Hadiqa Kiyani

Hadiqa Kiani (Urdu, Punjabi: حدیقہ کیانی) (born August 12 1974, Rawalpindi, Pakistan) is a multi-platinum selling, multiple award winning Pakistani singer, song writer, and an occasional TV host. She is widely known as the best female pop singer the country has to offer. [http://www.pakipop.com/reflection/evolution.html Pakipop.com > Reflection > An Evolution in Motion ] ] [http://www.karachiplus.com/Music/Content.asp?contentid=8001&p=Hotstepper+of+the+week+Hadiqa+Kiani Hotstepper of the week Hadiqa Kiani - Year End Review @ Karachiplus.com ] ] www.pakstop.com/pmforums/showthread.php?t=20693] She is also ranked as the second highest female selling pop artist of Pakistan, trailing only Nazia Hassan.

After working on a successful music project with Adnan Sami, Kiani released her successful debut album, Raaz. After a musical ban imposed on her from the government, Kiani successfully returned to the music scene with her second album, Roshni, which remains her best selling album to date and helped establish her icon as the country's leading female vocalist. Kiani followed up Roshni with a more mature album, Rung. In 2007, she became the first Pakistani mainstream artist to release a complete English album, Rough Cut.

Early life

Hadiqa was born on August 11, 1974. She is the youngest of 3 siblings, her older brother and sister who. Her father died when she was 3 years old. Hadiqa recalls the experience of losing her father on an interview show called "Heart to Heart" on ARY. She said it was very difficult for a few years for her family as issues had risen after her father's death, but she also said her mother was very brave throughout their upbringing. Her mother Khawar was a principle of a government all girl school while hadiqa and her older siblings were growing up right after her father's death the family had to move into the school. Hadiqa and both her brother and sister had a knack for music, and as such her mother and school enlisted her in the 'Pakistan National Council Of The Arts'. Hadiqa then performed in front of a crowd of a thousand people, at Liaqat Memorial Hall Pindi. [http://hadiqakiani.net/biography.htm Welcome to Hadiqa Kiani ] ]

She went on to study at Viqar-un-Nisa Noon Girls High School Pindi. She represented Pakistan in International children festivals in Turkey, Jordan, Bulgaria, and Greece, winning various medals along the way. She also used to be on Sohail Rana's "Rang Barangi Dunya"; a weekly musical.

Adolescence

As an eighth grader Hadiqa moved from birth place Rawalpindi to Lahore. She was then enrolled Naya Aligar Public School. She then went on to Kinnaird and Govt. College, due to her excellent academic performance, and earned a masters in Psychology.

Television & Film

Hadiqa came onto TV to host a children music program from PTV called "Angan Angan Taray". In the three and a half year long run, she had sung over a thousand songs for children. She also appeared as a VJ for various musical shows.

Hadiqa appeared as a playback singer for a musical movie called "Sargam" in 1994. The same year, she bagged awards for her playback singing. [http://hadiqakiani.net/achivements.htm Welcome to Hadiqa Kiani ] ]

Raaz

Hadiqa Kiani released her debut album Raaz (Secret) in 1995. Hadiqa wrote the lyrics to her first single, "Jeevan" (Life). The album spawned a string of radio friendly tunes and generally had favorable reviews. One reason Hadiqa's album did well was because it was not common for female singers to release albums at the time. Also, she was the first female singer to release a pop album after a former pop singer, Nazia Hassan, gave up her musical career in 1993. Hadiqa's ability to sing in various dialects also helped the album gain momentum. She was however labeled as a "Nazia imitator", mostly due to the fact Nazia was the only female singer her before her to introduce pop music in the country.

Still, Raaz performed well. The album's success was highlighted by it being mentioned in an article which showed the major events in Pakistan's music history. The article stated "Hadiqa Kiani successfully releases debut album Raaz". [ [http://www.chowk.com/articles/8459 Chowk: : Socio-political History of Modern Pop Music in Pakistan ] ] She also won "NTM Viewer's choice award" for the best female Singer of Pakistan in 1995..

In 1996, Hadiqa's debut had sold over 700,000 thousand copies, a very impressive figure for a poor country like Pakistan where people generally didn't accept females singing pop music. This milestone came when piracy in Pakistan hit an all time high (and still persists, Pakistan is ranked in one of the top 3 leading countries of Piracy, alongside Malaysia and China), causing all international labels to leave the country in 1994 itself. She kept on releasing singles from the album, all of which were received well. These included "Yaad", "Tu Agar Mil Jaata", "Jaan E Jan", and "Manne Di Mauj".

Her increasing popularity was further highlighted in 1997 when Hadiqa became the first Asian singer ever to perform on the British National Lottery Live BBC1 (estimated viewership 16.6 million). Afterwards she worked on two more shows with Bally Sagoo for BBC 2 and ITV before moving to perform in the U.S. Her U.S. tour covered 15 states and a show in Canada too. The same year Hadiqa performed on several other International events such as "Celebration Hong Kong 97", alongside other singers like Lisa Stansfield, Wet Wet Wet, Michael Learns to Rock, All 4 One and The Brand New Heavies. By the end of the year she became the first Asian female singer ever to be signed by Pepsi Cola International. She is also the second female in the world to achieve this, with the first being Gloria Estefan.

Roshni

In 1998 Hadiqa Kiani began working on her second music album, "Roshni" (Light). The album was dedicated to her nephew Sonu, the son of her older sister, Hadiqa took care of her nephew and has considered him as a significant person in her life. The first single off the album, "Tu Nawa Tu Sada" was released before the album was released. Hadiqa then released a second single, "Inteha-e-Shauq". The song was the official song found for the Pakistani Cricket team for the Cricket World Cup that year. Both songs being patriotic gained favorable reviews, however "Inteha-e-Shauq" was a much better success for Hadiqa. On November 1, 1998 Hadiqa released Roshni. Initial album sales were powered mostly by "Inteha-e-Shauq", which made the final listing of the album along with "Tu Nawa Tu Sada".

Hadiqa's third single off the album, "Dupatta" was an instant success. It's video was inspired by the sci-fi film "Matrix", and was the highest budgeting video in Pakistan in the year 1999. "Dupatta" also gained more popularity than any single Hadiqa had released before from her debut single. To date it is considered one of Hadiqa's greatest songs ever. The song is also listed in the Twenty Best Pop Songs Ever for Pakistan, where it is positioned at #15. [http://www.pakipop.com/ Pakipop.com - The Pakistani Pop Music Web Site ] ] The success of the song was attributed to its quasi-bhangra rhythm with fat, funky techno beats, and Hadiqa’s "dreamy-meets-husky- vocals", which made the results "stunning." In wake of "Dupatta's" success, Hadiqa soon went on the be widely accepted as the country's leading female vocalist.

Capitalizing on "Dupatta's" success, Hadiqa went on to release two other moderate hits, "Roshni", and "Woh Kaun Hai". She then delivered once again by releasing a sixth single off the album, "Boohey Barian" which went on to become an even bigger hit for her than "Dupatta". To date, "Boohey Barian" is widely accepted as Hadiqa's best single ever. The song's success led to it being copied heavily in neighboring India, where it's melody came out in three different songs, 2 on movies (Hum Tumharay Hain and Dil Laga Liya) and once by singer Hans Raj Hans.

Hadiqa's massive success in 1999 was highlighted when she won PTV World viewer's choice award for the best female singer in 2000.. She also released a seventh single off the album, "Intezaar".

Roshni sold over a million copies in Pakistan alone, an extremely impressive figure for a poor country which is still largely male dominant and has an extremely high rate of piracy in the world. Hadiqa's image also became a signature look in cities like Karachi. These included long coat-like sherwanis and snake printed trousers and Nabila's chic cuts and color. This style by Hadiqa was a standard to many women who looked up to her in Pakistani cities like Karachi and Defense Lahore. It is widely known as Hadiqa's best album to date. The album is listed in "The 20 Best Local Pop Albums Ever" for the country, positioned at #15. In the entire list, Hadiqa is just one of two female singers listed, with the other being Nazia Hassan. The review stated

This is the album with which Hadiqa finally overcame her reputation of being a folksy Nazia Hassan imitator. Glided across various different genres in a single album, from millennium techno, to crisp FM-pop and the usual folk-pop thing. The brilliant production remains to be the highlight here.

In another list called "The 10 Best Local Pop Albums...ever" "Roshni" was placed at number 9. [ [http://www.muziqpakistan.com/board/index.php?showtopic=24559 The 10 Best Local Pop Albums ...ever - A Pakistani Forum : Online Discussion Community ] ] The review also highlighted Hadiqa's status rise by stating

However, on the excellent and crisply produced "Roshni", not only did Hadiqa manage to ultimately become the next Nazia, but the way she so effortlessly glided through the many distinct genres she explores on "Roshni" (from Neo-Filmi-Pop to FM-Pop to Techno), elevated her status to being one of the post-modern Indo-Pak pop scene's leading "pop diva"

Hadiqa's success got her signed by "Uni Lever" for celebrity endorsement of Lipton Yellow Label in 2001. In 2002, she was signed again by "Uni Lever" for Sunsilk Shampoo. Throughout 2001 and 2002, she performed live concerts in USA , Canada , U.K, Middle East, Far East, Australia, Norway, Greece, Bulgaria and Turkey on multiple occasions.

Rung

Hadiqa Kiani released her third album "Rung" (Colors) in September 2002, for which she'd chosen the album title herself. Prior to "Rung's" release, Hadiqa sang an OST for a drama called Cheray. The song also made the final listing on "Rung".

The first single released from "Rung" was "Yaad Sajan". The song helped the album sales propel throughout September and August of 2002 and was an instant hit. It didn't however make it as big as "Dupatta" or "Boohey Barian", but generally got great appreciation.

Where Hadiqa released multiple videos for her previous albums within months after the album release, she didn't do so with "Rung" because of a personal crisis in her life. Her marriage was seeing problems. Issues with her marriage saw her being removed from the spotlight for the rest of 2002, and early 2003. "Rung's" sales slowly declined since no other single had been released. Her divorce was finalized in March 2003. She decided to take a few months off from her music career then. As a result, "Rung's" sales seemed stalled.

She returned to promote the album in June 2003, almost 10 months after she'd released "Yaad Sajan" with a new single "Ranjhan" and several stage performances and tours around the country. She then released other singles off the album throughout 2003 and 2004. These included "Jogi Bun Kay Aa", "Mahi", and "Dholan".

Her newer singles saw her videos seeing a drastic improvement in standard and concept. In "Jogi Bun Kay Aa" Hadiqa plays various roles of women, including a traditional Japanese, an Arab, and a tribal woman. She played the role of a vampire in her video for "Mahi". The video was also sending the message to not judge people of different faiths and casts, and to not stereotype. It was the highest budgeting video of the year 2003. Despite the setback from her divorce, Hadiqa's album sales picked up through 2003 and 2004. In 2004, she received the Best Female Pop Singer Award by Indus Music, the first 24 hour music channel of Pakistan.Dr.Asim Raza won an award for best video for directing her video "Mahi".

"Rung" got mixed reviews from experts. Overall it didn't capitalize on the momentum she generated by "Roshni". Many argue that this is due to the fact that Rung has more mature slow paced ballads than Roshni, while some say the turmoils of her personal life, along with the increase of piracy in the country caused its sales to decline. Album official sales tally have not been mentioned anywhere.

However Hadiqa still remained a strong figure in the industry, despite the setback. Her name was mentioned in a list called "Pakistani Pop's 10 most Influential Acts Ever", where she positioned at number 9. She is also one of just 2 female singers in the list, with the other being Nazia Hassan. A UK based Magazine declaredHadiqa as the 22^nd greatest music maker of South Asia out of Top 50, also mentioning on how she raised the standard of music videos in the country.http://hadiqakiani.net/#]

2005-2006 Worldwide Performances

Hadiqa didn't release any single to promote Rung sales in 2005 and 2006. However, she continued to build on her success by touring heavily these years. Most of the time she was the official representative of Pakistan appointed by the government.

On August 11, 2005, Hadiqa performed in Nagoya for the Prime Minister of Japan Mr.Junichiro Koizumi. Hadiqa was invited to perform in Toronto on 14 Aug, 2005 by The Pakistani Consulate. She performed in Houston on 13^th August 2005. The show was at Sam Houston Race Park, and it was attended by over 15000 people. Chief guest of the show was Sheila Jackson Lee who is a member of the US House of Representatives. Hadiqa was asked to take out the lucky draws of PIA and she announced the names of the lucky winners. She then performed at the "Mets" in "Shea Stadium" New York on August 18, 2005. She also performed at the Pakistan Day Parade in New York on August 28, 2005.

She performed in Malaysia on the 2nd October 2005 at the newly built Convention Centre in Kualalampur downtown. The Honorary Prime Minister of Pakistan Mr.Shaukat Aziz was the chief guest of the show. The show was part of Expo 2005 in Malaysia. Important business and political personalities from both countries attended the show. She sang a Malay song, not a Pakistani song.

Hadiqa represented Pakistan on the 25th Anniversary of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) Research Centre for Islamic History, Art and Culture (IRCICA) in Turkey. Islamic Countries such as Azerbaijan, U.A.E, Iran, Qatar, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Kuwait, Lebanon, Egypt, Sudan, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Tanzania, Turkey, Pakistan and Yemen took part in the celebrations. The event was organized by Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. She performed at the AKM concert Hall on 23rd November 2005. Among the audience were musicians from various countries. The biggest surprise for the audience was when Hadiqa sang "Sanalama" (Turkish song of Living Legend "Sezanaksu"). Hadiqa told the audience that as Turkey stood beside Pakistan in good and bad times, she wanted to convey the love of Pakistani people for the Turks. She also told that she visited Turkey as a child star in 80s and represented Pakistan in the International Children's Festival in Turkey so had beautiful childhood memories associated with Turkey. The audience gave her a standing ovation. At the end of her performance, The Mayor of Istanbul presented a bouquet of flowers to her. After her performance she received invitations for Pakistan to participate in the upcoming Art festivals in various countries such as Iran, Syria, Qatar and Lebanon. During her stay in Istanbul she officially visited various historical sites in Turkey and conveyed the love of Pakistan for Turkey. Her performance in Istanbul was important news in various Turkish News papers.

Hadiqa performed in China for the Chinese 2nd Premier on 21st Feb, 2006. She performed for President George W.Bush on 4th March, 2006. Commenting on her performance, Bush said he liked her accent and wanted her to perform in USA. [http://hadiqakiani.net/ Welcome to Hadiqa Kiani ] ] She performed for the Crown Prince of Brunei Al-Muhtadee Billah Bolkiah on 29th May, 2006.

Hadiqa performed for Mrs.Laura Bush on September 21, 2006 at The Kennedy Convention Centre, Washington DC. She closed the year by performing for HRH Prince Charles on October 30, 2006, and the Chinese President on November 23, 2006.

2005-2006 Music Contributions

Though Hadiqa couldn't release music and didn't promote sales for Rung due to her touring in these years, she still remained a strong figure in the industry due to her contributions and experiments. She also won an Indus Music Award for the Best Female singer for the second time in 2005.

Throughout 2005, Hadiqa did not release any video to promote "Rung". She did however sing in various collaborations with other male singers. She sang the OST for a drama on HUM TV called "Aas Paas" with singer Atif Aslam. She sang 2 more OST's for the same channel, one being "Koi Lamha Gulab Sa" with Ahmed Jehanzeb, and another solo OST for a drama called "Tum Meray Ho". She also was featured in Najam Sheraz's single "In Say Nain" alongside many other featured artists. She was the only female artist in that song. She also performed for a special show on ARY's The Musik called "Re-Mastered", where she sang her songs and covered popular band Fuzon's song Teray Bina. In the same show, Fuzon covered her song "Boohey Barian", and asked her to sing with them on their closing number, Aankhon Ke Sagar.

Hadiqa also performed for Geo TV in May 2005 for their show called "Geo Applause". The show was held at Sailing Club Karachi, and it was attended by large number of important personalities of the pop industry. Hadiqa sang songs that were mostly slow in tempo. Hadiqa told the audience in the beginning of the show that she would sing songs that she personally liked and those might not be people's choice. It was also her return to hosting a show after over a decade. In the show, she gave a tribute to The Carpenters by singing their song I Need to Be in Love. According to the producer of the show (Nadeem J), it was the best "applause" ever recorded for Geo. [ [http://hadiqakiani.net/whatsnew.htm Welcome to Hadiqa Kiani ] ]

In January 2006, Hadiqa released a single, "Iss Bar Milo". Although the song was off her album "Rung", it was used instead to promote a recently formed duo between her and Aamir Zaki. They both had planned to release an English album soon. The song became a huge success, and its video continue to build on the trend of videos Hadiqa had released. In the video Hadiqa plays a schizophrenic patient at a mental institution for women. Reviews for the rock song were extremely favorable, with people appreciating her acting and her decision to sing different genres. [www.pakstop.com/pmforums/showthread.php?p=591271]

Hadiqa had released another video in 2006. She was featured on UK based producer Khiza's album Loyal To The Game. The album's lead single, "Mehr Ma" featured Hadiqa. The song was a massive success in Pakistan, and was seen as a great return for Hadiqa after her ballads in "Rung". This was highlighted by the fact that Khiza's same album in Pakistan was titled "Mehr Ma" and not "Loyal to the Game". Also, the album cover in Pakistan only has Hadiqa on it, not Khiza. In the video, Hadiqa is seen with different hairstyles and outfits. Hadiqa also cut her hair short and dyed it red for the video. It's reviews have been extremely favorable. One source says "'Mehr Ma', which starts off the album is easily the best track on it. With Hadiqa showcasing her top-notch vocals and the music, which remains hip-hopish yet very desi, thanks to the usage of sitar, tabla makes it an excellent number." [ [http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews/apr2007-weekly/nos-08-04-2007/instep/article4.htm INSTEP Magzine ] ] Hadiqa also performed the song at the 2006 Lux Style Awards, and was called the best performer of the night in reviews. [www.pakstop.com/pmforums/showthread.php?t=30279] To date, "Mehr Ma" has the second highest hits of all of Hadiqa's videos on Youtube, only trailing "Boohey Barian".

Adoption

In late October, 2005, Hadiqa became the first person to adopt a baby from the earthquake. She has named the baby boy "Naad-e-Ali" and officially announced her adoption decision on Geo TV the same night she adopted him on a live show. She then proceeded to announce it in an official press release.

There have been some conflicting opinions with Hadiqa adopting a baby. Some people argued as to why she was allowed to adopt when there were laws passed against adoption to prevent human trafficking. This however wasn't a strong basis of argument, others said, since the baby was given to her, and it was not she who applied for him. Hadiqa has applied for official adoption of the baby ever since the law against adoption were released. Since the adoption she has married again. She claims the reason to be "wanting to give [her son] Naad-e-Ali the love of a father".

Tamgha-e-Imtiaz

On March 23, 2006, Hadiqa was awarded the "Tamgha-e-Imtiaz" by the Government of Pakistan, one of the highest civil awards of the country, for acknowledging her services of in the field of music and bringing good name to the country for over a decade. The award was announced on August 14, 2005, but the ceremony was on March 23 the next year.

Yeh Hum Naheen

In March 2007, Hadiqa Kiani was one of the many artists that were featured in a widely popular track called "Yeh Hum Naheen". In this song, various Pakistani artists joined to send out a message that people should stop blaming Muslims for the innocent killings of other Muslims. The song also sends out a anti-terrorism message. Other artists in the song are Haroon, Ali Haider, Ali Zafar, Shafqat Amanat Ali, Strings, and Shuja Haider. [ [http://yehhumnaheen.blogspot.com/ Yeh Hum Naheen – Fan Centre ] ] The song has been picked up by international stations like Fox News and BBC, and has received over 70,000 downloads.

Rough Cut

In 2007 Hadiqa Kiani released her fourth studio album, Rough Cut, a collaboration with Aamir Zaki. The album had seen frequent delays in its release due to Hadiqa's busy schedule in 2005 and 2006, and due to the fact that Amir Zaki had moved to Canada while the album was being recorded. With the release of Rough Cut, Hadiqa became the first Pakistani (Main Stream) artist to release a complete English Album. It is also her only album which her website officially put up for sale online.

In April 2007, Hadiqa released the first single for the album, titled "Living This Lie", a song which talks about the stressful life of being a star. The same week, Hadiqa was named "Hotstepper of the week" for a Karachi based magazine. The magazine also stated that

Ultimately, as long as Hadiqa is around, there is still hope for women in the patriarchal music world of Pakistan.

Hadiqa's second single that was released from the album is titled "All The Same". Rough Cut failed to impress at the charts, and didn't sell as much as Hadiqa's older works. Many experts said that since an overwhelming majority of people in the country do not understand English, the album didn't sell as much. It is not confirmed whether Hadiqa will release a third single from the album. However, there are rumors that the track "City of Fallen Angels" will get a video release, where Karachi will be the city referred to in the song.

The single "Living This Lie" got nominated for "Best English Song" for "The Musik Awards" in 2007. However, due to the emergency situations in the country in 2007, the awards were called off. Hadiqa also got nominated for Best Female Singer in the same awards.

Post-Rough Cut

In August, 2007, Hadiqa was one of the performers for the Londay Day Parade at Trafalgar Square, London which was broad casted by Geo TV to celebrate 60 years of Independence for the country. Hadiqa was the only singer who sang completely live that day. She was also part of closing the show with the popular patriotic song "Jeevay Pakistan" alongside Ali Zafar. [www.pakstop.com/pmforums/showthread.php?t=53144]

She also released an Urdu single titled "Zindagi" which is a rock themed song about the life (Zindagi) of Pakistani children. The song was released after a few weeks after the London Day Parade, and is also her latest video. She also stated in an interview that she plans to release an Urdu album and concentrate on its production shortly after Rough Cut's release, and that she's already done with 4 tracks for it. [ [http://www.newsline.com.pk/newsDec2005/startrekdec.htm Interview - Hadiqa Kiyani ] ] However it is not clear if "Zindagi" will be a track on that album.

Hadiqa did not perform much internationally as she did in years before, and even toured around Pakistan less frequently towards the end of the year 2007 (primarily due to the state of emergency and the turmoils the country went through). However earlier in 2007 (May 19) Hadiqa performed at Dead Sea Marriott Jordan at the World Economic Conference. Hadiqa’s performance was on the 2nd day of the 3 day event, while American singer Lionel Richie performed on the 1st Day at the same venue. During her performance Hadiqa performed an Arabic song “Aa We Nos” (originally sung by Nancy Ajram). Jordanian performers performed with Hadiqa during that song.

Pakistan Idol

Hadiqa Kiani will appear as a judge on an upcoming TV show on Geo TV called Pakistan Idol. The show itself has seen airing date delays due to the emergency in the country in Winter 2007. However the TV channel plans to release it soon. Hadiqa will also do an interview regarding Pakistan Idol soon. [ [http://www.pakistan-idol.com/ Pakistan-Idol.Com ] ] However it hasn't been announced when the interview will happen.

As of August 1, 2008, Geo TV announced that the show and its auditions are put on hold until further notice.

2008

Hadiqa Kiani has been relatively inactive so far in 2008, performing only at a few non televised concerts. The reason for her sudden absence is claimed to be her mother's paralysis in 2006 since then Hadiqa has been taking care of her mother. More information on the matter has not been disclosed.

Despite her absence Hadiqa recently performed at a cricket match between Pakistan and Bangladesh on April 20, 2008. More information on the performance is yet to be updated.

Hadiqa has announced plans to release an urdu album titled "O' Aasmaa" by the end of 2008.

Discography

Achievements

Other Rankings

Hadiqa has appeared on many popular online Pakistani music evaluation lists which rank greatest works by artists, etc. The following table summarizes her positions in those lists

References

External links

* [http://hadiqakiani.net/ Hadiqa Kiani Website]
* [http://xsorbit28.com/users5/hadiqakiani/index.php Discussion Board made by fans]