Daily Times

LAHORE: The uber-pop diva of the Indo-Pakistan subcontinent Nazia Hassan was remembered by fans in Pakistan and abroad on her 17th death anniversary on Sunday.

On August 13, 2000, Nazia Hassan passed away after tragically losing battle to cancer.

The undisputed queen of in India and Pakistan who ruled hearts of millions of people was born on April 3rd 1965 and was first seen on TV as a child in Shoaib Mansoor’s show.

Towards the end of 70s, Nazia debuted into the massive industry of Bollywood with her song Aap Jaisa Koi for Feroz Khan’s super-hit flick Qurbani.

This massive hit led her to team up with her brother Zoheb Hassan, a celebrated music producer, and London-based music director Biddu to come up with their very first album Disco Deewane. With this, she successfully brought the disco genre of music to the Indo-Pak subcontinent.

This was a massive hit that topped all charts home, India and abroad.

The Disco Deewane song became an iconic hit and was also widely regarded as a youth anthem. The song was brought to life again when Karan Johar included it in his 2012’s hit Student of the Year movie and kept Nazia’s main vocals.

Nazia and Zoheb went on to continue ruling hearts of millions of people and successfully released four more albums with the names of Star, Young Tarang, Hotline and Camera Camera.

Nazia got the critical acclaim during her career and was awarded prestigious awards such as Filmfare and Golden Disk. She also earned highest civil award Pride of Performance posthumously.

On peak of her career, Nazia decided to quit singing and pursue philanthropy which is one of the reasons one of her albums was dedicated to the cause Battle against Narcotics (BAN).

She went back to school and earned an LL.B degree from University of Lancaster and assumed the position of Political Analyst at the United Nations (UN) headquarters. Her research focused on disputed territories, especially Palestine and Kashmir.

Towards the end of the 90s, Nazia’s fans were left in shock to know that Nazia was diagnosed with cancer and went through several chemotherapy sessions along with other rigorous treatment. At one point, her health had improved and it looked like she has beaten the cancer.

The returned soon and she had to be admitted to the hospital again for another round of treatment. This is where she breathed her last on August 13, 2000.

The pop queen did not have a successful married life and she did not like to discuss this in public. But as a statement, she made sure she took a divorce which was finalised when she was undergoing the cancer treatment the second time.

She left behind a son Arez Hassan who was only 3 when she passed away.

It’s been 17 years since Nazia Hassan passed away but she continues to rule the hearts of millions of fans who still remember her and continue listening to her music. This includes the new generation of fans who were born after Nazia’s passing.