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Updated page with accurate information and references based on the biography of Hadiqa Kiani.
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== Personal life ==
== Personal life ==
Hadiqa was born in and raised in [[Rawalpindi]] She belongs to Kiani Tribe from [[Kahuta_Tehsil]] , Pakistan. In 2005, Kiani adopted a son from [[Edhi Foundation|Edhi Home]].<ref name="nlm">{{cite web | url=http://www.newslinemagazine.com/2005/12/interview-hadiqa-kiyani/ | title=Interview: Hadiqa Kiyani | publisher=[http://newslinemagazine NewsLine Magazine] | work=NewsLine | date=6 December 2005 | accessdate=13 November 2010 | last=Ramzi | first=Shanaz}}</ref><ref name="et">{{cite news | url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/45709/resham-helps-deserted-child/ | title=Resham helps deserted child | work=News in English | date=3 September 2010 | agency=[http://tribune.com.pk The Express Tribune] | accessdate=12 July 2012}}</ref> Kiani made an official announcement of the adoption on the [[Geo News]] political talk show, ''[[Capital Talk]]''. Later in 2005, Kiani married a UK-based [[Afghanistan|Afghan]] businessman, Syed Fareed Sarwary.<ref name="pl">{{cite web | url=http://www.paklinks.com/gs/showbiz-pakistan/202283-hadiqa-kiani-got-married.html | title=Hadiqa Kiani got married.. | publisher=[http://paklinks.com PakLinks.com] | date=17 December 2005 | accessdate=13 November 2010}}</ref> but the marriage failed and in 2008 they divorced.

==Career==
==Career==
===Early years===

Hadiqa was born in Rawalpindi as the youngest of 3 siblings, her older brother ([[Irfan Kiani]]) and sister ( Sasha). Her father died when she was 3 years old. Her mother Khawar was the Principle of a Government Girls School. Since childhood, Hadiqa and both her siblings had a knack for music, and as such her mother and school enlisted her in the Pakistan National Council Of The Arts. During her childhood days, she used to perform in front of crowd of thousands of people, at the [[Liaqat Memorial Hall]] Pindi in various children music festivals.Also music was taught as a subject in her school and she received early education in music from her music teacher [[Madam Nargis Naheed]]. In Lahore she was classically trained by Ustad Faiz Ahmed Khan (Late) and Wajid Ali Nashad (Late).
<ref>http://www.pak101.com/c/celebrities/bio/76/Singers/Hadiqa_Kiani</ref>

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 children's program "Rang Barangi Dunya"; a weekly musical on PTV.<ref>http://www.pak101.com/c/celebrities/bio/76/Singers/Hadiqa_Kiani</ref>

As an eighth grader Hadiqa moved from birth place Rawalpindi to Lahore. She graduated from Pakistan's top institutions , [[Government College University (Lahore)]] [[Kinnaird]]. Due to her excellent academic performance, she earned a Masters in [[Psychology]].<ref>http://www.gcu.edu.pk/mussoci.htm</ref>

In early 90s, 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 eight hundred songs for children and also hosted the same show along side renowned music Composer [[Amjad Bobby]] (Late) and later on with music composer [[Khalil Ahmed]] (late).She also appeared as a VJ for a music charts program called Video Junction on NTM.<ref>http://reviewit.pk/hadiqa-kiani-voyage-to-stardom-in-the-world-of-music/</ref>

Hadiqa began to sing songs as a playback singer for a movies in the early 90s, most notably was the hit Pakistani movie called [[Sargam (1995 Film))]] which was composed by [[Adnan Sami Khan]]. The same year, she received various awards for her playback singing including the prestigious [[Nigar Awards]] for [[Best Playback Female Singer]].<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sargam_(1995_film)</ref><ref>http://reviewit.pk/hadiqa-kiani-voyage-to-stardom-in-the-world-of-music/</ref>

===1995: first album ''Raaz''===

In 1995 Hadiqa received the “NTM Viewer’s choice award” for the Best Female Singer of Pakistan in 1995. In the same Award show, Late [[Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan]] was awarded as the Best Male Singer of Pakistan.

The following year, Hadiqa released her debut album Raaz (Secret) in 1996. She composed and wrote the lyrics to her first single, “Jeevan”. The album spawned a string of radio friendly hits and generally had favorable reviews. One reason Hadiqa”s album did well was because it was not common for female singers (from non musical backgrounds) to release albums in Pakistan. 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. <ref>http://www.pak101.com/c/celebrities/bio/76/Singers/Hadiqa_Kiani</ref>

In 1996, Hadiqa’s debut had sold over 700,000 thousand copies, a very impressive figure for Pakistan. <ref>http://www.pak101.com/c/celebrities/bio/76/Singers/Hadiqa_Kiani</ref> This milestone came when piracy in Pakistan hit an all time high. 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”.<ref>http://reviewit.pk/hadiqa-kiani-voyage-to-stardom-in-the-world-of-music/</ref>

Her increasing popularity was further highlighted in January 1997 when Hadiqa became the first Asian singer ever to perform on the British National Lottery Live [[BBC ONE]] (a program with an estimated viewership 16.6 million at that time) <ref>http://reviewit.pk/hadiqa-kiani-voyage-to-stardom-in-the-world-of-music/</ref> . Afterwards she worked on two more shows with [[Bally Sagoo]] for [[BBC]] and ITV before touring her first U.S. tour in 1997. Her U.S. tour covered 15 states and a few cities in Canada. <ref>http://reviewit.pk/hadiqa-kiani-voyage-to-stardom-in-the-world-of-music/</ref> The same year Hadiqa performed on several other international event such as being the only Pakistani singer to perform at “Celebration Hong Kong 97” at Happy Valley Race Course, alongside other International singers like [[Lisa Stansfield]], [[Wet Wet Wet]], [[Michael Learns to Rock]], [[All 4 One]] and [[The Brand New Heavies]]. <ref>http://reviewit.pk/hadiqa-kiani-voyage-to-stardom-in-the-world-of-music/</ref>

By the end of the year she became the first Asian female singer ever to be signed by [[Pepsi]] Cola International. She was the international female artist in the world to be signed, with the first being [[Gloria Estefan]].<ref>http://reviewit.pk/hadiqa-kiani-voyage-to-stardom-in-the-world-of-music/</ref>

===1998: second album ''Roshni''===
===1998: second album ''Roshni''===


Kiani's third single from the album was [[Dupatta]]. The video was inspired by the sci-fi film [[The Matrix]]. "Dupatta" also gained more popularity. The song is also listed in the Twenty Best Pop Songs Ever for Pakistan, where it is positioned at No.15.<ref name=autogenerated3>[http://www.pakipop.com/ Pakipop.com – The Pakistani Pop Music Web Site<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> The success of the song was attributed to its quasi-bhangra rhythm with fat, funky techno beats and Kiani's "dreamy-meets-husky vocals" which made the results "stunning".<ref name=autogenerated3 /> In the wake of "Dupatta"'s, success Kiani became widely accepted as the country's leading female vocalist.<ref name=autogenerated3 /><ref name=autogenerated4>[http://www.pakipop.com/reflection/evolution.html Pakipop.com > Reflection > An Evolution in Motion<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
Kiani's third single from the album was [[Dupatta]]. The video was inspired by the sci-fi film [[The Matrix]]. "Dupatta" also gained more popularity. The song is also listed in the Twenty Best Pop Songs Ever for Pakistan, where it is positioned at No.15.<ref name=autogenerated3>[http://www.pakipop.com/ Pakipop.com – The Pakistani Pop Music Web Site<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> The success of the song was attributed to its quasi-bhangra rhythm with fat, funky techno beats and Kiani's "dreamy-meets-husky vocals" which made the results "stunning".<ref name=autogenerated3 /> In the wake of "Dupatta"'s, success Kiani became widely accepted as the country's leading female vocalist.<ref name=autogenerated3 /><ref name=autogenerated4>[http://www.pakipop.com/reflection/evolution.html Pakipop.com > Reflection > An Evolution in Motion<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
Capitalizing on “Dupatta’s” success, Hadiqa went on to release two other moderate hits, “Roshni”, and “Woh Kaun Hai”. Her a sixth single off the album, “Boohey Barian” 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 and noted as one of the most prominent Pakistani songs of all time <ref>http://pakistanidol.com/hadiqa-kiani/</ref>.


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 seventh single off the album, “Intezaar”.<ref>http://www.pak101.com/c/celebrities/bio/76/Singers/Hadiqa_Kiani</ref>
===2010–present===


===1998: second album ''Roshni''===
On 17 October 2010, Kiani released her first single for [[2010 Pakistan floods|Pakistan Flood]]'s victims called "Aasmaan".<ref>{{cite web|first=Video|title=Hadiqa Kiani Aasmaan|url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ik_MCYcYxKA||accessdate=13 November 2010}}</ref> It was an adaptation of Legendary [[Sezen Aksu]]'s song "Sanalama" and the video featured Kiani's visits to various flood hit areas.<ref>{{cite web|first=Video|title=Hadiqa Kiani Aasmaan|url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ik_MCYcYxKA||accessdate=13 November 2010}}</ref> Hadiqa also joined an organisation called ''Superstars for Flood Relief'' later on, which aims to get Pakistani and International stars on board to help create awareness of the devastating floods and motivate more people to come forth and donate.<ref>{{cite web|title=Superstars for Flood Relief|url=http://www.superstarsforfloodrelief.com/theconcept.html|accessdate=13 November 2010}}</ref> Living legend [[Abida Parveen]] has been part of this organisation since the very beginning. Other bands and stars like [[Strings (band)|Strings]], [[Zeb and Haniya]], [[Laal (band)|Laal]], [[Shafqat Amanat Ali]] and [[Celebrity|Pop star]] turned [[Nasheed]] singer [[Junaid Jamshed]] have also joined the cause.<ref>{{cite web|title=Superstars for Flood Relief|url=http://www.superstarsforfloodrelief.com/index.html|accessdate=13 November 2010}}</ref>


Kiani's third single from the album was [[Dupatta]]. The video was inspired by the sci-fi film [[The Matrix]]. "Dupatta" also gained more popularity. The song is also listed in the Twenty Best Pop Songs Ever for Pakistan, where it is positioned at No.15.<ref name=autogenerated3>[http://www.pakipop.com/ Pakipop.com – The Pakistani Pop Music Web Site<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> The success of the song was attributed to its quasi-bhangra rhythm with fat, funky techno beats and Kiani's "dreamy-meets-husky vocals" which made the results "stunning".<ref name=autogenerated3 /> In the wake of "Dupatta"'s, success Kiani became widely accepted as the country's leading female vocalist.<ref name=autogenerated3 /><ref name=autogenerated4>[http://www.pakipop.com/reflection/evolution.html Pakipop.com > Reflection > An Evolution in Motion<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
===Other work===
Capitalizing on “Dupatta’s” success, Hadiqa went on to release two other moderate hits, “Roshni”, and “Woh Kaun Hai”. Her a sixth single off the album, “Boohey Barian” 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 and noted as one of the most prominent Pakistani songs of all time <ref>http://pakistanidol.com/hadiqa-kiani/</ref>.

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 seventh single off the album, “Intezaar”.<ref>http://www.pak101.com/c/celebrities/bio/76/Singers/Hadiqa_Kiani</ref>

Roshni sold over a million copies in Pakistan alone. Kiani’s image also became a signature look in cities like Karachi. The album is listed in “The 20 Best Local Pop Albums Ever” for the country, positioned at No.15. Kiani is just one of two female singers in the entire list, the other being Nazia Hassan <ref>http://www.pakipop.com/reflection/20_best_albums.html</ref>. T

Kiani’s success led to her being signed by [[Unilever]] for celebrity endorsement of [[Lipton Yellow Label]] in 2001. In 2002, she was signed again by [[Unilever]] for [[Sunsilk]] Shampoo after the overwhelming results of [[Unlivever]]'s national survey to find the "Most Popular Woman of Pakistan"<ref>http://www.pakistantimes.com/topics/hadiqa-kiyani/</ref>. Throughout the early 2000s, she performed live concerts in the US, Canada, UK, Middle East, Far East, Australia, Norway, Greece, Bulgaria and Turkey.

===2002: third album "Rung"===

Kiani released her third album Rung (Colors) in September 2002.
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”. http://www.viewscraze.com/forums/crazy-pakistani-music/(viewscraze-cpm-series)-how-our-artists-have-evolved-hadiqa-kiyani/
In “Jogi Bun Kay Aa” Kiani plays various women’s roles, including a traditional Japanese, an Arab, and a tribal woman. She played a vampire in her video for “Mahi” which was directed by top director [[Asim Raza]]. The video showed that it is harmful to judge people of different faiths and castes, and also bad to stereotype. It was the highest budgeted video of the year 2003. During this time, Haidqa was in the midst of her first divorce, however Kiani’s album sales continued to pick 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 <ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indus_Media_Group</ref>. [[Asim Raza]] won an award for best video for directing her video Mahi.<ref>http://www.viewscraze.com/forums/crazy-pakistani-music/(viewscraze-cpm-series)-how-our-artists-have-evolved-hadiqa-kiyani/</ref>
Rung got mixed reviews from experts. Overall it did not capitalise on the momentum generated by Roshni. Many argue that this is because Rung has more mature slow paced ballads than Roshni, while some say the turmoils of her personal life are to blame<ref>http://qayyums.com/maq/hadiqa.htm</ref>. However, Kiani still remained a strong figure in the industry. Her name was mentioned in “Pakistani Pop’s 10 most Influential Acts Ever”, in which she was ranked ninth. She is also one of just 2 female singers in the list, the other being [[Nazia Hassan.]] A UK-based Magazine declared Kiani the 22nd greatest music maker of South Asia out of a total of fifty artists, also mentioning how she raised the standard of music videos in the country.<ref>http://findmyhero.com/hadiqa-kiani/</ref>

===2007: fourth album "Rough Cut"===

In 2007, Kiani released her fourth studio album, Rough Cut, a collaboration with [[Aamir Zaki]]. The album had seen frequent delays in its release both due to Kiani’s busy schedule in 2005 and 2006 and because Zaki had moved to Canada while the album was being recorded. With the release of `Rough Cut’, Kiani became the first mainstream Pakistani artist to release a complete English Album. <ref>http://jang.com.pk/thenews/may2007-weekly/nos-27-05-2007/instep/article5.htm</ref> Prior to the release of the album, Kiani and Zaki teamed up for an Urdu song, written by Zaki, titled "Iss Baar Milo." The video was directed by the iconic [[Jami (director]] and received tremendous reviews from the critics on production and Kiani's acting in the video where she played a schizophrenic. <ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jami_(director)</ref>

In April 2007 Kiani released the first official single for the album, titled “Living This Lie”, a song which talks about the stressful life of being a star. The same week, Kiani was named “Hotstepper of the week” for The News, [[Jang Group]]. The article also stated that ultimately, "as long as Kiani is around, there is still hope for women in the patriarchal music world of Pakistan." <ref>http://jang.com.pk/thenews/may2007-weekly/nos-27-05-2007/instep/article5.htm</ref>

Kiani’s second single that was released from the album is titled “All The Same”. Rough Cut failed to perform on the charts and did not sell as much as Kiani’s older works. Many experts have said that since an overwhelming majority of people in the country do not understand English the album did not sell as well. <ref>http://jang.com.pk/thenews/may2007-weekly/nos-27-05-2007/instep/article5.htm</ref>

The first single titled “Living This Lie” got nominated for “Best English Song” for “The Musik Awards” in 2007. Due to the emergency situations occurring in the country in 2007, however, the awards were called off. Kiani also got nominated for Best Female Singer in the same awards.<ref>http://jang.com.pk/thenews/may2007-weekly/nos-27-05-2007/instep/article5.htm</ref><ref>http://jang.com.pk/thenews/may2007-weekly/nos-27-05-2007/instep/article5.htm</ref><ref>http://jang.com.pk/thenews/may2007-weekly/nos-27-05-2007/instep/article5.htm</ref><ref>http://www.pakistantimes.com/topics/hadiqa-kiyani/</ref>

===2009: fifth album "Aasmaa"===

In June 2009, Kiani switched record labels to Fire Records and released a new album titled “Aasmaan” (translated: sky) on 17 June 2009. It is Kiani’s first album in local languages since her release of “Rung” back in 2002. In the album, she sings in Urdu, Punjabi, Hindko, Pashto, Dari, and many other dialects. One song in the album has vocals featured by her elder brother (and manager) Irfan Kiani. She has also collaborated with UK producer JKD(Jawad Hyder)& rapper NAS-T on two tracks of the album, “Sohnya” and “Dil Mera”. She also sings a Pashto duet with Pashto singer Irfan Khan. <ref>http://www.pakistantimes.com/topics/hadiqa-kiyani/</ref>

The first single of the album is “Sohnya”. The official video of “Sohnya” was premiered a day before Kiani released the album. Since then the song+video has stayed on the Aag10 Charts for over a month thus Kiani received a Shield from Aag10 for being the Artist of the Month. <ref>https://www.facebook.com/HadiqaKianiFB/posts/124961182617</ref>

The album has stayed Number One on the Vibes Charts of INSTEP Magazine for one year now consistently. And at the end of 2009, Aasmaan was named the Best Album of 2009 according to sales volume, popularity and internet downloads <ref>http://www.koolmuzone.pk/2009/12/koolmuzone-music-blockbusters-of-2009-top-5-albums/</ref>.

Every single released from the album `Aasmaan’ reached number one. “Sohnya” was number one AAG10 Charts for over a month and was titled the best Pop Song of 2009 according to The Nation. “Tuk Tuk” was number one on Prime Tv Charts. “Az Chashme Saqi” went number one on PlayTv Charts and by the end of 2009 it was declared the third best music video of 2009 according to Koolmuzone. <ref>http://findmyhero.com/hadiqa-kiani/</ref><ref>http://www.koolmuzone.pk/2009/12/koolmuzone-music-blockbusters-of-2009-top-5-albums/</ref>

Then came February 2010, Kiani had collaborated with relatively unknown Pashto singer Irfan Khan for a remix of his song “Janan”. The song has become Kiani’s biggest hit till date and some say that it has even topped “Boohey Barian”. The song became the first Pakistani pop song to be mentioned by the [[Los Angeles Times]], where the newspaper said that "Janan" was what the whole country was listening to. <ref>http://articles.latimes.com/2009/dec/23/world/la-fg-what23-2009dec23</ref>. Kiani nailed the Pashto accent and has fully embraced the Pashto culture. Some Pakhtoons even started to call her Hadiqa Pathani, Kiani then started a massive trend in Pakistan of embracing Pashto culture, girls started to wear Pashto style dresses imitating Kiani’s looks on the red carpet etc. The song broke barriers, Kiani being a Punjabi singing a Pashto song and appealing to not only Pakistani Pashto audiences, but to the world wide audience. “Janan” has brought Kiani back to an “Icon” status in Pakistan for the youth. In later years, Hadiqa's "Janan" was covered by Afghan singers <ref>https://www.facebook.com/HadiqaKianiFB/videos/10153370534477059/</ref>, an American artist <ref>https://soundcloud.com/atiomusic/janan-janan-hadiqa-kiyani-atio-cover</ref>, and most noticeably by Chinese singer Hou Wei at the grand South Asia Expo 2014 <ref>http://tribune.com.pk/story/896402/chinese-singer-covers-hadiqas-pashto-song/</ref> <ref>https://www.facebook.com/HadiqaKianiFB/videos/vb.32788577058/10153372977802059/?type=2&theater</ref>. The Chinese cover was done as a tribute to [[Pakistani culture]] which elevated the [[Pashto]] community in Pakistan while cementing the song as a national treasure<ref>http://tribune.com.pk/story/896402/chinese-singer-covers-hadiqas-pashto-song/</ref>

===Worldwide Performances and Awards===

Apart from albums, Kiani spent many years as the official representative of Pakistan appointed by the government of [[Pakistan]].
On 11 August 2005, Kiani performed in Nagoya for the Prime Minister of Japan Mr.[[Junichiro Koizumii]]. Kiani was invited to perform in Toronto on 14 Aug 2005 by The Pakistani Consulate. She performed in Houston on 13 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]]. She then performed at the [[Mets]] in [[Shea Stadium]] New York on 18 August 2005. She also performed at the Pakistan Day Parade in New York on 28 August 2005.<ref>http://findmyhero.com/hadiqa-kiani/</ref>
She performed in Malaysia on 2 October 2005 at the newly built Convention Centre in [[Kuala Lumpur]] 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.
Kiani 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 andYemen took part in the celebrations. The event was organised by Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. She performed at the AKM concert Hall on 23 November 2005. Among the audience were musicians from various countries. The biggest surprise for the audience was when Kiani sang “Sanalama” (Turkish song of Living Legend “[[Sezen Aksuu]]”). She 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 inTurkey and conveyed the love of Pakistan for Turkey. Her performance in Istanbul was important news in various Turkish News papers. <ref>http://findmyhero.com/hadiqa-kiani/</ref>
Kiani performed in China for the Chinese 2nd Premier on 21 Feb 2006. She performed for President [[George W. Bush]] on 4 March 2006. Commenting on her performance, Bush said he liked her accent and wanted her to perform in US. She performed for the Crown Prince of Brunei [[Al-Muhtadee Billah Bolkiah]] on 29 May 2006. <ref>http://www.viewscraze.com/forums/crazy-pakistani-music/(viewscraze-cpm-series)-how-our-artists-have-evolved-hadiqa-kiyani/</ref>
Kiani performed for [[Laura Bush]] on 21 September 2006 at [[The Kennedy Center]], Washington, D.C.. She closed the year by performing for [[Prince Charles]] on 30 October 2006, and the Chinese president on 23 November 2006. <ref>http://www.pakistantimes.com/topics/hadiqa-kiyani/</ref><ref>http://www.dawn.com/news/216926/royal-couple-meet-youths-launch-business-scheme</ref>
On 23 March 2006, Kiani was awarded the [[Tamgha-e-Imtiaz]] by the Government of Pakistan, one of the highest civil awards of the country, in acknowledgement of her services in the field of music and for shining an encouraging light on the country for over a decade. The award was announced on 14 August 2005 but the ceremony was performed on 23 March of the next year. <ref>http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/entertainment/15-Aug-2015/pride-of-pakistan-hadiqa-kiani</ref>

===Pakistan Idol and Television Work===

[[Pakistan Idol]] is a Pakistani [[Reality competition|reality singing competition]] that is part of the [[Idols (TV series)|''Idols'' franchise]] created by [[Simon Fuller]] and owned by [[19 Entertainment]] and [[FremantleMedia]].<ref name="tni_01">{{cite news
|url=http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-4-202867-Are-you-ready-to-become-the-first-Pakistan-Idol
|title=Are you ready to become the first Pakistan Idol?
|date=19 September 2013
|location=Karachi
|newspaper=[[The News International]]
|publisher=[[Jang Group of Newspapers]]
|accessdate=31 December 2013}}</ref> It is the 50th adaptation of the familiar reality competition format introduced in the British series ''[[Pop Idol]]'' in 2001<ref name=BBC>{{cite news
|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-25263456
|title=Pakistan Idol talent show is broadcast for first time
|date=6 December 2013
|newspaper=[[BBC News]]
|publisher=[[BBC]]
|accessdate=24 December 2013}}</ref> and borrows heavily from its [[American Idol|American]] and [[Indian Idol|Indian counterparts]]. It is developed for the Pakistani entertainment market by [[Geo TV]].<ref name="tni_02">{{cite news
|url=http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-13-27103-Music-reality-show-Pakistan-Idol-starts-on-Geo-Entertainment-today
|title=Music reality show ‘Pakistan Idol’ starts on Geo Entertainment today
|date=6 December 2013
|newspaper=[[The News International]]
|publisher=[[Jang Group of Newspapers]]
|accessdate=31 December 2013}}</ref> The show brought together three legendary Pakistani personalities to judge the show, [[Junoon]] front man [[Ali Azmat]], comic [[Bushra Ansari, and Kiani <ref>http://pakistanidol.com/the-three-legendary-judges-in-pakistan-idol-from-pmm-net-pk/</ref>. The first season of the show as heavily controversial but proved to be the most watched entertainment show in Pakistan. <ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakistan_Idol</ref>

===Other Work===

Over the years, Kiani has provided vocals for many OSTs of TV Dramas such as the critically acclaimed [[Zindagi Gulzar Hai]]'s title track with [[Ali Zafar]] <ref>http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xwztcd_zindagi-gulzar-hai-ost-by-hadiqa-kiani-full-title-song-humtv-drama_music</ref>and "Aas Pass" with [[Atif Aslam]] <ref>http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x10rmt3_mere-aas-paas-by-atif-aslam-and-hadiqa-kiyani_music</ref>. Kiani was also one of the primary playback singers for [[Shoaib Mansoor]]'s film [[Bol (film)]] in 2011. The film featured four of Kiani's songs, two of which were collaborations with [[Atif Aslam]]. The soundtrack to the film saw incredibly positive reviews and received four [[Lux Style Awards]] nominations for Kiani and Aslam <ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/11th_Lux_Style_Awards</ref>. <ref>http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1891757/</ref>

In March 2007, Kiani was one of the many artists featured in a widely popular track called “Yeh Hum Naheen”. In this song, various Pakistani artists joined to send out a message that the stereotype of Pakistanis is not correct and that they oppose again Terrorism. The song also conveys an anti-terrorism sentiment in the music video and the campaign which Kiani is heavily involved with. Other artists in the song are [[Ali Zafar]]], [[Shafqat Amanat Ali]] and [[Strings]]. The song has been picked up by international stations like [[Fox News]] <ref>http://www.foxnews.com/story/2007/08/08/reporter-notebook-different-kind-terror-tune.html</ref>and [[BBC]] and has amassed over 70,000 downloads. <ref>http://www.insightonconflict.org/conflicts/pakistan/peacebuilding-organisations/yeh-hum-naheen-foundation/</ref>


Kiani works with [[Edhi Foundation]] and is involved with many charities, including [[Muslim Hands]]. In August 2010, Kiani and her siblings worked with local Pakistanis to donate clothing, water, food and [[Structure|shelter]] to the flood victims of Pakistan. Kiani also appeared in [[Geo Tv]]'s [[telethon]] Pukaar along with [[Celebrity|Pop star]] [[Ali Zafar]] to appeal for donations.<ref>{{cite web|title=Celebs on their mission|url=http://dailymailnews.com/0810/30/ShowBiz/index.php?id=1|work=Daily Mail News|accessdate=17 November 2010}}{{deadlink|date=October 2014}}</ref> In collaboration with [[Pakistan Army]], Kiani made visits to [[Multan|Multan Relief Camp]], Basti Kalraywala, [[Muzaffarabad]] and other flood hit areas, personally distributing goods to the affectees.<ref>{{cite web|title=Pak celebs continue to help|url=http://www.karachidigest.com/articles/news/pakistani-celebrities-continue-to-help-out/|work=Karachi Digest|accessdate=13 November 2010}}</ref><ref name="Syed">{{cite news|last=Syed|first=Madeeha|title=Hadiqa Kiani for UN|url=http://www.dawn.com/2010/11/14/aisam-ul-haq-and-hadiqa-as-un-goodwill-ambassadors.html|accessdate=17 November 2010|newspaper=''Dawn''}}</ref> On 8 November 2010 Kiani was appointed [[United Nations Development Programme]] Goodwill ambassador.<ref>[http://public.dawn.com/2010/11/09/hadiqa-aisam-become-undp%E2%80%99s-goodwill-envoys.html Hadiqa, becomes UNDP goodwill envoys]</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Aisam, Hadiqa appointed UNDP Goodwill Ambassador |url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/74118/aisam-appointed-goodwill-ambassador-by-undp/|accessdate=11 November 2010|newspaper=''Express Tribune''|date=8 November 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Hadiqa, Aisam appointed UNDP Goodwill Ambassadors|url=http://app.com.pk/en_/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=121536&Itemid=2|accessdate=11 November 2010|newspaper=APP:''Associated Press of Pakistan''}}</ref> At the moment Hadiqa is busy helping construct housing facilities in [[Nowshera, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa|Nowshera]], [[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]].<ref name="Syed"/> [[Nowshera, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa|Nowshera]] is one of the worst flood hit areas in the country.<ref>{{cite web|title=''Oxfam Blog''|url=http://blogs.oxfam.org/en/video/20100819-pakistan-floods-report-nowshera|accessdate=1 December 2010}}</ref>
Kiani works with [[Edhi Foundation]] and is involved with many charities, including [[Muslim Hands]]. In August 2010, Kiani and her siblings worked with local Pakistanis to donate clothing, water, food and [[Structure|shelter]] to the flood victims of Pakistan. Kiani also appeared in [[Geo Tv]]'s [[telethon]] Pukaar along with [[Celebrity|Pop star]] [[Ali Zafar]] to appeal for donations.<ref>{{cite web|title=Celebs on their mission|url=http://dailymailnews.com/0810/30/ShowBiz/index.php?id=1|work=Daily Mail News|accessdate=17 November 2010}}{{deadlink|date=October 2014}}</ref> In collaboration with [[Pakistan Army]], Kiani made visits to [[Multan|Multan Relief Camp]], Basti Kalraywala, [[Muzaffarabad]] and other flood hit areas, personally distributing goods to the affectees.<ref>{{cite web|title=Pak celebs continue to help|url=http://www.karachidigest.com/articles/news/pakistani-celebrities-continue-to-help-out/|work=Karachi Digest|accessdate=13 November 2010}}</ref><ref name="Syed">{{cite news|last=Syed|first=Madeeha|title=Hadiqa Kiani for UN|url=http://www.dawn.com/2010/11/14/aisam-ul-haq-and-hadiqa-as-un-goodwill-ambassadors.html|accessdate=17 November 2010|newspaper=''Dawn''}}</ref> On 8 November 2010 Kiani was appointed [[United Nations Development Programme]] Goodwill ambassador.<ref>[http://public.dawn.com/2010/11/09/hadiqa-aisam-become-undp%E2%80%99s-goodwill-envoys.html Hadiqa, becomes UNDP goodwill envoys]</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Aisam, Hadiqa appointed UNDP Goodwill Ambassador |url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/74118/aisam-appointed-goodwill-ambassador-by-undp/|accessdate=11 November 2010|newspaper=''Express Tribune''|date=8 November 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Hadiqa, Aisam appointed UNDP Goodwill Ambassadors|url=http://app.com.pk/en_/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=121536&Itemid=2|accessdate=11 November 2010|newspaper=APP:''Associated Press of Pakistan''}}</ref> At the moment Hadiqa is busy helping construct housing facilities in [[Nowshera, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa|Nowshera]], [[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]].<ref name="Syed"/> [[Nowshera, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa|Nowshera]] is one of the worst flood hit areas in the country.<ref>{{cite web|title=''Oxfam Blog''|url=http://blogs.oxfam.org/en/video/20100819-pakistan-floods-report-nowshera|accessdate=1 December 2010}}</ref>

In May of 2012, Kiani appeared on the 5th season of [[Rohail Hyatt]]'s [[Coke Studio]]. Belting powerful renditions of [[Bulleh Shah]] and [[Amir Khusro]] to overwhelmingly positive reviews and distancing herself from the legendary pop image she had built throughout her career.<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coke_Studio_Pakistan_(season_5)</ref> <ref>http://www.thenews.com.pk/newsmag/mag/detail_article.asp?magId=11&id=2612</ref>

===Recent Work and the Future===

In April of 2015, Kiani headlined the Music Mela<ref>http://www.dawn.com/news/1176664</ref> and introduced her newly evolved sound for the 3-day festival arranged by the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan. The former "Pop Queen" of Pakistan <ref>http://www.hipinpakistan.com/news/1147127/hadiqa-kiyani-all-set-to-launch-her-new-music-album</ref> debuted herself as a [[Qawalii]] artist to immensely positive reviews and left people cheering for more <ref>http://www.youthtimes.com.pk/music-mela-2015-end-with-high-hopes/</ref> . Upon the end of the Mela, Kiani announced that she would be working on her sixth album titled "Wajd" <ref>http://www.thenews.com.pk/newsmag/mag/detail_article.asp?magId=11&id=10803</ref>. <ref>http://www.hipinpakistan.com/news/1147127/hadiqa-kiyani-all-set-to-launch-her-new-music-album</ref>

In May of 2015, Kiani was chosen on to be one of [[Pond's]] Miracle Mentors as an initiative to highlight and support strong women in the patriarchal Pakistani society alongside nine other renowned and influential women.<ref>http://www.dawn.com/news/1180773</ref> <ref>http://magazine.thenews.com.pk/mag/detail_article.asp?magId=11&id=10787</ref> Later that month Kiani stood up again to voice her views on women in leadership at the Women Leadership Summit 2015 with the wife of former cricketer [[Imran Khan]], [[Reham Khan]] and various other women who had achieved success in their respective fields including [[Muniba Mazari]] and [[Nadia Jamil]]. The summit brought international and local voices as an act towards shedding light to the issue of gender discrimination in the workplace. <ref>https://www.facebook.com/nutshellconferences?v=timeline&timecutoff=1431578913&sectionLoadingID=m_timeline_loading_div_1451635199_1420099200_8_&timeend=1451635199&timestart=1420099200&tm=AQCRyp915FapAShP</ref> <ref>http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/punjab/24-May-2015/reham-urges-women-to-connect-to-fellow-leaders</ref> <ref>http://tribune.com.pk/story/891368/reham-says-strong-support-system-key-to-confidence/</ref>

Kiani is currently working on her sixth studio album which is set to release by the end of 2015. <ref>http://www.thenews.com.pk/newsmag/mag/detail_article.asp?magId=11&id=10803</ref>


==Discography==
==Discography==

Revision as of 05:18, 20 September 2015

Hadiqa Kiani
Hadiqa Kiani in 2010
Background information
Birth nameHadiqa Kiani
OriginRawalpindi, Punjab, Pakistan
GenresPop, folk
Occupation(s)Singer-songwriter, Philanthropist
InstrumentVocals
Years active1995–present
LabelsSound Master, Lips Music, Fire Records (Pakistan), Hi-tech Music
Websitewww.hadiqakiani.net

Hadiqa Kiani is a Pakistani singer-songwriter.[1][2] In 2006, Kiani received the 4th highest decoration a civilian can be awarded in Pakistan, the Tamgha-e-Imtiaz for her contributions to music and her country. In 2010 Kiani was appointed United Nations Development Programme Goodwill ambassador.[3][4][5]

Personal life

Career

Early years

Hadiqa was born in Rawalpindi as the youngest of 3 siblings, her older brother (Irfan Kiani) and sister ( Sasha). Her father died when she was 3 years old. Her mother Khawar was the Principle of a Government Girls School. Since childhood, Hadiqa and both her siblings had a knack for music, and as such her mother and school enlisted her in the Pakistan National Council Of The Arts. During her childhood days, she used to perform in front of crowd of thousands of people, at the Liaqat Memorial Hall Pindi in various children music festivals.Also music was taught as a subject in her school and she received early education in music from her music teacher Madam Nargis Naheed. In Lahore she was classically trained by Ustad Faiz Ahmed Khan (Late) and Wajid Ali Nashad (Late). [6]

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 children's program "Rang Barangi Dunya"; a weekly musical on PTV.[7]

As an eighth grader Hadiqa moved from birth place Rawalpindi to Lahore. She graduated from Pakistan's top institutions , Government College University (Lahore) Kinnaird. Due to her excellent academic performance, she earned a Masters in Psychology.[8]

In early 90s, 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 eight hundred songs for children and also hosted the same show along side renowned music Composer Amjad Bobby (Late) and later on with music composer Khalil Ahmed (late).She also appeared as a VJ for a music charts program called Video Junction on NTM.[9]

Hadiqa began to sing songs as a playback singer for a movies in the early 90s, most notably was the hit Pakistani movie called Sargam (1995 Film)) which was composed by Adnan Sami Khan. The same year, she received various awards for her playback singing including the prestigious Nigar Awards for Best Playback Female Singer.[10][11]

1995: first album Raaz

In 1995 Hadiqa received the “NTM Viewer’s choice award” for the Best Female Singer of Pakistan in 1995. In the same Award show, Late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan was awarded as the Best Male Singer of Pakistan.

The following year, Hadiqa released her debut album Raaz (Secret) in 1996. She composed and wrote the lyrics to her first single, “Jeevan”. The album spawned a string of radio friendly hits and generally had favorable reviews. One reason Hadiqa”s album did well was because it was not common for female singers (from non musical backgrounds) to release albums in Pakistan. 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. [12]

In 1996, Hadiqa’s debut had sold over 700,000 thousand copies, a very impressive figure for Pakistan. [13] This milestone came when piracy in Pakistan hit an all time high. 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”.[14]

Her increasing popularity was further highlighted in January 1997 when Hadiqa became the first Asian singer ever to perform on the British National Lottery Live BBC ONE (a program with an estimated viewership 16.6 million at that time) [15] . Afterwards she worked on two more shows with Bally Sagoo for BBC and ITV before touring her first U.S. tour in 1997. Her U.S. tour covered 15 states and a few cities in Canada. [16] The same year Hadiqa performed on several other international event such as being the only Pakistani singer to perform at “Celebration Hong Kong 97” at Happy Valley Race Course, alongside other International singers like Lisa Stansfield, Wet Wet Wet, Michael Learns to Rock, All 4 One and The Brand New Heavies. [17]

By the end of the year she became the first Asian female singer ever to be signed by Pepsi Cola International. She was the international female artist in the world to be signed, with the first being Gloria Estefan.[18]

1998: second album Roshni

Kiani's third single from the album was Dupatta. The video was inspired by the sci-fi film The Matrix. "Dupatta" also gained more popularity. The song is also listed in the Twenty Best Pop Songs Ever for Pakistan, where it is positioned at No.15.[19] The success of the song was attributed to its quasi-bhangra rhythm with fat, funky techno beats and Kiani's "dreamy-meets-husky vocals" which made the results "stunning".[19] In the wake of "Dupatta"'s, success Kiani became widely accepted as the country's leading female vocalist.[19][20]

Capitalizing on “Dupatta’s” success, Hadiqa went on to release two other moderate hits, “Roshni”, and “Woh Kaun Hai”. Her a sixth single off the album, “Boohey Barian” 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 and noted as one of the most prominent Pakistani songs of all time [21].

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 seventh single off the album, “Intezaar”.[22]

1998: second album Roshni

Kiani's third single from the album was Dupatta. The video was inspired by the sci-fi film The Matrix. "Dupatta" also gained more popularity. The song is also listed in the Twenty Best Pop Songs Ever for Pakistan, where it is positioned at No.15.[19] The success of the song was attributed to its quasi-bhangra rhythm with fat, funky techno beats and Kiani's "dreamy-meets-husky vocals" which made the results "stunning".[19] In the wake of "Dupatta"'s, success Kiani became widely accepted as the country's leading female vocalist.[19][20]

Capitalizing on “Dupatta’s” success, Hadiqa went on to release two other moderate hits, “Roshni”, and “Woh Kaun Hai”. Her a sixth single off the album, “Boohey Barian” 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 and noted as one of the most prominent Pakistani songs of all time [23].

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 seventh single off the album, “Intezaar”.[24]

Roshni sold over a million copies in Pakistan alone. Kiani’s image also became a signature look in cities like Karachi. The album is listed in “The 20 Best Local Pop Albums Ever” for the country, positioned at No.15. Kiani is just one of two female singers in the entire list, the other being Nazia Hassan [25]. T

Kiani’s success led to her being signed by Unilever for celebrity endorsement of Lipton Yellow Label in 2001. In 2002, she was signed again by Unilever for Sunsilk Shampoo after the overwhelming results of Unlivever's national survey to find the "Most Popular Woman of Pakistan"[26]. Throughout the early 2000s, she performed live concerts in the US, Canada, UK, Middle East, Far East, Australia, Norway, Greece, Bulgaria and Turkey.

2002: third album "Rung"

Kiani released her third album Rung (Colors) in September 2002. 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”. http://www.viewscraze.com/forums/crazy-pakistani-music/(viewscraze-cpm-series)-how-our-artists-have-evolved-hadiqa-kiyani/ In “Jogi Bun Kay Aa” Kiani plays various women’s roles, including a traditional Japanese, an Arab, and a tribal woman. She played a vampire in her video for “Mahi” which was directed by top director Asim Raza. The video showed that it is harmful to judge people of different faiths and castes, and also bad to stereotype. It was the highest budgeted video of the year 2003. During this time, Haidqa was in the midst of her first divorce, however Kiani’s album sales continued to pick 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 [27]. Asim Raza won an award for best video for directing her video Mahi.[28] Rung got mixed reviews from experts. Overall it did not capitalise on the momentum generated by Roshni. Many argue that this is because Rung has more mature slow paced ballads than Roshni, while some say the turmoils of her personal life are to blame[29]. However, Kiani still remained a strong figure in the industry. Her name was mentioned in “Pakistani Pop’s 10 most Influential Acts Ever”, in which she was ranked ninth. She is also one of just 2 female singers in the list, the other being Nazia Hassan. A UK-based Magazine declared Kiani the 22nd greatest music maker of South Asia out of a total of fifty artists, also mentioning how she raised the standard of music videos in the country.[30]

2007: fourth album "Rough Cut"

In 2007, Kiani released her fourth studio album, Rough Cut, a collaboration with Aamir Zaki. The album had seen frequent delays in its release both due to Kiani’s busy schedule in 2005 and 2006 and because Zaki had moved to Canada while the album was being recorded. With the release of `Rough Cut’, Kiani became the first mainstream Pakistani artist to release a complete English Album. [31] Prior to the release of the album, Kiani and Zaki teamed up for an Urdu song, written by Zaki, titled "Iss Baar Milo." The video was directed by the iconic Jami (director and received tremendous reviews from the critics on production and Kiani's acting in the video where she played a schizophrenic. [32]

In April 2007 Kiani released the first official single for the album, titled “Living This Lie”, a song which talks about the stressful life of being a star. The same week, Kiani was named “Hotstepper of the week” for The News, Jang Group. The article also stated that ultimately, "as long as Kiani is around, there is still hope for women in the patriarchal music world of Pakistan." [33]

Kiani’s second single that was released from the album is titled “All The Same”. Rough Cut failed to perform on the charts and did not sell as much as Kiani’s older works. Many experts have said that since an overwhelming majority of people in the country do not understand English the album did not sell as well. [34]

The first single titled “Living This Lie” got nominated for “Best English Song” for “The Musik Awards” in 2007. Due to the emergency situations occurring in the country in 2007, however, the awards were called off. Kiani also got nominated for Best Female Singer in the same awards.[35][36][37][38]

2009: fifth album "Aasmaa"

In June 2009, Kiani switched record labels to Fire Records and released a new album titled “Aasmaan” (translated: sky) on 17 June 2009. It is Kiani’s first album in local languages since her release of “Rung” back in 2002. In the album, she sings in Urdu, Punjabi, Hindko, Pashto, Dari, and many other dialects. One song in the album has vocals featured by her elder brother (and manager) Irfan Kiani. She has also collaborated with UK producer JKD(Jawad Hyder)& rapper NAS-T on two tracks of the album, “Sohnya” and “Dil Mera”. She also sings a Pashto duet with Pashto singer Irfan Khan. [39]

The first single of the album is “Sohnya”. The official video of “Sohnya” was premiered a day before Kiani released the album. Since then the song+video has stayed on the Aag10 Charts for over a month thus Kiani received a Shield from Aag10 for being the Artist of the Month. [40]

The album has stayed Number One on the Vibes Charts of INSTEP Magazine for one year now consistently. And at the end of 2009, Aasmaan was named the Best Album of 2009 according to sales volume, popularity and internet downloads [41].

Every single released from the album `Aasmaan’ reached number one. “Sohnya” was number one AAG10 Charts for over a month and was titled the best Pop Song of 2009 according to The Nation. “Tuk Tuk” was number one on Prime Tv Charts. “Az Chashme Saqi” went number one on PlayTv Charts and by the end of 2009 it was declared the third best music video of 2009 according to Koolmuzone. [42][43]

Then came February 2010, Kiani had collaborated with relatively unknown Pashto singer Irfan Khan for a remix of his song “Janan”. The song has become Kiani’s biggest hit till date and some say that it has even topped “Boohey Barian”. The song became the first Pakistani pop song to be mentioned by the Los Angeles Times, where the newspaper said that "Janan" was what the whole country was listening to. [44]. Kiani nailed the Pashto accent and has fully embraced the Pashto culture. Some Pakhtoons even started to call her Hadiqa Pathani, Kiani then started a massive trend in Pakistan of embracing Pashto culture, girls started to wear Pashto style dresses imitating Kiani’s looks on the red carpet etc. The song broke barriers, Kiani being a Punjabi singing a Pashto song and appealing to not only Pakistani Pashto audiences, but to the world wide audience. “Janan” has brought Kiani back to an “Icon” status in Pakistan for the youth. In later years, Hadiqa's "Janan" was covered by Afghan singers [45], an American artist [46], and most noticeably by Chinese singer Hou Wei at the grand South Asia Expo 2014 [47] [48]. The Chinese cover was done as a tribute to Pakistani culture which elevated the Pashto community in Pakistan while cementing the song as a national treasure[49]

Worldwide Performances and Awards

Apart from albums, Kiani spent many years as the official representative of Pakistan appointed by the government of Pakistan. On 11 August 2005, Kiani performed in Nagoya for the Prime Minister of Japan Mr.Junichiro Koizumii. Kiani was invited to perform in Toronto on 14 Aug 2005 by The Pakistani Consulate. She performed in Houston on 13 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. She then performed at the Mets in Shea Stadium New York on 18 August 2005. She also performed at the Pakistan Day Parade in New York on 28 August 2005.[50] She performed in Malaysia on 2 October 2005 at the newly built Convention Centre in Kuala Lumpur 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. Kiani 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 andYemen took part in the celebrations. The event was organised by Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. She performed at the AKM concert Hall on 23 November 2005. Among the audience were musicians from various countries. The biggest surprise for the audience was when Kiani sang “Sanalama” (Turkish song of Living Legend “Sezen Aksuu”). She 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 inTurkey and conveyed the love of Pakistan for Turkey. Her performance in Istanbul was important news in various Turkish News papers. [51] Kiani performed in China for the Chinese 2nd Premier on 21 Feb 2006. She performed for President George W. Bush on 4 March 2006. Commenting on her performance, Bush said he liked her accent and wanted her to perform in US. She performed for the Crown Prince of Brunei Al-Muhtadee Billah Bolkiah on 29 May 2006. [52] Kiani performed for Laura Bush on 21 September 2006 at The Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C.. She closed the year by performing for Prince Charles on 30 October 2006, and the Chinese president on 23 November 2006. [53][54] On 23 March 2006, Kiani was awarded the Tamgha-e-Imtiaz by the Government of Pakistan, one of the highest civil awards of the country, in acknowledgement of her services in the field of music and for shining an encouraging light on the country for over a decade. The award was announced on 14 August 2005 but the ceremony was performed on 23 March of the next year. [55]

Pakistan Idol and Television Work

Pakistan Idol is a Pakistani reality singing competition that is part of the Idols franchise created by Simon Fuller and owned by 19 Entertainment and FremantleMedia.[56] It is the 50th adaptation of the familiar reality competition format introduced in the British series Pop Idol in 2001[57] and borrows heavily from its American and Indian counterparts. It is developed for the Pakistani entertainment market by Geo TV.[58] The show brought together three legendary Pakistani personalities to judge the show, Junoon front man Ali Azmat, comic [[Bushra Ansari, and Kiani [59]. The first season of the show as heavily controversial but proved to be the most watched entertainment show in Pakistan. [60]

Other Work

Over the years, Kiani has provided vocals for many OSTs of TV Dramas such as the critically acclaimed Zindagi Gulzar Hai's title track with Ali Zafar [61]and "Aas Pass" with Atif Aslam [62]. Kiani was also one of the primary playback singers for Shoaib Mansoor's film Bol (film) in 2011. The film featured four of Kiani's songs, two of which were collaborations with Atif Aslam. The soundtrack to the film saw incredibly positive reviews and received four Lux Style Awards nominations for Kiani and Aslam [63]. [64]

In March 2007, Kiani was one of the many artists featured in a widely popular track called “Yeh Hum Naheen”. In this song, various Pakistani artists joined to send out a message that the stereotype of Pakistanis is not correct and that they oppose again Terrorism. The song also conveys an anti-terrorism sentiment in the music video and the campaign which Kiani is heavily involved with. Other artists in the song are Ali Zafar], Shafqat Amanat Ali and Strings. The song has been picked up by international stations like Fox News [65]and BBC and has amassed over 70,000 downloads. [66]

Kiani works with Edhi Foundation and is involved with many charities, including Muslim Hands. In August 2010, Kiani and her siblings worked with local Pakistanis to donate clothing, water, food and shelter to the flood victims of Pakistan. Kiani also appeared in Geo Tv's telethon Pukaar along with Pop star Ali Zafar to appeal for donations.[67] In collaboration with Pakistan Army, Kiani made visits to Multan Relief Camp, Basti Kalraywala, Muzaffarabad and other flood hit areas, personally distributing goods to the affectees.[68][69] On 8 November 2010 Kiani was appointed United Nations Development Programme Goodwill ambassador.[70][71][72] At the moment Hadiqa is busy helping construct housing facilities in Nowshera, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.[69] Nowshera is one of the worst flood hit areas in the country.[73]

In May of 2012, Kiani appeared on the 5th season of Rohail Hyatt's Coke Studio. Belting powerful renditions of Bulleh Shah and Amir Khusro to overwhelmingly positive reviews and distancing herself from the legendary pop image she had built throughout her career.[74] [75]

Recent Work and the Future

In April of 2015, Kiani headlined the Music Mela[76] and introduced her newly evolved sound for the 3-day festival arranged by the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan. The former "Pop Queen" of Pakistan [77] debuted herself as a Qawalii artist to immensely positive reviews and left people cheering for more [78] . Upon the end of the Mela, Kiani announced that she would be working on her sixth album titled "Wajd" [79]. [80]

In May of 2015, Kiani was chosen on to be one of Pond's Miracle Mentors as an initiative to highlight and support strong women in the patriarchal Pakistani society alongside nine other renowned and influential women.[81] [82] Later that month Kiani stood up again to voice her views on women in leadership at the Women Leadership Summit 2015 with the wife of former cricketer Imran Khan, Reham Khan and various other women who had achieved success in their respective fields including Muniba Mazari and Nadia Jamil. The summit brought international and local voices as an act towards shedding light to the issue of gender discrimination in the workplace. [83] [84] [85]

Kiani is currently working on her sixth studio album which is set to release by the end of 2015. [86]

Discography

Awards and nominations

Year Award-giving body Award Result
1995 Nigar Awards Best playback Female Singer - Sargam (1995 film) Won
NTM Awards Best Female Singer[19] Won
2000 PTV Awards Best Female Singer[19] Won
2004 Indus Music Awards Best Female Pop Singer[19] Won
2005 Indus Music Awards Best Female Pop Singer[19] Won
2006 Government of Pakistan Tamgha-e-Imtiaz (Medal of Distinction) Awarded
2008 The Musik Awards Best English Song - Living This Lie Feat. Amir Zaki Won
The Musik Awards Most Wanted Female Won
2009 AAG TV Artist of the Month[87] Won
TV ONE Best Female Singer[87] Won
2010 Brit Asia Music Awards Best Female Act[20] Nominated
Best International Act[20] Nominated
Indus Style Awards Most Innovative Singer Won
Most Stylish Female Pop Singer Won
2012 Lux Style Awards Song of the Year – Hona Tha Pyaar Nominated
Lux Style Awards Best Original Sound Track – Hona Tha Pyaar Nominated
Pakistan Media Awards Best Singer – "3rd Pakistan Media Awards" Nominated
2013 Hum Awards Best Solo Artist Nominated

References

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