Arieb Azhar (born 1972) is a Pakistani musician known for his renderings of traditional Sufi poetry and

folk songs Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has be ...

Early life

Arieb Azhar was born on 30 June 1972 at Rawalpindi, Pakistan. He is the second son of

Aslam Azhar Aslam Azhar ( ur, ; 2 September 1932 – 29 December 2015) was a Pakistan Television executive, considered to be the "father of Pakistan Television".

, known as the father of

Pakistani television Television in Pakistan started in 1964 and the first live transmission of Pakistan Television began on 26 November 1964, in Lahore.Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

at the age of 17 for studies but left soon, disillusioned by what he called the "corrupt system" pervasive there. He then spent 13 years of his life in

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Slov ...

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

(earlier part of

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

at the time he migrated) where he became "completely integrated" and received his higher education in

Indology Indology, also known as South Asian studies, is the academic study of the history and cultures, languages, and literature of the Indian subcontinent, and as such is a subset of Asian studies. The term ''Indology'' (in German, ''Indologie'') is ...

and philosophy while performing music. He returned to

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

in 2004 to reconnect with his Pakistani roots. He is at ease and fluent in both Urdu and Punjabi languages as well as in Croatian.

Musical career

His first album, ''Wajj'', released in 2006, consisted of eight tracks, in which he vocalized the classical lyrics of Sufi poets like

Khawaja Ghulam Farid Khwaja Ghulam Farid (Urdu: ) or Khwaja Fareed (1845–1901) was a 19th-century Sufi poet from Punjab. He was a member of the Chishti Nizami Sufi order. He wrote poetry in several languages, and his literary heritage has been claimed by both the ...

Bulleh Shah Syed Abdullah Shah Qadri ( pa, ; ; 1680–1757), known popularly as Bulleh Shah ( pa, ; ) and Bulleya, was a Punjabi philosopher and Sufi poet during 17th-century Punjab. His ancestors had migrated from Bukhara (modern-day Uzbekistan) ...

Mian Muhammad Bakhsh Mīān Muhammad Bakhsh (میاں محمد بخش) was a Punjabi Muslim Sufi and poet. Born in the city of Mirpur to a Gujjar family of Paswal tribe, he is renowned as a great poet and Sufi scholar by the people of Punjab and Azad Kashmir. Wri ...

, and even the contemporary lyrics of Sarmad Sehbai. In 2012, Azhar was to travel to the UK to work together with an eminent English folk singer

Martin Simpson Martin Stewart Simpson (born 5 May 1953) is an English folk singer, guitarist and songwriter. His music reflects a wide variety of influences and styles, rooted in Britain, Ireland, America and beyond. He builds a purposeful, often upbeat voi ...

with the purpose of fusing Celtic and South Asian folk and classical music together to create a fusion on a 'soul' level. Arieb Azhar said in an interview in 2012, "Martin and I are trying to come up with music together in a very natural and organic way where we are playing off each other's music 'feel' ". One of Arieb Azhar's interests is to mix urban and folk-based songs with lyrics from Pakistani Sufi poets while making use of other Eurasian influences he has absorbed along the way. Sometimes Arieb Azhar has been called a melting pot of musical and artistic influences. He is also known for his ''Husn-e-Haqiqi'' song at

Coke Studio (Pakistan) ''Coke Studio'' ( ur, ) is a Pakistani television programme and international music franchise which features studio-recorded music performances by established and emerging artists. It is the longest-running annual television music show in Paki ...

Popular songs

*''Husn-e-Haqiqi Noor-e-Azal'' (2006) *''Na Raindee Hai'' *''Mori Araj Suno'' along with ghazal singer

Tina Sani Tina may refer to: People *Tina (given name), people and fictional characters with the given name ''Tina'' Places * Tina, Iran, a village in Khuzestan Province, Iran *Tina, Tunisia, a town in Sfax Governorate, Tunisia * Tina, Guadalcanal, Solomo ...

*''Loey Loey Bhar Lay Kurriye'' (lyrics by

) *''The Journey Within'' (documentary) (2015) *''Reclaiming Pakistan'' (a short documentary) (2016)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Azhar, Arieb 1972 births Living people Pakistani emigrants to Croatia Pakistani emigrants to Yugoslavia Pakistani expatriates in the Soviet Union Pakistani musicians Pakistani male singers Pakistani Sufis Performers of Sufi music Place of birth missing (living people) Coke Studio (Pakistani TV program)