List Of Pakistani Musical Groups

The rise of musical bands in Pakistan began in the 1980s when cassettes first came into Pakistan bringing in a wave of Western rock music. Western-influenced rock music began to feature in underground concerts all across the country. In the 1980s, rock bands

Vital Signs Vital signs (also known as vitals) are a group of the four to six most crucial medical signs that indicate the status of the body's vital (life-sustaining) functions. These measurements are taken to help assess the general physical health of a ...

and

Strings String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

rose in defiance of the authoritarian regime and gained immense popularity amongst the youth.

is widely regarded as Pakistan's first and most successful pop-rock band. Their single "

Dil Dil Pakistan Dil Dil Pakistan ( ur, ) is the most popular patriotic Pakistani song, sung by Junaid Jamshed. It was released in 1987 by the pop band Vital Signs. The song was featured in the band's debut album, ''Vital Signs 1'', in 1987. Dil Dil Pakistan is ...

" was voted the third most popular song of all time in a BBC World poll in 2003, and is also called Pakistan's "pop national anthem".The World's Top Ten
Retrieved on 30 July 2020 Despite being active since the late 80s,

attained widespread popularity after the release of their second album in 1992. The band went on to sell over 25 million albums worldwide. Junoon,

Aaroh Aaroh ( ) is an alternative rock band from Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan, formed in 1998. The band was founded by keyboardist Kamran Khan and lead guitarist Nabeel Nihal . (This name was given to them by Shoaib Mansoor), who were joined by, Vocalist ...

, and

Noori Noori ( ) is a Pakistani rock band from Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan, formed in 1996. The group was formed by songwriter, lead vocalist, and guitarist, Ali Noor, along with his younger brother Ali Hamza, who were soon joined by bassist Muhammad A ...

followed suit in the 1990s. Junoon pioneered the genre of

Sufi rock Sufi rock or Sufi folk rock is a subgenre of rock music that combines rock with classical Islamic Sufi music traditions. It emerged in the early 1990s and became widely popular in the late 1990s in Pakistan and Turkey. The term "Sufi rock" was co ...

, combining the poetry of famous Sufi poets such as

Rumi Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī ( fa, جلال‌الدین محمد رومی), also known as Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Balkhī (), Mevlânâ/Mawlānā ( fa, مولانا, lit= our master) and Mevlevî/Mawlawī ( fa, مولوی, lit= my ma ...

, Hafez, and Bulleh Shah with the hard rock band of

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...

and

Santana Santana may refer to: Transportation * Volkswagen Santana, an automobile * Santana Cycles, manufacturer of tandem bicycles * Santana Motors, a former Spanish automobile manufacturer Boats * Santana 20, an American sailboat design by W. D. Sch ...

and South Asian percussion such as the tabla. Junoon is one of Pakistan's and South Asia's most successful bands with over 30 million albums sold worldwide;

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

called Junoon "the U2 of Pakistan" and Q magazine dubbed them as "One of the biggest bands in the world".In Performance: Pop; Divine and Secular Love Expressed in Rock Style
Retrieved on 29 July 2020 Junoon became the first rock band to perform at the United Nations General Assembly Hall and only the second Pakistani act to perform at a Nobel Peace Prize Concert.Concert in Observance of United Nations Day to be held in General Assembly Hall, 24 October
Retrieved on 29 July 2020
Retrieved 29 July 2020 The early 2000s saw the arrival of progressive metal, progressive rock, and psychedelic rock with bands such as

Entity Paradigm Entity Paradigm ( Punjabi, , in English sometimes shortened as EP) was a Pakistani rock band from Lahore, Punjab, formed in 2000. The band was founded by songwriter and guitarist Xulfi, vocalist, songwriter Fawad Khan and keyboardist and vocalis ...

and

Mizraab Mizraab ( ) is a progressive rock and metal band from Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan, formed in 1997.Mekaal Hasan Band, Call,

Karavan Karavan ( ) was a hard rock band from Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan, formed in 1997. The band was founded by former Awaz lead guitarist Asad Ahmed with bassist Sameer Ahmed, who were soon joined by drummer Allan Smith and vocalist Najam Sheraz. ...

Jal JAL or Jal may refer to: Entertainment * Jal (band), a Pakistani pop/rock band * ''Jal'' (film), a 2014 Hindi film * Jal Fazer, a character in the British TV series ''Skins'' * "Jal", an episode of the British TV series ''Skins'' Places * Jal, ...

Roxen Roxen () is a medium-sized lake in south-central Sweden, east of Lake Vättern, part of the waterpath Motala ström and the Göta Canal. South of Lake Roxen is the city Linköping. Roxen, especially the western parts, is very good for birdwatchi ...

Mizmaar Mizmaar ( ) is a Pakistani pop rock band, formed in 2000. It currently consists of guitarist Kashan Admani, lead singer Asad Rasheed, and drummer Alfred D'mello, and . The band rose to fame in 2003 after the release of 'Kash', their debut alb ...

, and Qayaas also exploded onto the music scene with different brands of rock including alternative and soft rock. The television series Pepsi Battle of the Bands was instrumental in launching Entity Paradigm, Aaroh, and the Mekaal Hasan Band, all of whom competed in the inaugural edition of the show in 2002. The resumption of the Pepsi Battle of the Bands in 2017 after almost 15 years, heralded the resurgence of Pakistani rock with the rise of Kashmir band,

Bayaan Bayaan ( ) is a rock band from Lahore, Pakistan. It is the winning band of Pepsi Battle of the Bands Season 3 in 2018. Appeared in Nescafe Basement, the band has performed throughout Pakistan before appearing in Pepsi Battle of the Bands. The 5 ...

, and

Badnaam ''Badnaam'' is a Pakistani film in Urdu language, released on 2 September 1966, adapted from Saadat Hasan Manto's short story ''Jhumkay'' ("Ear-rings") by screenwriter Riaz Shahid. The film was directed and produced by Iqbal Shehzad, in his d ...

.'Pepsi Battle of the Bands' makes a powerful return
Retrieved 29 July 2020 Although the heavy metal genre began to rise in popularity after the 1997 general elections, Pakistani heavy metal music can be traced back to the new wave of British heavy metal of the 1980s and 1990s with bands such as Black Warrant, Final Cut, and Barbarians. In recent years, numerous heavy and black metal bands including Overload,

Saturn Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second-largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant with an average radius of about nine and a half times that of Earth. It has only one-eighth the average density of Earth; h ...

, Saakin, Karakoram, Burq – The Band, Taarma, The Nuke, and Aag have amassed followings in this niche rock music in Pakistan. In 1986, the

, (predominantly a pop band) released its very first singl
Do Pal Ka Jeevan
which became an ultimate success and the band built its reputation in Pakistan's underground music industry. The rock music bands and trios came to be perceived by many Pakistani fans and country's cultural observers as a "promising new era of cultural revival". Their enormous popularity significantly opened a new wave of

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...

and a modern chapter in the

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

of Pakistan. In the 1980s, rock bands including the

, The Barbarians, The Final Cut,

Jupiters The Jupiters () were a Pakistani music band who are considered one of the pioneers of pop music in Pakistan. Although the band released only a few albums, it became a breeding ground for many notable future singers. The hit song "Yaaro Yehi Dosti ...

, Junoon, and

gained a lot of public appraisal and popularity; the public opinion was generally positive and welcomed the bands for their uniqueness. NTM, launched a show titled Music Channel Charts to highlight new talent every week due to popular youth demand. Vital Signs were followed by Junoon,

Awaz Awaz ( ur, آواز ) was a Pakistani pop band that formed in Islamabad in 1992. The group was formed by Haroon Rashid, lead vocalist, who was soon joined by keyboardist Faakhir Mehmood and lead guitarist Asad Ahmed. Awaz were one of the pio ...

, Karawan, and

, all of whom had exploded the pop, rock and heavy metal music genre in the country, bringing the significant shift of country's transformation into modernism during the 1990s. The Pakistani rock further matured itself and gained public appraisal with the arrival of

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

satellite television Satellite television is a service that delivers television programming to viewers by relaying it from a communications satellite orbiting the Earth directly to the viewer's location. The signals are received via an outdoor parabolic antenna comm ...

in the 1990s. The popular form of music quickly spread throughout the country and with that came the arrival of various rock bands in the 1990s. Early rock bands such as

and Junoon are regarded as the pioneers of Pakistan's rock music. Other bands such as

began in the mid 1990s and during the late 1990s underground bands were becoming a norm in cities across Pakistan. In a short span of time, the Western-influenced rock bands gained enormous popularity and were generally welcomed by the public. The Music Channel Charts aired to NTM became the first pop/rock music entity that used to give ratings to pop/rock bands and singers.

Music '89 Music '89 was the first ever all pop music stage-show to be aired on Pakistan TV. Music '89 pop music show This music show was aired in January 1989, on PTV (Pakistan state run TV channel). The show was directed by Shoaib Mansoor and hosted by ...

was the first ever all pop/rock music stage-show to be aired on PTV. Cities such as

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

and

Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital T ...

witnessed an explosion of rock bands and concerts in 2000 as Pakistan began to liberalize under President Musharraf's "

enlightened moderation Enlightened moderation is a term coined by a former Pakistani president, Pervez Musharraf; it applies to practicing a moderate Islam, as opposed to the interpretations of fundamentalist Islam. To think properly as to rationalize thoughts, to b ...

" campaign. In 2002, a major shift in the rock music of Pakistan occurred with the arrival of the Pepsi Battle of the Bands, which saw bands like Aaroh, Mizraab,

and Mekaal Hasan Band appear onto the scene. Finally, Pakistan saw good rock music, with respectable instrument playing. Vital Signs emerged during a time in which Pakistan was embracing

Islamization Islamization, Islamicization, or Islamification ( ar, أسلمة, translit=aslamāh), refers to the process through which a society shifts towards the religion of Islam and becomes largely Muslim. Societal Islamization has historically occur ...

. With the rise of Vital Signs and later, Junoon and others, the rock music, exploded in the 1980s and 1990s, became a vehicle for expressing patriotic nationalist spirit in Pakistan. Undoubtedly, the rock music has been one major influential force which has truly kept the national spirits high amidst the prevailing social woes which had worsened in since the 1980s, such music included songs like "

", Jazba Junoon, Jaago and many more. In 1980, such Western ideas were denounced in the country, and the

film industry The film industry or motion picture industry comprises the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking, i.e., film production companies, film studios, cinematography, animation, film production, screenwriting, pre-production, post ...

was deteriorating quick to compete with

counterrevolution A counter-revolutionary or an anti-revolutionary is anyone who opposes or resists a revolution, particularly one who acts after a revolution in order to try to overturn it or reverse its course, in full or in part. The adjective "counter-revoluti ...

of Indian film industry. According to the editorial written in ''

The Express Tribune ''The Express Tribune'' is a daily English-language newspaper based in Pakistan. It is the flagship publication of the '' Daily Express'' media group. It is Pakistan's only internationally affiliated newspaper in a partnership with the ''Interna ...

'' in 2011, the "Vital Signs and Pakistan's ingenious rock music was the only "arsenal" the country had against India's encroaching

entertainment industry Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and Interest (emotion), interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have dev ...

." Several popular bands, including EP, Call, and

, have been integral in revitalizing the rock culture in Pakistan. After the successful emergence of Vital Signs in the 1980s and Junoon in the 1990s, the heavy metal music genre began to rise after the 1997 general elections. Black Warrant was one of the earliest heavy metal band that released its very first album in the public. The roots of Pakistani heavy metal music can be traced back to the new wave of British heavy metal when it was transferred in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In the 1980s, the bands Final Cut and Barbarians are considered the earliest Pakistani heavy metal bands. Although they were short-lived, they influenced many other musicians. Guitarist

Salman Ahmad Salman Ahmad ( ur, , born 12 December 1963) is a Pakistani born-American musician, rock guitarist, physician, activist, occasional actor and professor at the City University of New York. He earned nationwide popularity in 1998 for his uni ...

gained fame for his unique style of playing Sufi-style and neoclassical kinds of music in heavy metal form. The second wave of heavy metal artists, comprising bands such as Dhun, which was Fawad Baloch's more conventional metal project, Blackhour, Ehl-e-Rock, Inferner, and Black Warrant, still continues to promote the genre. The most notable and productive work on the heavy metal genre was bestowed and carried out by

Mizraab Mizraab ( ) is a progressive rock and metal band from Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan, formed in 1997.Panchi ''Panchi'' (Urdu: پہنچی, literal English translation: "bird") is the debut studio album of the Pakistani progressive rock band Mizraab, released in April 1999 on Sound Master. Mizraab's debut album is considered by many to be the first progr ...

'' album was an ultimate success in this genre. Guitarist

Faraz Anwar Faraz Anwar (Urdu: فراز انور; b.15 July 1976) is a Pakistani musician, composer, singer-songwriter, bandleader, and a guitarist who founded the ''Mizraab'', a heavy metal music and hard rock genre band based in Pakistan. His musical act ...

of Mizraab's solo

instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to instru ...

work is widely noticed by the public and news channels dubbed Anwar as "Pakistan's master of progressive-metal rock."Daily Times (Pakistan) The ''Daily Times'' (''DT'') is an English-language Pakistani newspaper. Launched on April 9, 2002, ''Daily Times'', is simultaneously published from Lahore, Islamabad and Karachi. The newspaper was owned by Governor of Punjab and Pakistan Peo ...

"> In recent studies and reports conducted by

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...

, heavy metal is one of Pakistan's most popular genres of music, and country's radio FMs broadcast the music each week. Since 2004, the

economic liberalisation Economic liberalization (or economic liberalisation) is the lessening of government regulations and restrictions in an economy in exchange for greater participation by private entities. In politics, the doctrine is associated with classical liber ...

programmes of

Prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Shaukat Aziz Shaukat Aziz ( ur, ; born 6 March 1949) is a Pakistani former banker and financier who served as 17th prime minister of Pakistan from 28 August 2004 to 15 November 2007, as well as the finance minister of Pakistan from 6 November 1999 to 15 ...

which helped open the new Pakistan TV and several music video channels, have triggered the underground heavy metal movements in cities such as Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad. Although

Mizraab Mizraab ( ) is a progressive rock and metal band from Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan, formed in 1997.Faraz Anwar Faraz Anwar (Urdu: فراز انور; b.15 July 1976) is a Pakistani musician, composer, singer-songwriter, bandleader, and a guitarist who founded the ''Mizraab'', a heavy metal music and hard rock genre band based in Pakistan. His musical act ...

that is considered to be Pakistan's first progressive metal band, have also played a significant role in promoting the growth of metal music in Pakistan.Daily Times (Pakistan) The ''Daily Times'' (''DT'') is an English-language Pakistani newspaper. Launched on April 9, 2002, ''Daily Times'', is simultaneously published from Lahore, Islamabad and Karachi. The newspaper was owned by Governor of Punjab and Pakistan Peo ...

Current bands

Past bands

See also

References