A Short Biography of Junaid Jamshed

Junaid Jamshed

(1964-2016)

Junaid Jamshed

Biography of Junaid Jamshed:- Junaid Jamshed was born on 3rd September 1964 in Karachi. He was also known as J.J by his colleagues and fellow artists. Junaid Jamshed was one of the most prominent figures of Showbiz, after 2004 when he left singing and made his way to the religiousness, praying five times a day, grown his beard and joined Dawah, conservative Pakistanis welcomed him, and he became a member of Tableeghi Jamaat, led by Maulana Tariq Jameel. Junaid Jamshed wanted to become a fighter pilot. However, he couldn’t pass the test due to weak eyesight. Junaid Jamshed was the son of an Air Force Colonel Jamshed Akbar who inspired him to join Pakistan Air Force.

Eventually, Junaid Jamshed took admission in University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore where he studied Mechanical Engineering. He completed the degree in 1990, later worked as a contractor for Air Force. Junaid Jamshed quit his field as he was a great singer from university days; he performed in every campus concert and received quite an admiration from his fellows.

Rohail Hyatt was the man who kick started Junaid’s career in singing. Before working in Hyatt’s Vital Signs band, Junaid was part of University’s band named Nuts and Bolts. After joining Vital Signs, Junaid Jamshed performed in concerts in Islamabad, Karachi, and Lahore. In a show in Islamabad, some guys from PTV, a national broadcasting channel of Pakistan and the only TV channel of Pakistan at that time were inspired by his singing skills and called Junaid Jamshed to perform onthe national television.

Junaid gave several hit songs to Pakistan music industry. After his successful Dil Dil Pakistan album, he made three more albums with the band, his solo Album Us Rah Par was a super success. Before that, his solo album Junaid of Vital Signs was successful, but it wasn’t as good as his previous albums. We Rah Par were a hit, and many of its songs are still favorite among Pakistani youth. Among them, ‘Na Tu Aaye gi.’ was a super hit. The best of Junaid Jamshed was a remix of his previous songs released in the year 2000, in the next year, Dil Ki beatwas made public, and that was again a most popular album of the year.

In the subsequent years, Junaid Jamshed released his albums Us Rah Par and Dil Ki Baat in 1999 and 2002 respectively. Junaid was a nationwide sensation by the year 2002, he performed in every country including India. A poll conducted by BBC World News conducted a popularity poll of the best song ever, among 700 songs, Junaid Jamshed song Dil Dil Pakistan was number 3 as people from 155 countries voted in the survey.

After he had distanced himself from singing in the earlier part of 2001, he searched for engineering jobs to pursue a clean career away from Haraam music, he was inspired by a renowned Pakistani cleric and Aalim Molana Tariq Jameel. He admitted several times that his life was changed by video lectures of Maulana. He met with Maulana and took an oath never to sing from now on, he struggled financially before he conducted a joint venture for opening J Dot (J.), a nationwide khadi selling network with branches all over Pakistan, Europe, and the United States.

After the national success of Junaid Jamshed, the rock music industry in Pakistan flourished and became a permanent part of the industry. His band member and partner Rohail Hyatt opened a successful Coke Studio recording business while his other partner went to the United States after getting a job in IBM.

Life After 2004

Junaid Jamshed devoted his life to Islam after 2004, he became a permanent member of Tablighi Jamaat. Along with Muhammad Yousif, formerly Yousaf Yuhanna and Former Test cricketer Saeed Anwar, Junaid Jamshed became an active member of Jamaat and visited Worldwide for the religious preaching.

Junaid Jamshed inclination towards religion disappointed his former artists and especially Shoaib Mansoor, one of his most trusted friends in Media Industry. Shoaib later produced a movie Khuda Ke Liye inspired by Junaid Jamshed and his interest from music to religion. He became a member of Islamic charity NGO Muslim Charity in 2003. The organization received funds from all over the world. Junaid repeatedly appeared in TV shows after 2012, he was invited to media programs for his views on terrorism and Islam, he also conducted Islamic programs on TV channels, his latest being a hit Ramzan transmission ‘Shan e Ramazan’ by ARY Network.

Religious Albums

Junaid released multiple nasheed albums from 2005-2016. His first album in 2005 was Jalwa-e-Janan a superhit album, in 2006, another album Mehboob-e-Yazdan was published followed by Badr-ud-Duja, a heart-wrenching naat track that received worldwide acclamation. After the success of Naats and Nasheed albums, Yad-e-Haram, Rehmat Ul Lil Aalamin, and Badi uz Zaman were released in the year 2008 and 2009. Hadi Ul Anaam and Rabi-Zidn-e-Ilma albums were popular in Pakistan due to religious affiliation and popularity of Junaid Jamshed. Noor ul Huda was the latest naat album of Junaid Jamshed released in 2013. His all-time hit hamd was ‘Ilaahi Teri Chokhat Par.’ Rated as number one hamd of 2015.

Death of Junaid Jamshed

Junaid Jamshed died in a plane crash when returning from a preaching session in Chitral along with his wife, Ayesha Junaid. His plane crashed near Abbottabad, a town some 65 km away from capital territory Islamabad on 7th December 2016 along with 40 other passengers in a PIA airplane.