Nazia Hassan’s Legacy Honoured 25 Years After Her Passing

Twenty-five years.

That’s how long it’s been since Nazia Hassan’s voice went quiet. And yet, on any given night, somewhere, someone is still dancing to her songs. Maybe at a wedding in Karachi. Maybe in a car on the Grand Trunk Road. Maybe on a scratchy late-night FM broadcast that’s playing just a little too loud.

She wasn’t just catchy. She was different. Aap Jaisa Koi, Disco Deewane — those weren’t just hits; they were moments. They carried an energy that didn’t care much for boundaries. Pakistan, India, the Middle East — her voice slipped through borders and landed wherever it pleased.

Born April 3, 1965, in Karachi, Nazia started young: at ten years old, singing on Pakistan Television. Shy smile, long hair, nothing to suggest she’d one day change the pop scene for an entire region. That shifted in 1980 when Biddu — the British-Indian composer with a taste for disco — asked her to sing for Qurbani.

Aap Jaisa Koi hit the airwaves, and everything moved fast. The beat was irresistible, her delivery fresh, the whole thing miles apart from what anyone else was doing. She became the first Pakistani to win a Filmfare Award — a teenager with an international hit.

Soon came Disco Deewane with her brother Zoheb. It didn’t just sell — it exploded. Across Asia, the Middle East, Africa, the record moved in numbers nobody expected. More albums followed: Boom Boom, Young Tarang, Hotline. Each one produced songs that still turn up at parties like uninvited guests everyone’s happy to see.

Off stage? A different story. Nazia worked with the United Nations, spoke for children’s education, and kept herself grounded. Friends say she stayed humble. Fame didn’t change her manners, or the way she treated people.

August 13, 2000 — she was gone. Lung cancer. Just 35. The shock was instant, and it hasn’t really worn off. This week, on her 25th death anniversary, the tributes rolled in. Fans posted videos, old photos, grainy TV clips.

And if you listened closely, you’d hear something:
Even after all this time, Nazia’s voice hasn’t really faded — not from the music, not from the memories, not from the people who still press play.

Published in Daily Pak, August 15th, 2025