Shaheer Ahmed
Aap jaisa koi meri zindagi mein aye tou baat ban jaye – Kya hota kay jab zindagi mein koi Nazia Hassan jaisa ajaye; jo zindagi ko char chand laga dey. Nazia Hassan is a pop star; Pakistan’s first pop star who has been the queen of our hearts for a very long time. The generation today knows of her name, and can also be seen at times rocking to her music. Yesterday was her 57th Birthday, so we thought of paying a tribute to the Pop Queen.
It is generally known that with popularity and success comes a lot of suffering, and people claim the same for Nazia as well. She rose to fame at the early age of 15 and changed the way that Pakistanis viewed and loved music. She got so popular and loved that people on the other side of the border as well could be seen praising her and jamming to her music.
She made her debut with Aap Jaisa koi meri zindagi mein aye and her second song – Disco Deewane with her brother Zoheb Hassan rendered 60 million copies across 14 countries. It was the blockbuster Asian pop of that time. And she did not stop there – she continued to make her mark with Boom Boom, Young Tarang, Hotline… earned the siblings comparisons with the Beatles ‘minus the crazy haircut’! “Nazia’s voice was like the ABBA singers. When it hit the microphone, it had a two-tone kind of split. It sounded like a double track,” Zoheb once underlined his sister’s singularity.
In a Zee5 UK TV interview, she said, “You can get worried about the future… about dying… but it’s important to be positive… I cherish every day…I love spending time with my family. I have a little son…. a two-year-old monster.”
Nazia was a rock star and her talents knew no bounds. Unfortunately, only 10 days before her death – she had divorced her husband, who later claimed that he loved her. Whatever may have been the case with these two – one thing remains true and that is that she changed the way that people saw music, and how they viewed it.
She gave everyone something new – something they had not seen before and in ways gave direction to the west as well on how to produce music, and which genres to follow. She is loved both in Pakistan, India, and the West and we think any person who can break through the ties of politics, and differences and win the hearts of people all over the world is someone who has to be cherished.
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