Adnan Sami
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| Adnan Sami | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Adnan Sami Khan |
| Born | August 15, 1973 |
| Origin | United Kingdom, Pakistan, India |
| Genre(s) | Indian music, Pakistani music, Classical , Jazz |
| Occupation(s) | musician, Singer, Pianist, Film composer, Composer |
Adnan Sami Khan (Urdu: عدنان سمیع خان), born August 15, 1973, is a popular British-born Pakistani singer, musician, pianist, actor and composer. His style merges Asian and Western styles and instrumentation and ranges from classical to jazz to modern pop-rock. He was awarded MTV's 2001 "Breakthrough Artist of the Year".[1] Adnan's new albums are also a huge success these days.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life and education
Sami was born, reared and educated in Britain. His father, Arshad Sami Khan was born in Pakistan, was a Pakistani diplomat and had training in composing classical and jazz music.[citation needed]His mother belonged to an Indian Muslim family. Sami attended Rugby School. He went on to graduate from the University of London, througout developing his musical style and technique on the Piano and thus evolving a new sound which he pioneered and ultimately introduced to the world thus becoming the first person to play Pakistani Classical music on the electric Piano. He had played piano since his childhood and so studied music in school and in college. Indian singing legend Asha Bhosle spotted talent in a ten-year-old Sami at an R D Burman concert in London, and encouraged him to take up music as a career.[2]
Sami then went on to learn Indian classical music from Mahraj Khatak, an Indian classical singing teacher in Pakistan and dancer. Sami further learned from Indian Santoor maestro, Pandit Shivkumar Sharma[1], and became one of the first people to play Pakistani classical music on the piano and electric piano. Sami's parents and younger brother now reside in Houston, Texas.
[edit] Music career
His most successful albums have been Kabhi To Nazar Milao (with Asha Bhosle) and Tera Chehra [3], and his music videos usually have had a host of Bollywood stars in them, including Namrata Shirodkar ("Bheegi Bheegi Raat"), Mahima Chaudhry, Raveena Tandon, Rani Mukherjee ("Tera Chehra"), Govinda, Fardeen Khan, Amisha Patel ("O Meri Jaan"), Bhoomika Chawla ("Maahiya"), Diya Mirza ("Pal Do Pal") and most famously, Amitabh Bachchan ("Kabhi Nahi").[3] [4] In 2006, he took a sabbatical, and reportedly lost over 70 kg,[5] to make a come back in November 2007 as a host on a Hindi musical game show, Bol Baby Bol, on STAR One.
His latest film music composition was for Shaurya (2008).[6]
[edit] Personal life
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This section does not cite any references or sources. (June 2008) Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. |
Adnan Sami's love life has experienced all the phases of filmy adventures. He was married to Zeba Bakhtiar for a short period from whom he had a son Azaan Khan. The marriage did not last for long and he had to phase the bitter love stings and also loose his only son's custody. He then fell in love with Dubai-based Sabah Galadari. They married in 2001. This relationship also called quits a year-and-a-half later. Adnan at that time was 150 kg. Adnan came back to Mumbai, produced several music videos, but quietly pined for his lost love.
It is said that most of his composed love songs of his albums are based on his true love experiences. After more than 3 years Sabah was pleasantly surprised to receive a picture by mail of a much slimmer Adnan. They decided to meet in Dubai. The love bloomed again and a recent update states that they have secretly married again. On regaining his lost love Adnan said in an interview, "I couldn't get her out of my heart. Love can turn things around. Just believe this. And when we met, we realised we had never stopped loving each other."
The singer-cum-composer is desperate for Indian citizenship and is trying everything to get one. His struggles to acquire Indian citizenship continues, initially, he seemed to have got a positive response to his application filed in November 2003. The singer even issued a notice in a newspaper in April 2005 declaring his intentions for choosing Indian citizenship. However, it seems that his application is still pending. The singer, a Pakistani national, owns a house in India, has a PAN card, and has now even applied for his marriage at the marriage registrar's office in Bandra.
[edit] Awards and accolades
Sami has won many international awards, including the "Nigar Award", the "Bolan Academy Award", and the "Graduate Award". He was given a "Special Award of UNICEF" and a United Nations Peace Medal for a song he wrote and performed for Africa. He was invited to be a member of the jury of the prestigious music festival "Voice of Asia" competition, held annually at Almaty, Kazhakstan - the jury comprises top music composers of the world. Sami was featured in a documentary, commissioned by the Foreign and Common Wealth Office of Great Britain, about ten people from the Indian sub-continent, who have influenced the Asian culture in the UK, over the last fifty years.[7]
A review of his piano solo performance on Channel 4, UK, in Keyboard Magazine acknowledged him as the "Keyboard Discovery of The 90s". Swedish radio and television referred to him as the fastest keyboard player in the world.[2] Sami has performed for prestigious music festivals to sold-out stadia of his solo concert tours all over the world in over forty countries.[citation needed] In summer 2003, he became the only Asian artiste to have sold out, Wembley Stadium, London, for two consecutive nights, which won him a place in the Limca Book of Records. [8]
As a classical concert pianist, Sami has had the honour of giving "solo" Royal Command performances before the King of Sweden and King Hussein of Jordan.[9] He has also performed before Heads of State and Government such as President Mitterrand of France, the President of United Arab Emirates, the President and Prime Minister of India, the President and Prime Minister of Pakistan, the President and Prime Minister of Khazakhstan, the Prime Minister of Kyrgystan, the Prime Minister and Christina of Sweden.[7]
In 2008, he was presented the "Naushad Music Award" by Andhra Pradesh, Department of Culture, at Hyderabad.[10]
Adnan has also sung the song "Mera Jahan" from the latest hit film Taare Zameen Par.
[edit] Discography
- Kabhi To Nazar Milao - 2000 - No.1 album for (72 weeks) - Indian charts [8]
- Always yours - Adna
- Tera Chehra - 2002 - Biggest selling album of (including film soundtracks) in Indian charts (53 weeks) [8]
[edit] References
- ^ a b Pakistani Singers: Adnan Sami Khan. Retrieved on 2008-05-29.
- ^ a b Adnan Sami Biography and Awards
- ^ a b Adnan Sami The Hindustan Times, April 10, 2007.
- ^ Biography
- ^ Adnan Sami makes a sleek comeback
- ^ Music album of film Shaurya launched in Mumbai
- ^ a b Personality Profile
- ^ a b c Biography
- ^ Indian POP stars - Adnan Sami
- ^ Shareef joins AP Culture Dept in honoring Adnan indiapost.com, 2008-01-21.
