Music

 Sufi Music

Sufi music is a genre of music inspired by Sufism, and by the works of Sufi poets, like Rumi, Hafez, Bulleh Shah and Khwaja Ghulam Farid. Qawwali is the most well known form of Sufi music, common in India and Pakistan . However, music is also central to the whirling dervishes and the ceremony of Sema, who use a slow, sedate form of music featuring the Turkish flute, the ney. The West African gnawa is another form, and Sufis from Indonesia to Afghanistan to Morocco have made music central to their practises. Some of the Sufi orders have taken an approach more akin to puritan forms of Islam, declaring music to be unhelpful to the Sufi way. Sufi love songs are often performed as ghazals and Kafi, a solo genre accompanied by percussion and harmonium, using a repertoire of songs by Sufi poets.

Abida Parveen

Abida Parveen is widely known as the queen of Sufi mystic singing spreads the message of love and induces a state of spiritual ecstasy with her Sufi mystic songs. Abida Parveen sings in Urdu, Sindhi, Seraiki, Punjabi and Persian, and together with Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan is considered one of the finest Sufi vocalists of the modern era.

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (October 13, 1948 – August 16, 1997) a world-renowned Pakistani musician, was primarily a singer of Qawwali, the devotional music of the Sufis (a mystical tradition within Islam). Considered one of the greatest singers ever recorded, he possessed a six-octave vocal range[verification needed] and could perform at a high level of intensity for several hours.Extending the 600-year old Qawwali tradition of his family, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan is widely credited with introducing Sufi music to international audiencesbr.He was popularly known as Shahenshah-e-Qawwali, meaning The King of Kings of Qawwali.

Wazir Ali Shah

Wazir Ali Shah is superb Sindhi singer of Sufi and Aarfana kalams. Syed Wazir Ali Shah has beautiful voice. He sings arfana kalams for Sindhi music. Wazir Ali Shah is famous in rural areas of Sindh.

Sohrab Fakir

Sohrab Fakir was a Sufi singer. His full name is Sohrab Fakir Khaskhely'. He was born in 1934 in Khairpur Mir's.He was born in 1934 in Khairpur Mir's. He died in 23 October 2009.

Sanam Marvi

Sanam Marvi is a Pakistani folk andsufi singer. She sings in Urdu, Sindhiand Seraiki languages. She performs sufi concerts around the world. She is among the finest performers in the Sufi, ghazal and folk genres[2] She sings compositions of Baba Bulleh Shah,Baba Sheikh Farid, Sachal Sarmast, the Sufi mystic from Sindh, Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai.

Fareed Ayaz Qawwal

Fareed Ayaz Qawwal belongs to Qawwal Bachchon Ka Gharana of Delhi. Fareed Ayaz started his training in classical music his father, Ustad Munshi Raziuddin Ahmed Khan. Fareed Ayaz Qawwal & Bros. have performed in the United Kingdom, USA, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Holland, Portugal, Austria, India, Kenya, Nepal, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, Croatia, Turkey, Morocco, Greece, Egypt, Bulgaria, Tunisia, Belgium, Iran, UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan.

Farida Khanum

This is a listing of all of Farida Khanum's Punjabi songs. Some of these songs are based on the Sufi kalam of the mystic saints of Punjab (like Bulleh Shah, Shah Hussain, Sultan Bahu, and Khwaja Ghulam farid) while others are based on folk lyrics.

Iqbal Bahoo

Is a Pakistani sufi singer. He was born in Gurdaspur, Punjab, India, but migrated to Pakistan after Independence, and settled in Lahore. Iqbal Bahu mastered the Sufi tradition of the well-known Sufi saint Sultan Bahu. He sings many Sufi songs for Radio Pakistan and Pakistan Television and was awarded the Tamgha-i-Imtiaz honor by the Government of Pakistan in 2008.

Sain Zahoor

Sain Zahoor or Saeen Zahur Ahmad (b. around 1945) is a leading Sufi musician from Pakistan. He spent his life singing in the Sufi shrines, and had not cut a record until 2006, when he was nominated for the BBC World Music awards based on word of mouth. He emerged as the “best BBC voice of the year 2006?

Folk Music

Folk music of Pakistan includes the traditional forms of Balochi, Pashto, Punjabi, and Sindhi. Pakistani folk songs include "Abeeti" (a love song sung by young women), "Allah Hoo" (a Muslim lullaby) and "Ashoor Jan" (a patriotic love song). Badala (or Sandara) is a historically significant form of Pashto folk music that focuses on local romance, epics, folktales, fables, local heroes and historical events. Badala also includes Pashto translations of epics and romance from Arabic and Persian.

Shaukat Ali Khan

Is a Pakistani folk singer. Born into a family of artists in Malakwal. Since 1970 he has performed ghazals and Punjabi folk songs. He gave a live performance at the 1982 Asian Games in New Delhi, and has been awarded the highest Pakistani civilian Presidential award. His song "Kadi te Has BolVe" was used in the movie "Love Aaj Kal". He also released a track titled Jagaa. He is the father of Pakistani singer Imran Shaukat.

Zarina Baloch

Was a Pakistani folk music singer and composer. She was also an actress, writer, teacher, political and social worker.Her recognitions include: the Shah Latif Award, the Waheed Murad Award, the Shah Sachal Sami Award, the Lal Shahbaz Award, the Sachal Award, the SGA Award, the SANA Award, the WSC Award, the Ram Panjwani Award, the PTV Award, the Sindhi Sadaeen Gad Award, theFaiz Ahmed Faiz Award and the Pride of Performance Award.

Inayat Hussain Bhatti

Was a Pakistani singer, actor, producer, director, script writer, social worker, columnist, religious scholar and a protagonist of the development of Punjabi language and literature.

Talib Hussain Dard

Is a Pakistani folk singer of Punjabi and Saraiki languages in Jhang, Punjab. Talib Dard had released many albums of His singing songs. He is known as the King of Jog singing.

Allan Fakir

Is a Pakistani folk singer is a one of the foremost exponents of sufi music in Pakistan. He is particularly known for his ecstatic style of performance marked with extreme devotional rhetoric and sufi dance singing. His peculiarly funny body language and distinctively pleasing facial expressions marked with a broad smile, were always amusing for his audience at live performances.Allan Fakir received the President's Pride of Performance award in 1980, the Shahbaz Award in 1987, the Shah Latif Award in 1992 and Kandhkot Award in 1993. Allan Fakir died on 4 July 2000.

Attaullah Khan Niazi Esakhelvi

Is a Pakistani Pride of Performance award-winning musician from Isakhel, Mianwali, Punjab.[1] He is traditionally considered a Seraiki artist, but most of his music albums are in either Punjabi or Urdu.

Pathanay Khan

Was a great Seraiki folk singer from Pakistan. He sang mostly Kafis or Ghazals , which were largely based on theSufi poetry of Khwaja Ghulam Farid and Shah Hussain. He was born in 1926 in the village Basti Tambu Wali, situated in the heart of the Thal Desert, several miles from Kot Addu (Punjab).

Muhammad Alam Lohar

Was a prominent Punjabi folk music singer of Pakistan.He died in 1979 in an accident.He recorded his first album at the age of 13 and has outsold all other singers in Pakistan, with 5,000 albums to his credit. Alam Lohar organized a full-fledged theatre with a complete orchestra.

He also travelled several times to the United Kingdom at his own expense to perform for Pakistanis living overseas, who were delighted by his colourful clothes and thrilling voice, traditional chimta in hand.

Arif Lohar

Is a Pakistani folk singer. He usually sings with native musical instrument resembling tongs (called a 'chimta'). His folk music is representative of traditional folk heritage of the Punjab. He is the son of folk singer Alam Lohar

Reshama

Reshma has been one of the most popular folk singers of Pakistan, appearing on television in the 1960s, recording songs for both the Pakistani and Indian film industry, and performing at home and abroad. Whereever she goes, she mesmerizes the audience with her husky voice. Reshma lives very simply in Lahore.

POP Music

Pakistani pop music refers to popular music forms in Pakistan. Pakistani pop is a mixture of traditional Pakistani classical music and western influences of jazz, rock and roll, hip-hop and disco sung in various languages of Pakistan, including Urdu language. The popularity of music is based on the individual sales of a single, viewership of its music video or the singer's album chart positions.

Pakistani pop music is attributed to have given birth to the genre in the South Asian region with Ahmed Rushdi's song ‘Ko-Ko-Korina’ in 1966.Veteranslike Runa Laila started the pop industry in Pakistan while the fifteen-years old pop sensation Nazia with her brother Zohaib Hassan ushered the birth of pop music all over South Asia tailing on the success of her British endeavours.

From Rushdi's pop hits to songs sung by the Hassan siblings, to bands including Junoon, Vital Signs and Strings, the Pakistani pop industry has steadily spread throughout South Asia and today is the most popular genre in Pakistan and the neighbouring South Asian countries. Songs sung by Pakistani pop artists are a regular feature on soundtracks of most of the Bollywood movies.

The genre has always been accepted in the mainstream youth culture but hindrances came in the form of changing governments, radical Islamicisation, foreign influences and a stiff competition from neighbouring countries. Still, pop music thrived and survived with a steady growth. In was not until recent times that Pakistani pop music was to be admired throughout South Asia and the rest of the world.

Abrar-ul-Haq

Is a Pakistani pop, bhangra and folklegend singer. On his first album "Billo De Ghar" his name appears as simply "Abrar". His best-known work is the song "Billo De Ghar". Before becoming a singer, he was a geography teacher at the Aitchison College in Lahore.

Jawad Ahmad

Is a Pakistani singer. Jawad first captured Pakistan's attention as a person who called attention to the transcendental existence of God through the song '"Allah Meray Dil kay Andar" which most say showed a way to inner peace. The lyrical expression that he has used to portray his inclination towards Sufism bears traces of Ghalib and Faiz who are known to have emphasized on the same values so as to eradicate all barriers that hinder the establishment of a connection with God and differentiate amongst human beings by placing them into groupings of race and class

Sajjad Ali

is a Pakistani semi-classical, popsinger, film actor, director and producer. He is trained in classical singing."If I were to be born again, I'd like to be born as Sajjad Ali"

Annie

Is a Pakistani pop singer. Her parents moved to England when she was six months old. She grew up in East London, attended a girls' school, Plashet School and later moved to Essex with her parents.

Humera Arshad

She is a renowned Pakistani folk, pop, culture and ghazal singer who has been classically trained. Her albums are Chori Kach Di and Gal Sun Dholna. Humera says she used to accompany her mother to majalis for sooz khwani from an early age, where her vocal talent was noticed by many. The appreciation made her keen on pursuing music at a professional level. She was also lucky to have trained under the tutelage of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and has won numerous honors and awards for her musical achievements.

Atif Aslam

He is widely recognized in South Asia and has given several hit songs . He is best known for his powerful vocal belting technique.[In 2008, he was awarded the Tamgha-e-Imtiaz by the Government of Pakistan.

Fariha Pervez

Is one of the leading female singers of Pakistan. Fariha Pervez started her career with anchoring & acting from a very young age on PTV (Pakistan state tevlevision channel). She also co-hosted a popular children's music program "Aangan Aangan Taray". After the release of her debut Album. "Nice n Naughty", her song "Patang Baaz" (a.k.a Bo kata) became a super hit. her musical career took off and she there onwards decided to focus solely on singing.

Ali Haider

Is a former Pakistani singer and actor. He has had numerous hits in the early. Besides singing, he has acted in numerous TV serials on PTV He has a large fan following in Pakistan and Indiaand 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.

Haroon Rashid

Is a British-Pakistani pop singer, composer, musician and producer. He has sold millions of CDs and tapes worldwide and has performed at large venues such as the Wembley Arena.

Nazia Hassan

Was an iconic Pakistani pop singer. Her song "Aap Jaisa Koi" from the Indian film Qurbani (1980) made her a legend and pop icon in Pakistan and all of Southern Asia in the 1980s, where she is admired and loved even today, years after her death. Her debut album Disco Deewane (1981) also charted in fourteen countries worldwide and became the best-selling Asian pop record up until that time. Nazia Hassan, along with her brother Zohaib Hassan, went on to sell over 60 million records worldwide.

Hadiqa Kiani

Is a Pakistani singer-songwriter, and philanthropist. Kiani rose to fame in 1995 with her debut album Raaz. Kiani received instant fame and was nominated and won numerous awards in Pakistan as well as International awards. Since her debut, she has released five albums, all receiving similar fame. Kiani was named "Best Pop Female Singer" in Pakistan.

Ali Zafar

Is pop singer from Lahore, Pakistan.he is also known as the Prince of Pop, is a Pakistani musician, actor, painter and model, popular in Pakistan for his music. , Zafar worked as a model for several commercial advertisement besides acting in television. He worked in the Pakistani televisionserial 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.

Malkoo

Born as Mohammad Ashraf Malik in Sargodha, Pakistan is a pop, bhangra and folksinger. He is best known for the song "Kala Jora Pa", which was a hit in Pakistan.

In 2004 he released his first album "Sochna Vi Na" and since then has released 10 further albums.Malkoo was inspired by Pakistani folk singer Mansoor Malangi.

Shehzad Roy

Is a singer and humanitarian from Karachi, Pakistan. With five hit albums under his belt. he is also the president and founder of Zindagi Trust, a non-profit charitable organization, that seeks to educate the underprivileged children of Pakistan.

In June 2004, Roy was honored as one of the youngest ever recipient of the Tamgha-e-Imtiaz, which is one of the highest Civil Honors awarded in Pakistan for excellence in serving humanity. For his organization’s earthquake rehabilitation in Kashmir, he was awarded the Sitara-e-Eisaar. He was also selected to be a torch bearer for the 2008 Olympic Torch relay as the pride of Pakistan. Recently, Roy took the city of Chicago by storm when he was awarded the 2008 Patricia Blunt Koldyke Fellowship award for excellence in social entrepreneurship.

Rahim Shah

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 Pashtun.

Siege the band

“The name ‘SIEGE’ exactly portrays our vision which is to capture the music world with the help of the impeccable music sense we have.”

The band was formed on the 23rd of May, 2003. Released their first video, Armaan, in dec 2006 (which topped the music charts for more than 12 weeks) and recently launched their second video, Faslay (still topping all the music charts). Siege is the first band of Pakistan that introduced percussions in the main stream. Siege is:Junaid (Lead Vocalist)Fahad ( Guitarist).

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.

Rock Music

Pakistani rock began with the arrival of American satellite television in the 1990s. The popular form of music quickly spread throughout the country and with that came the arrival of various rock bands. Bands Vital Signs and Junoon were regarded as the pioneers of Pakistani rock. Other bands such as Strings began in the mid 1990s and during the late 1990s underground bands were becoming a norm in cities across Pakistan. Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad witnessed an explosion of rock bands and concerts in 2000 as Pakistan began to liberalize under President Musharraf's "enlightened moderation" campaign.

Aaroh

was an alternative rock band from Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan, formed in 1998. The band was founded by lead guitarist Nabeel Nihal Chishty and vocalistFarooq Ahmed, who were joined by keyboardist Kamran Khan, bassist Khalid Khan and drummer Adnan Hussain.

The band achieved fame with their exuberant live performances backed up with thought provoking lyrics, and also, their performance in the Pakistani rock scene in 2002, most notably at the Pepsi Battles of the bands, helped them leave a trail for themselves.

Call (Band)

Call is a rock band from Lahore, Pakistan, formed by Zulfiqar J. Khan, Danish J. Khan, Khurram J. Khan and Omer Pervaiz. In 1996, the band's guitarist,Omer Pervaiz left to concentrate on his solo project, Naqsh and the band bassist, Shahzad Hameed, left to pursuit his own solo project. Ahsan Fida Khan and Faisal Murtaza recruited their places.

On October 20, 2001, Danish J. Khan, the band’s vocalist and lyricist, performed for the last time and later on left the band. Khurram Jabbar Khan moved to the United States, Zulfiqar J. Khan concentrated on his band Paradigm (which later became Entity Paradigm) while Ahsan and Faisal moved on to fulfill family obligations.

However, the band reformed in 2002 and after a few line-up changes, released their debut album, Jilawatan in late 2005.

Fuzön

is a Pakistani rock music group comprising three members. The name has been derived fromfusion as the former vocalist Shafqat Amanat Ali describes the band as a fusion of Indian classical music and modern rock music.

Fuzon encompasses hybrid styles of exquisite melodies and everlasting pop/rock instrumentation, hence carving out a special niche for the threesome. The three seasoned collaborators of the band consider their debut album as a labor of love as well as a message of hope to all.

Jal (Band)

Is a pop rock band from Lahore, Punjab,Pakistan. The band originally consisted of song writer, vocalist and lead guitarist, Goher Mumtaz and vocalist, Atif Aslam. Founded in 2002, they first became popular playing in Lahore's underground music scene with the release of their song "Aadat", which was a massive hit in Pakistan topping all local music charts.

Josh

Is a Montreal-based Pakistani fusion band. Present members are "Rup" (Rupinder Magon) and "q" (Qurram Hussain). Their songs showcase both modern and traditional bhangra beats and music, but are strongly influenced by hip hop and rock music.

Atif Aslam

Is a Rock band from Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan, formed in 1990. The band is directed by founder, lead guitarist and songwriter, Salman Ahmad, who was soon joined by keyboardist Nusrat Hussain and vocalist Ali Azmat. Junoon is Pakistan's most successful band; the Q magazine regarded them as "One of the biggest bands in the world" and The New York Times called Junoon "the U2 of Pakistan".

Karavan

Is a rock band from Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan, formed in 1997. The band is founded by former Awaz lead guitarist Asad Ahmed with the help of his friend bassist Sameer Ahmed, who were soon joined by drummer Allan Smith and lead vocalist Najam Sheraz. Karavan are regarded as one of the most successful rock band in Pakistan. Since their inception, the group has released a collective total of five albums: four studio albums and one live album.

Noori

Is a rock band from Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan, formed in 1996. The band is directed by founder, lead guitarist and songwriter, Ali Noor, and his brother, Ali Hamza, who were soon joined by bassist Muhammad Ali Jafri and drummer Salman Albert. Noori is considered as one of the pioneering forces behind what is dubbed as the '21st Century Pop Revolution of Pakistan'.

Strings (The Band)

Are an internationally acclaimed pop rock band comprising two members fromKarachi, Sindh, Pakistan. The band was initially formed by four college students, Bilal Maqsood (vocals and guitars), Faisal Kapadia (vocals), Rafiq Wazir Ali (synthesizer) andKareem Bashir Bhoy (bass guitars) in 1988. In 1992, the quartet disbanded only to make a comeback with two of its members, Bilal and Faisal later in 2000. While the initial band was riding on the new wave of Pakistani pop music, the later formation ushered a new revival in the music industry of Pakistan.