Mariam Wafa

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مريم وفا Mariam
Birth name	Mariam (مريم وفا)
Born	Afghanistan
Genre(s)	Pop
Occupation(s)	Singer
Years active	1995–present
Label(s)	Various

Mariam Wafa (Persian: مريم وفا ) is a popular Tajik singer from Afghanistan. She is currently resides in Virginia, U.S., where she continues her music career in exile.

[edit] Biography

Mariam Wafa started her singing career in her adopted Walnut Creek hometown in a rural county of California. She is the middle of 9 children of a highly musical family. The family moved to the USA in 1981 and has lived in California since then. Mariam Wafa was only 17 years old when she started performing in front of an audience. At the age of 22, this bright young girl composed a Tajik folklore song with her dad, which forever changed the course of her life. Worldwide attention began in 1994 when she won the Handsonsite, Inc. Best Female Artist Award at a Song Festival in Amsterdam as well as the coveted Musician's Award for Top Performer in Hamburg and Frankfurt Germany. Mariam became known everywhere throughout the Asian world and when she recorded the title track for the album Wafa the rest of the world took notice. The song quickly climbed up the charts to number one and garnered praise in both Asia and Europe. Since 1994, two singles, “Naz" and "Wafa," reached top spots on the charts. Mariam’s first tour followed and was widely panned by critics. Undaunted, she resurfaced in 1998 with a new album entitled “NAZ” with a release scoring her a sensational critical response. Mariam Wafa was hitting it big in her native province of Afghanistan, where she is expected to receive numerous Felix Awards and platinum album status. In 1997 she began to win prestigious Song Contest awards in the USA and has performed live to audiences throughout the United States and Europe. With one of music's greatest voices, Mariam Wafa has crossed practically every barrier and has conquered the world with a series of electrifying national and international hits. She has been dedicating all her time and efforts touring, appearing on TV shows in Toronto and California, receiving awards and attending special events. However, Mariam still has time to support Handsonsite, Inc in its humanitarian efforts at promoting Afghanistan´s female voices around the world. However, recent years haven’t been so kind to Mariam Wafa. Her dad, a strong motivator for her music and her career, passed away. She is hoping however that the upcoming years will see a resurgence of her career and she is planning to release at least three new original CD’s. In addition there are plans for a world concert tour throughout the USA, Europe, and Asia.