Haroon, 'the prince of asian pop'

• Multi-talented Haroon often referred to as the "Prince of Asian pop" is a producer, composer, singer, recording engineer, musician and exhilarating live performer. He was born in London on May 11th 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, and he counts as friends' people from all over the world. As a person, Haroon could be described as genuine, sincere, and uncompromising in his beliefs and goals, yet soft-spoken and friendly with a great sense of humor. •

When Haroon was 3 months old living in London, his parents used to watch the Top of the Pops music show every Wednesday. According to Haroon's mother "He used to coo and laugh and hum a long to the songs of the show, even at that age I knew he was a musical baby." Haroon received his first guitar at the age of 13, and in his words "I immediately started composing the most awful songs, I guess they were okay for a 13-year-old. My youngest brother, Ben, who was seven at the time thought they were brilliant and was very encouraging" Over the years Haroon's song-writing improved and by the age of 16 he composed the song "Janeman" which later became his first of many hits. •

"I got my first electric guitar at 14 and I used to haul my guitar and very heavy amplifier to school everyday on the bus, so that me and my band could jam after hours. We had the greatest time. My best friend and I were singing and playing guitars and my brother Daoud was playing the drums and another friend was on the bass. We had a blast and even though we were young teenagers we took our band very seriously and practiced for hours. We used to play our own songs as well as covers at the high-school balls. I called the band "The Idiosyncrasies" after a word I had just learned for a vocabulary quiz. I thought I was being very intellectual" • After high school Haroon left for the US for further education. He completed his BBA in Finance from the George Washington University in Washington D.C. Says Haroon "I didn't do any music during those four years I just kept my head down and studied, but I had a plan" Upon returning in 1992 he promptly formed the band Awaz with a couple of musician friends of his. 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. The band went on to release three highly successful albums and two singles between 1993 and 1999, which have collectively sold more than 2,000,000 units worldwide officially. • Haroon's first solo album "Haroon Ki Awaz" released in Oct 2000 has been an incredibly huge success. Overjoyed Haroon says, "I never expected it to do as well as it has. I want to thank everyone who went out and bought the album and made it so successful." Several spectacular videos helped make that album such 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. • In 2001 and 2002 Haroon was extremely busy touring the UK and USA. In 2001 Haroon performed alongside the top Asian acts at the prestigious BBC Asia Awards show in front of seven thousand British Asians and received a rousing reception for his lively performance. This show was aired on BBC TV in the UK for an estimated viewer ship of two million people.

• In between the extensive touring, video making, and a busy promotional schedule Haroon found time to work on a brand new album. His new album "Lagan" has been praised by critics as his best work ever. There is a new depth in this album and the several songs are expected to become classics in the local Asian scene. Keeping with tradition of great videos, the first video from Lagan was shot at the Giza plateau in Cairo, Egypt with the ancient pyramids as the back drop. The song for the video clip "Mahbooba" is a fusion of Asian and Arabic music with Lebanese singers accompanying Haroon. The album Lagan like the last album was produced, engineered and recorded by Haroon in his personal studio.

wow, i didn't know his mom was from newzealnad. that is too cool and it is also cool that he went to college in US and especially the university that i am planning to transfer to next year... he has heck of a background

in this article there were baby pix of him and his parents but i cant seem to copy them here. he was sooooooooo adorable when he was a kid. my god!!