ISLAMABAD: Yesterday, August 13, was the 23rd anniversary of the death of Pakistani pop music legend Nazia Hassan. She died at the age of 35 after a long fight with lung cancer.
Nazia Hassan, born on April 3, 1965, often called the “Queen of Pop.” She started making art when she was a child, when she was 10 years old. Her rise to fame helped by her appearance on Sung Sung, a famous show on Pakistani TV.
Nazia Hassan’s singing journey started with the hit song “Aap Jaisa Koi” from the 1980 Indian movie “Qurbani.” “Disco Deewane,” her first album, came out in 1981 and hit the charts in 14 countries. This made it one of the best-selling Asian dance albums of the time.
South and Southeast Asians knew and loved Nazia Hassan. She and her brother Zoheb Hassan had a lot of success, selling over 65 million songs around the world. She was even the first Pakistani singer to make it into the British music charts with her English-language song “Dreamer Deewane.”
Nazia Hassan was also a lawyer, a social worker, and a giver of money to good causes. She went to Richmond, The American foreign University, and the University of London and got degrees from all three. For her work, she won both national and foreign awards.
In 1980, she was the youngest person to win India’s famous Filmfare award. She was only 15 years old. She was also given the Pride of Performance award, which is Pakistan’s greatest honour for a civilian.
