About Atif Aslam
Early life
Atif was born into a Muslim family in Wazirabad, Punjab, Pakistan. He began his education in kindergarten at Kimberley Hall School,Larkana. In 1991 he then moved to Rawalpindi where he continued his studies in St. Paul's Cambridge School, Satellite Town, Rawalpindi. Atif returned to Lahore in 1995 where he continued his studies in Divisional Public School, Lahore. He continued onwards to his FSC in Punjab College Lahore. Atif eventually graduated with a Bachelor's degree.
Debut
Even though Atif always admired Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Abida Parveen. his first love was for cricket and he dreamed of representing his nation as a cricketer. He was a fast bowler and his passion for the sport saw him being selected for the national Under 19 cricket team trials. At one stage Atif was training to represent his country in the U-19 World Cup. However destiny had other plans.
Spurred on by his friends he began to sing in public during his days in college and recorded his first single "Aadat" with his pocket money. Within a matter of weeks "Aadat" went viral online and soon he became a household name on the basis of just that one song. On 17 July 2004 the first album titled Jal Pari. by Atif Aslam was released. On the outset, the album stood on the success of “Aadat” but as the weeks progressed, everyone began to recognize that Atif was blessed with incredible talent and was not merely a one hit wonder.
Several songs from his debut album such as “Bheegi Yaadein”, “Ehsaas”, “Mahi Ve”, “Ankhon Sey” along with the title track “Jalpari” went on to become major hits and charted across countries in the subcontinent. Atif Aslam with his dynamic presence and powerful voice presented his own unique sound. A true original artist, there was no reference point to his sound at the time. His ability to connect to the hearts of his listeners backed up with vocal capabilities and memorable melodies swiftly elevated him to stardom across Pakistan and won him millions of hearts across India. Many believe this album to be a youth anthem of Pakistan, encouraging the youth to pursue their dreams and represent their nation in a positive light.
Blessed with prodigious raw talent and a passion for music, Atif's decision to pursue music as a career was certainly a brave one as he had no formal musical training nor did he come from a musical family. Despite his positive outlook, music and lyrics his massive success and popularity with the massess was hard for many to fathom. He faced his fair share of critical commentaries and judgements, however he used all these factors to his advantage and was courageous enough to continue singing in his own style without giving an ear to his detractors. In an industry where releasing independent albums were not the norm, the courage and passion he displayed in his first album became a solid foundation for his future success.
Following the massive success of Jal Pari, he released two more solo albums, "Doorie" & "Meri Kahani". Both albums were massive successes. According to Tips music his solo albums have sold more than 9 million units globally.
Even as Atif continued to record solo albums he soon found huge appreciation and acceptance for his talent in India. Within a span of 3 years he went on to record over two dozen chartbusters for top Bollywood films and for his work on the movie Race, was nominated for the prestigious Filmfare Award. He continues to work on top productions and his growing popularity has seen filmmakers create special music videos to promote their films with his songs.
Constantly developing as an artist, Atif soon evolved himself into an exciting concert performer. Following sold out concerts and electrifying performances throughout his country the demand to watch Atif Aslam perform live grew across the world with legions of loyal fans growing across nations. People were amazed to experience the dynamic vocal range Atif was able to deliver in a live performance. His energy on stage, with charming charisma and a natural ability to work the crowd swiftly made him the most sought after live performer in Pakistan and numerous countries across Asia. The artist started performing to sellout crowds on a regular basis. Fans came to recognize a true artist. The energy level never reduced but the crowd kept on increasing.
Concerts & Tours
Displaying a love for the stage from an early age, his first performance was at a fancy dress show at his school where he performed as Imran Khan, the legendary former captain ofPakistan national cricket team. However, nearly two decades later, Atif had rocketed to international stardom as an artist and the demand to see him perform was immense.
He began to tour internationally with collaborative performances in the USA and Canada with RDB and Annie Khalid. Atif then made his solo debut concert in New Jersey in Summer Beats 2008 (that also featured Kailash Kher, Richa Sharma & Amanat Ali) at Sovereign Bank Arena.[10] After a sold out concert in New Jersey, Atif returned with his band and special guests to Queens Colden Center, New York to perform on July 2, 2010.[11] Taking over the entire production Atif produced the entire event with special sound and light design to support his concert, giving the audience a memorable experience.
Two years later Atif Aslam returned to the US. Collaborating with female vocalist Shreya Ghoshal their March, 2010 Tour originally had 10 shows announced in USA and Canada. However the response was terrific & inspired the organizers to conduct shows again in six more cities. The next monthl, Atif Aslam made his debut in South America with a performance at Anthony Nesty Sports Hall, Suriname inSouth America.
The world touring continued with Atif Aslam performing with Sunidhi Chauhan for the first time at Hershey Centre, Mississauga followed by another show at Oracle Arena, San Francisco, Oakland in July 2011 during their USA & Canada tour. In September 2011 he performed in New York.
Atif continued to tour the world with headline performances at Royal Albert Hall in London (alongside Jay Sean). He followed that with dates across major concert venues in the UK in 2010.
On April 22, 2012 Atif Aslam created history by becoming the first man from his country to perform in London's O2 Arena a concert spectacular to promote love, peace & unity among India and Pakistan. Atif performed for four fours on The O2 Arena stage. This was then followed up by shows in Manchester[ & Glasgow.
In 2012 he was invited for no less than 3 concerts at the World Trade Centre in Dubai. This was then followed up with his debut concert in Bangkok at the Centara Convention Centre on October 6, 2012. Atif Aslam then returned to performing in 10 Major cities of Pakistan during his Jazz Jazba Generation Tour where exclusive backstage footage of Atif Aslam behind the scenes during the tour, his interactions with his fans and intimate look at the man behind the star was filmed for the very first time. On November 2 he performed his first public concert in Malaysia.
In December 2012, Atif was named among top performers of Dubai for 2012 alongside Pitbull, Enrique Iglesias, Il Divo, Gotye,Evanescence & Swedish House Mafia. A few weeks earlier, Atif Aslam became the first man from Asia, and the second artist after Bryan Adams, to be permitted to perform inside the Dashrath Rangasla - National Football Stadium in Kathmandu, Nepal. With 25,000 crowd his concert in Nepal was also a great success. Atif once again returned to Dubai for multiple concerts in 2013 at the world famous Atlantis resort Dubai. He also earlier shared stage with upcoming talentShalmali Kholgade in Dubai.
In April 2013, Atif performed for the first time at the LG Arena in Birmingham . following which he became the first artist from Asia to perform twice at London's O2 Arena. Also in concert at the O2 were Bollywood stars Shaan, Malaika Arora Khan & Bipasha Basu.
Hollywood
Atif has three songs featured in the American independent film, Man Push Cart which has won several international awards and was praised by critics. He then sung 2 songs inMira Nairs film The Reluctant Fundamentalist. His two more songs ‘Doorie‘ and ‘Maula‘ from his second album Doorie have been picked up in 2010 for the soundtrack of the Hindi Version of a Mexican film La mujer de mi hermano directed by Ricardo de Montreuil
Acting career
Atif made his acting debut in the 2011 Pakistani movie Bol which was a huge success. He has also made special appearances in film songs.
Television
Atif also appeared as a captain of Team Pakistan in a singing talent show called Sur Kshetra which was shot & broadcast from Dubai where Indian & Pakistani contestants were competing against each other.
In 2013, he is set to be one of the judges on Pakistan Idol alongside Hadiqa Kiani. The show will also see actor Mohib Mirza as host. It will air on GEO TV.
Atif performing at O2 Arena London.
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