Nazia Hassan

Nazia Hassan (April 3, 1965 – August 13, 2000) was an iconic Pakistani pop singer. Her song "Aap Jaisa Koi" from the 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 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 the only real pop singer of the 1980s and the 1990s in both India and Pakistan.


Early life and Career

Nazia Hassan was born in Karachi, Pakistan and from an early age showed interest in music. Nazia's professional career started at the age of fifteen when she provided the lead vocals for the song Aap Jaisa Koi from a Bollywood film titled Qurbani (1980), by Indian producer-director Feroz Khan. Nazia was introduced to Feroz 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.
She then collaborated with Biddu, a UK-based Indian music producer who was also the composer of Aap Jaisa Koi, on numerous other projects. Biddu had previously made several hit-songs for various singers like Tina Charles and Carl Douglas. In 1981, Biddu released Nazia's first mega-hit, Disco Deewane. The album broke record sales in Pakistan and India and even topped the charts in the West Indies, Latin America and Russia. Her later albums also had vocals of her brother, Zoheb Hassan. These included Star/Boom Boom (1982), Young Tarang (1984), Hotline (1987), and Camera Camera (1992). Nazia and Zoheb appeared with music maestro Sohail Rana's Pakistani television program for children, "Sung Sung". In 1988, Nazia and Zoheb also hosted the groundbreaking show Music '89 produced by Shoaib Mansoor.


After the huge success of their music, selling millions of albums worldwide, EMI Music International also Nazia and Zoheb, making them as the first South Asian artists to be signed by an international music label.


Nazia and Zoheb's television interviews were shown on TV in India, Pakistan, Dubai, UK (big names like David Soul, David Essex, Zia Mohiuddin conducted the interviews on BBC, ITV, Channel 4 etc) and many other countries.


Death from Cancer

Nazia Hassan died in August 13, 2000 in London after a prolonged battle with lung cancer at the young age of 35. She was admitted to North Finchley Hospice three days earlier when her condition suddenly deteriorated. She showed signs of mild recovery on Saturday 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 Hassan's son Arez, who was born on April 7 1997 and was only three when his mother succumbed to cancer, was taken into the care of Nazia's parents. He like his late mother is a talented performer. He is continuing the charitable work that his mother initiated via the Nazia Hassan Charitable Foundation.


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.

Article Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazia_Hassan