Haroon (singer)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Haroon | ||
|---|---|---|
| Background information | ||
| Born | London, UK | |
| Origin | Islamabad, Pakistan | |
| Genre(s) | Pop, Rock | |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter, Musician, Composer, Producer/Music Engineer | |
| Instrument(s) | Guitar, Keyboard | |
| Years active | 2000 - Present | |
| Label(s) | various | |
| Associated acts |
Lead singer of Awaz | |
| Website | http://www.haroon.com | |
Haroon (Urdu: ہارون) is a Pakistani pop star, composer, musician, record producer, recording engineer, and live performer. He has sold nearly three million CDs and tapes world wide and the audience at his shows often number in the tens of thousands.
Haroon is known for the uniqueness in his albums, his tendency to mix genres and experiment with amalgams of cultures. His songs are most frequently performed in Urdu, Punjabi and English, but he has shown some more variety, for example, in his hit song, "Mahbooba", to which he adds some Arabic lyrics.
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[edit] Early life
He was born in London on May 11 to a New Zealand mother and Pakistani father. He has lived all over the world. This wealth of experience abroad, along with a bi-cultural family background, has given Haroon a very international perspective of life. Haroon is an accomplished guitar player and keyboard player. Haroon has been playing the guitar and composing songs since the age of 13. He formed his first band, Idiosyncrasies, in school at the age of 14. Over the last 12 years, he has composed and recorded some of the biggest hits in Pakistan's short pop history including songs such as Mr. Fraudiay, Ay Jawan, Main Na Manoo Haar, Jadoo Ka Chiragh, Mahbooba, Mehndi, Dil Se, Pyareya, Yara.
After graduating with a degree in Business Administration from the George Washington University in the early 1990s, he formed the band Awaz with a couple of musician friends. Haroon and the band made a video for "Janeman" (the song Haroon composed at 16) on a shoestring budget of Rs.15,000/-. They sent the video to local TV stations and record labels. Nobody showed any interest. Says Haroon, "They responded by saying ‘stick to your day job.’ but I was stubborn and decided to send it off to MTV Asia to see what happens". The song "Janeman" became the first ever Urdu/Hindi pop song to air on MTV.
During their peak, Awaz was the biggest band in the country, and went on to release three highly successful albums and two big singles between 1993 and 1999, which have collectively sold more than 2,000,000 units worldwide. Awaz was one of the pioneering bands in Pakistani pop music.
[edit] Going solo
Haroon's first solo album, Haroon Ki Awaz (produced, engineered, recorded and mixed by Haroon at his personal studio) was released in October 2000 and was a success selling over half a million units world wide.
Several spectacular videos helped make that album a blockbuster. "Yara", "Pyareya", "Jeekay Dekha", "Chan vergay" were all highly popular songs from Haroon Ki Awaz and their videos received heavy rotation the world over. Songs such as "Fire Inside" and "Paisa" were biting tongue in cheek commentaries on the socio-economic-political situation in south asia at the time.
In 2001 and 2002, Haroon was touring the UK and USA. In 2001, Haroon performed alongside the top Asian acts at the prestigious BBC Asia Awards show in front of five thousand British Asians and received a rousing reception for his lively performance. Haroon received the "outstanding contribution to Asian music" Award from the BBC. This show was aired on BBC TV in the UK for an estimated viewer ship of two million people. Haroon’s entertaining on-stage performances has made him one of the most sought after Asian acts on the live circuit.
Haroon's second solo album was the melodic Lagan. The song "Mahbooba", the hit from Lagan, was shot at the Giza plateau in Cairo, Egypt with the ancient pyramids as the back drop. "Mahbooba" is a fusion of Asian and Arabic music with Lebanese singers accompanying Haroon.
Following the success of "Mahbooba", Haroon cemented his place as one of the top Asian pop stars. Haroon embarked on a world tour that lasted from early 2003 to mid 2005. He performed all over Europe from cities such as Oslo, Norway and Copenhagen, Denmark to Glasgow, Scotland. He performed all over North America, from big cities like New York and Toronto to smaller cities such as Calgary and Oakland.
Haroon began work on his 3rd solo, composing, recording, producing, engineering, and mixing all the songs at his personal studio, Haroon's Turbo Charged Funky lil' Studio. This album shows a maturing of Haroon as a songwriter, musician, singer, lyricist and producer. Lyrically and musically, this album has depth and the production is slick and creative.
