Najma Akhtar also known as Najma (born 18 September 1962) is a British singer of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n ancestry. She was born in

Chelmsford, England Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Southend-on-Sea and Colchester. It is located north-east of Londo ...

. She is noted for jazz modification of the traditional Urdu Indian

ghazal The ''ghazal'' ( ar, غَزَل, bn, গজল, Hindi-Urdu: /, fa, غزل, az, qəzəl, tr, gazel, tm, gazal, uz, gʻazal, gu, ગઝલ) is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry. A ghazal may be understood as a ...

(love songs and spiritual songs). She has also appeared as a performer in the songs and videos of other performers, such as jazz and rock saxophonist

Stan Harrison Stan Harrison (born December 8, 1953) is an American saxophonist who is also accomplished in playing other woodwind instruments, namely the horn, flute and clarinet. He has also written music for television. Harrison released his first solo album ...

. Najma has also worked with

Robert Plant Robert Anthony Plant (born 20 August 1948) is an English singer and songwriter, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the English rock band Led Zeppelin for all of its existence from 1968 until 1980, when the band broke up following the ...

and

Jimmy Page James Patrick Page (born 9 January 1944) is an English musician who achieved international success as the guitarist and founder of the rock band Led Zeppelin. Page is prolific in creating guitar riffs. His style involves various alternative ...

on the

No Quarter The phrase no quarter was generally used during military conflict to imply combatants would not be taken prisoner, but killed. According to some modern American dictionaries, a person who is given no quarter is "not treated kindly" or "treated ...

DVD.

Discography

* '' Qareeb'', 1987 * ''Ghazals'', 1988 * ''Atish'', 1990 * ''Pukar'', 1992 * ''Forbidden Kiss: the Songs of

S. D. Burman Sachin Dev Burman (1 October 1906 – 31 October 1975) was an Indian music director and singer. A member of the Tripura royal family, he started his career with Bengali films in 1937. He later began composing for Hindi movies and became one o ...

'', 1996 * ''Vivid'', 2002 * ''Fariyaad: A plea to the creator'', 2008 * ''Rishte'', 2009 * ''Five Rivers'', 2020

Notable Collaborations

* with

Jah Wobble John Joseph Wardle (born 11 August 1958), known by the stage name Jah Wobble, is an English bass guitarist and singer. He became known to a wider audience as the original bass player in Public Image Ltd (PiL) in the late 1970s and early 1980s; ...

on his album ''Take Me to God'' * with

Andy Summers Andrew James Summers (born 31 December 1942), is an English guitarist who was a member of the rock band The Police. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a band member in 2003. Summers has recorded solo albums, collaborated w ...

on his album ''The Golden Wire'' * with

Steve Coleman Steve Coleman (born September 20, 1956) is an American saxophonist, composer, bandleader and music theorist. In 2014, he was named a MacArthur Fellow. Early life Steve Coleman was born and grew up in South Side, Chicago. He started playing al ...

on his albums ''Black Science'' and ''A Tale of 3 Cities'' * with

Ken Morioka Ken Morioka ( ja, 森岡賢; March 15, 1967 – June 3, 2016) was a Japanese musician, keyboardist, composer, and music producer. He died of heart failure at the age of 49. In addition to being a member of influential synthpop group Soft Ballet, ...

on his album in Japan titled ''Question'' * with

Apache Indian Steven Kapur (born 11 May 1967), known by the stage name Apache Indian, is a British singer-songwriter and reggae DJ. He had a series of hits during the 1990s. He is best known in the UK for the song "Boom Shack-A-Lak", which reached the top ...

on his hit single titled ''Arranged Marriage'' * with

and

(both formerly 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 ...

) on the track "

The Battle of Evermore "The Battle of Evermore" is a folk duet sung by Robert Plant and Sandy Denny, featured on Led Zeppelin's untitled 1971 album, commonly known as '' Led Zeppelin IV''. The song's instrumentation features acoustic guitar and mandolin playing, ...

" from their album '' No Quarter: Jimmy Page and Robert Plant Unledded'' * with Jethro Tull on the title track from the album ''

J-Tull Dot Com ''J-Tull Dot Com'' is the 20th studio album by the British band Jethro Tull, released in 1999 on Papillon, the Chrysalis Group's late 1990s heritage record label. It was released four years after their 1995 album '' Roots to Branches'' and ...

'' * with

La Cucina (band) La Cucina was an English roots style band of the 1990s, that went under the tagline of "accordion-driven funky neapolitan rockers". Although they were based in the south of England, their music was an amalgam of Southern Italian folk songs and ...

on their album ''Bloom'' * with Sundae Club on their track ''Harold'' and their ''Stuff'' remix. She is also sampled in the song "Flight Four: India" off the album ''British Summer Time''

Notes

External links

biography at allmusic.com A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or c ...

br>Najma's official web site
English women singers Living people 1962 births People from Chelmsford Musicians from Essex English people of Indian descent {{UK-singer-stub