Twenty interesting facts about Pakistan’s superstar singer Atif Aslam

BIG-NAMED artists from India and Pakistan will be delivering huge live concerts across England throughout the year.

The first of these popular singers to perform live in major arenas is Atif Aslam. The Pakistani superstar will be performing his greatest hits this week at ExCel in London on Saturday, February 12, and Morningside Arena in Leicester on Sunday, February 13.

Eastern Eye decided to prepare for the magically voiced maestro’s UK return by providing 20 interesting facts about him.

• Growing up Atif didn’t think about a singing career and was more interesting in becoming a professional cricketer. He wanted to be a fast bowler and play for Pakistan.

• A big early turning point for Atif was participating in a competition at college by singing Duur by Strings and winning. That first win encouraged him to participate in all such singing competitions, which he kept winning.

• Atif’s first live performance with his band was in the park outside a McDonald’s in 1999. He sang covers of Junoon songs and impressed passers-by. The McDonald’s manager requested them to play inside as well.

• His musical influences growing up included Kishore Kumar, Noor Jehan, Pink Floyd, U2 and Eric Clapton. What shaped him as a musician and creatively was listening to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s memorable qawwalis.

• An album that impacted Atif greatly and drove him towards music was Night Song, which was a collaboration between late qawwali maestro Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Canadian musician Michael Brook.

• As a teenager, he used pocket money to form the band Jal and record his first song Aadat in 2003, but didn’t tell his parents and they found out later when it became a hit.

• Atif released his critically acclaimed debut solo album Jal Pari in 2004. Three songs from the best-selling hit were used in American independent film Man Push Cart.

• After topping the charts in India and Pakistan, Atif’s second solo album Dooriee (2006) opened the doors for him in Bollywood.

• Atif became the youngest recipient of prestigious Pakistani honour Tamghae-Imtiaz in 2008.

• His 2008 Bollywood song Pehli Nazar catapulted Atif to global stardom and won him multiple accolades, but it was later discovered that music director Pritam had allegedly used a melody from a South Korean song Sa Rang Haeo, which appeared in drama serial My Sassy Girl.

• Atif made his acting debut with a small supporting role in hit 2011 Pakistani movie Bol. He returned to acting with a lead role in recently launched TV drama serial Sang-e-Mah.

• The one thing that gives him a quick pick-me-up when feeling sad is a good workout.

• His all-time favourite songs include Bollywood classic Naam Gum Jayega Chehra Yeh Badal Jayega and Stop This Train by John Mayer.

• He is reportedly a fan of iconic American sitcom Friends.

• Atif dated Sara Bharwana for seven years and married her in Lahore on March 29, 2013. They have two sons together.

• During a performance a girl was so eager to get a selfie with the superstar singer that she threw her phone towards him and hit his head. She subsequently injured Atif badly.

• Atif discontinued a performance at an Islamabad concert when he saw a woman being harassed by men in the audience. He called the girl on stage to console her and then left the venue in protest.

• The singer got caught in bad traffic while on the way to headline a concert in Karachi recently. He didn’t want to be late so jumped on the back of a motorbike

and sped through the streets to reach on time.

• American politician Ilhan Omar did a Spotify takeover by honouring Muslims artists around the globe and name-checked Atif Aslam.

• Going forward the singer wants to keep reinventing himself and challenging his own genre, as he doesn’t want to repeat himself.

Visit www.brightbeat.eu for UK concert information and ticket