Junaid Jamshed

Junaid Jamshed was a Pakistani singer, songwriter, and music director. He was primarily a singer of qawwali — a form of Sufi devotional music. Often called the "Shahenshah-e-Qawwali" (the King of Kings of Qawwali), he is considered by The New York Times to be the greatest qawwali singer of his generation. He was described as the fourth greatest singer of all time by LA Weekly. He was known for his vocal abilities and could perform at a high level of intensity for several hours. He was widely credited with introducing qawwali music to international audiences. He was also a master in Hindustani classical music. He was born in Karachi, Pakistan, in 1964. His family originates from Basti Sheikh Darvesh, who settled in Jalandhar in present-day India. His ancestors learned music and singing there and adopted it as a profession. He was the fifth child and first son of Jamshed Akbar Khan, a group captain in the Pakistan Air Force, and Nafeesa Akbar Khan, the granddaughter of the nawab of Loharu State. He graduated from an international boarding high school in Yanbu' al Bahr in Saudi Arabia. He wanted to join the Pakistan Air Force to become a fighter pilot, but his weak eyesight prevented this. He then entered the University of Engineering and Technology in Lahore, where he took mathematics and physics before declaring his major in mechanical engineering. He started his musical career as the vocalist of Vital Signs, a pop rock band formed in 1986. Their 1987 album, Vital Signs 1 included the hit singles "Dil Dil Pakistan", and "Tum Mil Gaye". The commercial success of the album helped develop Pakistan's rock music industry. In 1994, he released his debut solo album, Junaid of Vital Signs followed by Us Rah Par in 1999 and Dil Ki Baat in 2002. In 2004, Jamshed left both his engineering and music careers and, afterwards, focused on his religious activities for Islam and reciting nasheeds on TV and releasing them on CDs. Jamshed also owned a clothing boutique with the name "J." (read as "Jay Dot"), which has several outlets throughout Pakistan and some abroad. In November 2014, Jamshed was accused of blasphemy and in December 2014, in a video message, he apologized for offending people and making mistakes. He was married to Ayesha Junaid, a dentist, and had five children, Taimur, Babar, Saifullah, and two daughters. He died on 7 December 2016 when PIA Flight 661 crashed in Havelian. The flight was en route to Islamabad from Chitral. He was in Chitral for a Tablighi Jamaat mission and was returning to Islamabad.