Daily Times

Fans in Pakistan and across the globe are remembering late Nazia Hassan, who is regarded as the original pop diva of the subcontinent, on her 56th birthday on Saturday.

Pop queen Nazia Hassan was born on April 3rd 1965 and debuted into the massive music industry of the subcontinent by introducing the disco genre with her Aap Jaisa Koi song for Feroze Khan’s film Qurbani.

“Aap jaisa koi” was a massive hit that led to the trio Nazia Hassan, her brother Zoheb Hassan and London-based music director Biddu collaborating for their very first album ‘Disco Deewane’ which was another massive hit and had topped the charts home, India and abroad.

The iconic Disco Deewane that became youth’s anthem at the time was so ahead of its time that it was borrowed in Karan Johar’s 2012 film Student of the Year.

Nazia and Zoheb went on to release four more albums namely Star, Young Tarang, Hotline and Camera Camera.

The pop icon decided to quit singing in order to pursue philanthropy, a reason why her final album was dedicated to the battle against narcotics cause.

Nazia went on to earn her LLB degree from University of Lancaster and took a job as Political Analyst at the United Nations headquarters in New York where she concentrated her research on disputed areas especially the Palestinian territories and Kashmir.

She was diagnosed with cancer and went through several chemotherapy sessions. Just when it looked as though she had beaten the cancer, her health deteriorated and she was admitted to the hospital again where she breathed her last on August 13, 2000.

Nazia Hassan earned several awards and honours in her short yet glorious career including a Filmfare award and Golden Disk Award. She was also awarded the highest civil award Pride of Performance posthumously.