KARACHI: Fans remembered an iconic pop singer Nazia Hasan, the girl who introduced pop singing and raised the status of Pakistani singing all over the world.
Fame came early in her life and she grew in stature as a singer with her brother Zoheb by her side. Together, they became the darlings of the young generation — girls would emulate her hairstyle and dressing just as boys would Zoheb’s.
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 and in 1981 won Filmfare award for it.
In 1981, Nazia became the first playback singer to release an album after the release of her first album, Disco Deewane. Nazia’s second album Star/Boom Boom was released in 1982. The soundtrack of the album was used in the movie Star.
Nazia’s third album, Young Tarang was released in 1984. The album sold 40 million copies which set the record of most selling video album of all times.
Nazia’s fourth album, Hotline was released in 1987. 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. Nazia hosted another show, Dhanak on PTV in the same year, 1989.
Music was one part of her life, social work was another as Nazia felt strongly for abandoned children and wanted to establish homes for them. Having worked for the UN as an analyst with a degree in Law, she joined Unicef to help under-privileged children.
Nazia died of lung cancer in London on August 13, 2000 at the age of 35.
After 12 years of her death, Nazia Hassan’s music lives on..
