Nazia Hassan was born in an affluent family in Karachi but spent a good part of her childhood in London. Her first performance was on television on a popular musical show for children aired in Pakistan, along with younger brother Zoheb Hassan. The producer of that show, Suhail Rana, later introduced her to Feroz Khan. This was how the 15-year old Nazia landed the song “Aap Jaisa Koi” (“Qurbani”, 1980) composed by Biddu.
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The song went on to become a monstrous hit in India and Pakistan and started a fruitful association with songwriter-producer Biddu.
Following the success of “Aap Jaisa Koi”, Biddu produced several albums with Nazia and Zoheb starting with the 1981 hit, “Disco Deewane”. Her other popular albums are “Boom Boom” (1982), “Young Tarang” (1984) and “Hotline” (1984). She also sang for several Hindi films. The songs from her album “Boom” were used in the Hindi film “Star” (1982). Many years later, Biddu offered to record “Made In India” (1995) with her, but she refused because she did not want to offend her country people. “Made In India” went on to become a big hit and launched singer Alisha China’s career. Sadly, Nazia’s success in her personal life did not match her career’s success. Her marriage in 1995 was unsuccessful and she was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1996. She succumbed to the disease on August 13, 2000 leaving behind a 3 year old son.
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