LIVE interview about the earthquake which was telecast LIVE from the CNN headquarters. Alam was the only Pakistani to be given this honor. No representative of the government or any other established NGO was given the opportunity. Recently in the SWAT IDPs issue which came about as a result of the Pakistan Army operation against Taliban, he singlehandedly organized for more than 11 chilled water filtration plants with a total capacity of 240,000 litres to be put in the IDP camps. He was also appointed as the MKRF ambassador at large.

TV Hosting

Fakhr Alam is unquestionably the most recognized and critically acclaimed TV anchor of this generation. His experience is spread over 15 years, and he has to his credit Music chart shows, Political and social talk shows, game shows, entertainment magazine shows etc. His directors titled him THE BLESSING, because Fakhr Alam is known in the industry to be the most fluent imprompto speaker of all times, and that saved the directors from scripting issues. Fakhr Alam has done shows for all major TV networks of Pakistan. GEO, ARY, TV one, INDUS, AAJ TV etc.

Very recently for GEO Television, Fakhar-e-Alam successfully hosted the show Bolain Kya Baat Hai (English: Tell us what the matter is) telecast on GEO Super in which he interviewed various sports personalities and discussed cricket and other sports-related events. The show and its host proved to be very popular with the audiences.^[1] Though he no more hosts the show, Fakhar provides background voice for the channel's promos.

[Politics

He was offered a ticket by MQM for the last National Assembly election, but due to his commitments abroad he declined. He is known to have very strong connections with influential political leadership of Pakistan, and does not want to commit himself politically as yet. However certain quarters believe that he will participate in politics at some stage. Whenever he is confronted with the question, he politely refuses to comment on the issue.

Alam and Alam

Fakhar-e-Alam is currently CEO of Alam and Alam, his family business. He built the company over a period of last 5 years. Today the company has several divisions including renewable energy, real estate, ports and shipping and the most recent and successful division of homeland security.

The security business of Alam & Alam has taken off really well. The company is being recognized for its outstanding portfolio of international products that are represented by the company exclusively in the region.

It is learnt that the company has received a few government contracts in the region for supplying high end security equipment.

Discography

Albums

Rap Up (1994)
No More School Remixes (1995)
Laut Aao (1996)
Malang (1997)
Falam Connection (2001)
Falam Ab Tak ( last release in 2004 which contained the hit single Akh we larani hai.)

Trivia

Alam has a huge fan base and is respected for his untiring relief efforts in the wake of October 8, 05 Earthquake in Pakistan.
He is also known as Falam to his music fans.* He claims to be the first Pakistani rapper of international standard.
he recently finished recording of a music album in India with Shaani Haider, Pakistans leading music producer. The duo is known as DESITEC or DT and their album is anxioulsy awaited by fans.

Benjamin Sisters

2010-08-16T01:27:00.001-07:00

The Benjamin Sisters (Urdu: بنجامن سسٹرز) were a Pakistani singing group of three sisters, Nerissa, Beena and Shabana Benjamin. Usually chorus-singing together in appearances on Pakistan Television in the late 1970s and early 1980s, they achieved immense popularity in both Pakistan and neighboring regions of North India in what began to be referred to as the Benjamin Sisters Phenomenon.^[1]

Repertoire and singing style

The sisters usually sang Punjabi and Urdu songs, and tended to provide new renderings of songs sung by other artists as opposed to developing their own material. This was partially because the sisters initially appeared in the TV talk show Silver JubileeI1983), where old artistes were often the invited guests whose songs the sisters would perform as a mark of honor.^[1] The three sang in a synchronized way, in a "single voice."^[2] The famous of which they sang the patriotic National song of Pakistan known as the Is parcham kay saye tale hum ek hai.

Family background

The Benjamin Sisters belonged to the Pakistani Christian minority.^[3]

Jawad Bashir

2010-08-16T01:26:00.001-07:00

Jawad Bashir, is a famous Pakistani Director/Actor/Singer. He was born in Lahore and studied at the National College of Arts (NCA), where he and his friends, mainly in coordination with Director/Special Effects/Musician Ahsan Khan started the classic spoof TV programme 'VJ'. The programme was an instant hit and Jawad later rose to prominence as a prolific sitcom director most of which were shot in NCA. Jawad Bashir was also the member of a music group called Dr. Aur Billa. Jawad Bashir has also been prominent as a video director. Most of his Videos are funky with a humorous touch.

Some of the great Sitcoms he ever made include:

Teen Bata Teen
Shashlik
Wrong Number
Motor Chalay Pum Pum

It was Jawad Bashir who then carried on with the genre and became perhaps the most prolific sitcom-maker of the country. Later on, the director left the show and its writer Sarmad Khoosat held the reins of direction as well. Like Jawad Bashir, he too has now burgeoned into a recognized, if not accomplished, director.

It was Shashlik that proved to be the precursor to a variety of comedy series from Lahore. One such sitcom was Jutt & Bond, directed by Zain and penned by Vasay Chaudhry. The show brought together, in a laughter-inducing manner, two iconic cinema heroes of East and West, Maula Jutt and James Bond and gained tremendous popularity, particularly among the urban audiences.

Ali Azmat

2010-08-16T01:25:00.001-07:00

Ali Azmat (Urdu: علی عظمت; born April 20, 1970 in Abbottabad) is a Pakistani musician, who gained recognition as the lead vocalist of the pop/rock band Junoon.

Music career

Ali Azmat during his time with sufi rock band Junoon.

Early career

Azmat was born in Abbottabad and grew up in Garhi Shahu, Lahore, which he credits for his unconventional attitude. He went to Sydney, Australia for his higher studies, but due to financial difficulties, returned back to Pakistan before completing university.

His first band 'Jupiters' was known for performing covers at small gigs, such as weddings, in Lahore. While with them, Azmat wrote his legendary hit song Dosti. He later sang and recorded Dosti with Junoon, after which the song gained national fame.

Junoon

Junoon was Pakistan's biggest band famous for combining traditional poetry and instruments with rock music. Azmat was the lead vocalist of the band. With Junoon, he toured extensively, doing two North American tours a year since 1992. He performed in Europe, the Middle East and China and at the European rock festival, Roskilde in June 2000. He left Junoon in 2005 to pursue a solo career.

Solo career

Ali Azmat released his first solo album, Social Circus, in March 2005 to critical acclaim. Social Circus was a massive departure from Junoon's style and won 23 awards in Pakistan, including Best Album and Best Producer. In India, Azmat was nominated for Best Soundtrack and Best Song at the Sahara Awards held in London, for his single "Garaj Baras" in the Pooja Bhatt film Paap. Azmat's second album, Klashinfolk, was released in August 2008 and recorded at Mekaal Hasan Studios in Lahore. Klashinfolk also received significant critical acclaim across Pakistan, although (like Social Circus) it was not a huge commercial success.

Bollywood

Azmat made his Bollywood music debut with the song Garaj Baraj that was chosen by Pooja Bhatt, a close friend of Azmat. The song was picturized on John Abraham.

Apart from that, Azmat was also supposed to have his song, Balma in Tera Kya Hoga Johnny. The film never made it to the limelight.

During his times with Junoon, they were a huge success in India with their song, Sayooni.

Discography

Studio albums

Social Circus (2005)

Klashinfolk (2008)

Band

Azmat often plays rhythm guitar, besides singing, during concerts. He also plays drums but rarely in concerts. The current lineup of Ali Azmat's band for live performances and albums worked with him on Klashinfolk and has remained since. It includes Omran "Momo" Shafique (of Mauj) on lead guitar, Kamran "Mannu" Zafar on bass guitar and Louis J. "Gumby" Pinto on drums.

Television

Azmat has also acted in Pakistani television series. He also sang the title songs of many series. He played the role of a con artist in a Pakistani tele film. Azmat also wrote the theme song for a children television series, 'The Magic Tent'. Azmat also hosted a show called "Pappu Yar Tang Na Kar" for Aag television. He also starred in a telefilm, "ChaalBaz" in 2006 which was aired on ARY Digital. He has also worked with local pop musicians such as Omran Shafique from Mauj and Gumby, the former drummer of Noori.