‘Alfaaz’, the original song, has been a chart-topping sensation, reaching the top spots on Spotify’s daily music charts in Pakistan and India and even making it to the weekly top 50 chart.

To find out more about the remake titled ‘Alfaaz (Alan Walker Relight)’, Images sat down with Walker to talk about the song, his experience working in Pakistan and his first impressions of the country.

Fusing Eastern with EDM

The DJ admitted it wasn’t an easy undertaking: “It was a difficult one because it’s a very different type of style of music versus what I usually do.” But he believed he had managed to mix the distinctly Eastern style of ‘Alfaaz’ with his own “in a way that really resonates with people who might be fans of EDM, but also people who don’t listen to too much EDM as well”.

How did the collaboration come about? Walker said it began with mutual interest from both sides and an idea. “We heard the song a bit, here and there. It felt like it was everywhere. We were already travelling around Asia, and then we had the idea to remake or remix the song. And then suddenly my team just contacted me and were like, ‘Hey, do you want to travel to Pakistan?’, and I was like, ‘Sure, yeah, why not?’”

Fast-tracking the track

Walker said it took just a few weeks for the song to come together from the day he was approached to the final release. “It’s the quickest turnaround we’ve ever had of any songs. I think the last time I made a song this quick and it’s come out as fast as we’re doing now was when I was, like, 16 and making music for fun and had no record label, just put out music that I liked to make.”

Within less than a week, the first demo was ready, and in a week and a half, James Arthur was locked in to provide vocals for the song as well.

“When we were there, we were working very much in the closing stages,” Walker said of his time in Lahore. “Within a day or two after the trip, that’s when we got the final vocals from James Arthur.”

That aligned with the deadline the team had to submit the song to Spotify. “That also puts things into perspective, how quickly things have moved around. There have been so many little puzzle pieces that needed to come into place, but it’s been moving incredibly rapidly.”

How it happened

Muhammad Ibrahim, co-founder of Giraffe Pakistan — along with Zulfiqar J. Khan (Xulfi) — the studio responsible for ‘Alfaaz’, said the Pakistani and international teams worked so well because they were “on the same page about what they exactly wanted out of it”.

Ibrahim said they had approached Walker’s team, asking if they were interested in the collaboration, but the initiative to have Walker in Pakistan came from his team. “This would be the best thing to happen — if we could really have him here,” they’d told his team, Ibrahim said.

When they came through, he said, “No one had time to really, you know, plan anything… Everything happened so fast and so organically.”

The DJ was impressed with the way his collaborators were on board, making time and space in their own schedules to facilitate the process.

Love affair with Lahore

For his trip, Walker said he had all of 24 hours, which meant he was taken from the plane to the hotel and then straight to Old Lahore, where his first shoot was at the historic Lahore Fort. He described the fort complex adjacent to the Badshahi Mosque as being reminiscent of the Taj Mahal — both being iconic examples of Mughal architecture.

“That’s when we got to see the true beauty of Lahore … I’m so happy that we got to showcase some of the most iconic sites of Lahore in the music video,” he said.

The DJ said he had a memorable experience working with the team in Pakistan and was happy to have met them in person. “I think it was really important for our collaboration and the project that we wanted to do with ‘Alfaaz’, to actually go meet the people, meet the team, meet the artists, and just build that connection.”

“It was a blast, I loved working with all of the people, and everyone was super nice, welcoming me and also my crew with open arms,” he shared.

As is customary for Pakistanis, the hosts took him out to a big group lunch, where the Norwegian was treated to some halwa poori, which he said he enjoyed.

‘Pakistani music can make it globally’

Walker seemed really hopeful at the end of the project, saying his experiences showed “that it is really possible for Pakistani music to make it worldwide, as it already has”.

He said he wouldn’t rule out working with Pakistani musicians again: “Anything is possible. Our arms are wide open, and it will be very interesting to see what we can do in the future and for the months coming up.”

Ibrahim, expanding upon Giraffe Pakistan’s role in the collaboration, said the team is seeking to “build an ecosystem here within the country to … strike global partnerships or collaborations, or provide a system of distribution and promotion which can really get songs out of the country and get them to the world.”

“I can’t thank Alan and his team enough … they’ve really facilitated it the way they’ve done it with such open arms and with a lot of love,” he said.

Header image courtesy Giraffe Pakistan

Reggaeton artist Daddy Yankee, Zara Larsson, Steve Lacy, K-pop singer Jisoo, Kehlani and Leon Thomas are also on deck for the festival in Indio, California, over two weekends in April.

Dua Lipa will headline the festival, held in the California desert, on Friday on both weekends.

The line-up also includes Phoebe Bridgers, Weezer, Tiesto, Martin Garrix, Role Model, Kygo, The Neighbourhood, and Becky G.

The ‘Thrift ​Shop’ performer launched the effort after he was removed as the opening ​act on musician Ed Sheeran’s concert tour in August. Macklemore said ⁠at the time that stadium owners had objected to him saying “Free Palestine” on ​stage.

Since then, nine US venues declined to allow him to book available dates through ​the end of the year, Macklemore said on social media. The venues included Madison Square Garden and the Kia Forum in Los Angeles.

“The shows were not going to be allowed to happen ​in these venues,” he said in a post. “In over 20 years of touring, I’ve ​never experienced anything like this.”

A spokesperson for MSG Entertainment, which operates Madison Square Garden and other venues, ⁠said its properties are among “the busiest venues in the world with extremely limited availability” and that Macklemore is “not an arena-level act.”

Representatives for the Kia Forum did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Macklemore played Free Palestine shows in Dublin, Paris and London to ​raise funds for ​organisations that support ⁠the Palestinian people. The musician said he would work with other artists and organisers to do more performances for the cause.

“We ​live in a country that prides itself on freedom of speech,” ​he wrote. “Yet ⁠we’ve reached a point where a handful of billionaires can decide which causes are acceptable, which voices are welcome and which human lives are worth defending.”

Palestinian authorities say ⁠more than ​74,000 people have been killed in Israel’s assault on ​Gaza.

Led by Rauf Saami of the Saami Brothers — master practitioners of both qawwali and khayal traditions — and guided by his father, Ustad Naseeruddin Saami, the Infinite Raag project aims to document and preserve the family’s generational singing and study its “microtonal precision, intricate melodic movements, and sonic depth”, according to a press release issued on Monday.

The project, undertaken in collaboration with the Centre for Cultural Vibrancy — a non-profit organisation uplifting traditional heritage practitioners and promoting cross-cultural learning — is slated to receive funding and technical resources from the US-based Mozilla Foundation as part of their Artists Make Technology initiative. The Saami Family is one of 20 inaugural grantees awarded funding and technical resources to build technologies for use in their field.

The Infinite Raag project combines sound recordings and biometric data to create ethical, artist-owned tools to safeguard the family’s centuries-long living tradition of khayal.

Ustad Naseeruddin and his principal students’ multi-hour vocalisations will be captured by an artist-owned recording and analysis system in collaboration with the Center for Cultural Vibrancy.

Synchronised audio, biometric sensors, and a microtonal pitch tracker beyond the 12-tone system — Ustad Naseeruddin is credited with using a 49-note system — used in Western study of music will map moments of deep coherence and transcendence, guided by Artificial Intelligence tools.

Infinite Raag will also study the effects of the rigorous training and practice needed to perfect khayal on the bodies of its practitioners.

Commenting on the project, Rauf said his father had dedicated his life to the “pursuit of the truth of sur (melody)” and Infinite Raag was an attempt to preserve some of the knowledge Ustad Naseeruddin had gathered over his life for future generations to appreciate.

“Infinite Raag seeks to challenge extractive uses of AI and advance technology that supports cultural sovereignty, preservation, and exploration of transcendence,” Rauf said.

The Saamis are from the over 800-year-old Qawwal Bacha Gharana, said to have originally been founded by the Persian poet Amir Khusrow.

Rauf’s father is considered by many to be one of the few surviving old masters of his craft. He was recognised by the Aga Khan Music Awards last year for his work. At the time, Ustad Naseeruddin described his craft as “prayer through breath”.

Cover photo: Mozilla Foundation

Jennie will sing ‘Someone to Hold’ for the Netflix animation Steps, a first for the artist, according to her agency OA Entertainment on Friday.

“I had so much fun working on a track for an animated film for the first time,” she told via the agency, “I loved the warm hearts and personalities of each character, and was happy to be a small part of their world.”

The film, which twists the plot of Cinderella, will unveil on Nov 20 and the ballad on Nov 6.

Jisoo, meanwhile, co-authored and sang ‘Sun Showers’ for The Angry Birds Movie 3, which will hit theatres in December.

“I’ve always loved how the films bring together such colourful characters, humour and heart. With ‘Sun Showers,’ I wanted to capture the movie’s playful and bright energy through a fun, feel-good song that makes people want to smile and dance along,” the artist said in an exclusive interview with The Hollywood Reporter.

This story was originally published on The Korea Herald, an ANN partner of Dawn

Other than eating halwa puri and taking in the majestic Lahore Fort, Walker teased a video on his social media accounts on Wednesday saying “more to come soon”, with ‘Alfaaz’, the hit song by Malik, Zain Ali and Zohaib Ali playing over it.

Malik on his Instagram stories shared a picture of Walker wearing a shawl with the word alfaaz on it in Urdu script. “There’s another surprise as well,” he wrote.

The ‘Faded’ producer also posted a story on his Instagram with the Pakistani singers with the caption, “BTW, it was a very productive day.”

Walker in a video shared by Giraffe Studios says: “I just got to Lahore and it’s beautiful here, and I’m about to go to the studio to work on some music.”

The video itself mentions “a dream collaboration”.

Could Walker’s visit have anything to do with the uber-popular song which is topping charts left and right?

On Monday, the track was placed at the top of the weekly music chart from Genius — a website which claims to be the world’s largest collection of song lyrics.

The song was joined on the list by works from popular Western artists like Tate McRae, Eminem and Radiohead.

‘Alfaaz’ also maintained a commanding position on Spotify’s charts, holding the top spot on daily charts from both Pakistan and India and placing 42nd on the platform’s Top 50 - Global list on Wednesday.

An earlier press release from Giraffe Studios — the studio behind the song — called its success “unprecedented” for a Pakistani song and called it an “example of how far a song can travel when it finds its audience”.

‘Alfaaz’ has also kept its position in second place on the UK’s Indian-dominated Official Asian Music Chart.

This is the studio’s second chart-topper after Sheheryar Rehan and Zoha Waseem’s ‘Majboor’ last year, which also topped Spotify’s Pakistan chart and peaked at second place on the India chart.

Giraffe said both songs were “different stories, shaped by different artists and trajectories, but together they reflect the possibilities that emerge when compelling music meets the right audience and continues to find new ones”.

During a visit to the Surtaal Music Academy in Lahore, Azhar in an Instagram post on Tuesday announced — while surrounded by the talented young musicians enrolled there — that they will be performing their first public concert by opening for him on tour.

The singer sang with the kids too, performing renditions of his songs ‘Khabbay Sajjay’ and ‘Jo Tu Na Mila’, with one of the young performers playing the harmonium as accompaniment.

Earlier, the students had extended an invitation to Azhar to visit their academy through a reel in which they performed ‘Meri Zindagi Hai Tu’ — his popular OST from the drama of the same name.

The singer is just one of a number of high-profile guests who have visited Surtaal in the last few days. Amar Khan stopped by around the same time as Azhar and got to sing some Punjabi songs with the kids, including the classic ‘Ajj Kala Jora Pa’, which she sang on the show Mitti De Baway.

Natasha Baig has also spent some time at Surtaal, singing along to qawwali from the legendary Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.

Norway’s William Gamborg visited too, and subsequently went viral for jamming along as the kids performed Hamza Malik and Zain Zohaib’s uber-popular song ‘Alfaaz’

The Asim Ali tour has stops scheduled in Faisalabad, Lahore and Islamabad on November 6, 7 and 8 before Azhar flies to the US to begin a series of shows abroad. He’ll be back in Pakistan in time for Christmas, when he has a show in Karachi.

The song reached another milestone on Monday, as Genius — a website which lays claim to being the world’s largest collection of song lyrics — announced ‘Alfaaz’ had topped its weekly charts.

The song has had a steady performance on the Genius weekly chart, first appearing at number six on October 5, then spending two weeks in fifth place. This week’s chart saw the song climb two places from number three to the top spot.

Other songs on the list included ‘Housewife’ by Tate McRae, ‘Creep’ by Radiohead and Eminem’s 14-year-old rap classic ‘Lose Yourself ’, which placed third, fourth and fifth, respectively.

Genius is not the only place ‘Alfaaz’ is topping charts; the song remained the most popular song in Pakistan and India on Tuesday, a position it also held last week.

Globally, it remains in the daily Top 50 charts, having climbed one space to number 38 from the last time we reported its position on Thursday.

At the time, a press release from the studio behind the song — Giraffe — called its success “unprecedented” for a Pakistani song and called it an “example of how far a song can travel when it finds its audience”.

‘Alfaaz’ has also maintained its position at second place on the UK’s Indian-dominated Official Asian Music Chart.

This is the studio’s second chart-topper after Sheheryar Rehan and Zoha Waseem’s ‘Majboor’ last year, which also topped Spotify’s Pakistan chart and peaked at second place on the India chart.

Giraffe said both songs were “different stories, shaped by different artists and trajectories, but together they reflect the possibilities that emerge when compelling music meets the right audience and continues to find new ones”.

Cover photo: Spotify

The rapper talked about the event’s success in a post on his Instagram account, saying he was “overwhelmed with gratitude and awe” for everyone who was a part of the last show in London, from the musicians to the speakers to the members of the audience.

Macklemore said the tour was an “affirmation” that when people come together to stand for the freedom of others, “something profound happens”. He said the crowd and the performers were equal parts of that.

“We live in an era where advocating for Palestinian life and freedom is controversial. Where saying that Palestine should be free, that Palestinians deserve the same dignity, safety and rights as everyone else, can come at a cost,” Macklemore said.

He said when people stop thinking about those costs and join hands for liberation, “Love is found.” He said he felt that love in London on Friday and he can still feel it.

Talking about his experience organising the tour, the rapper said he had spent “five of the most intense weeks, reaching out to artists, organising, dealing with logistics and constant meetings,” but now felt like he could take a breath.

He acknowledged there was still a long way to go, but thanked everyone who had come along so far. “I feel honoured to have shared that experience with you all,” he said.

The sold-out show at London’s Wembley Stadium followed similarly popular nights in Paris and Dublin, where fans decked out in keffiyehs and waving Palestinian flags were seen at the venue.

The proceeds from the shows went to organisations working to support Palestinians through humanitarian relief, medical care, education, advocacy and community initiatives.

Musicians performing at the event included Paloma Faith, Vic Mensa and Nemahsis, while climate activist Greta Thunberg and actors Mark Ruffalo, Susan Sarandon and Javier Bardem addressed the crowd of over 12,500.

The tour materialised as a response to Macklemore being booted off singer Ed Sheeran’s tour of the Americas after he made a pro-Palestine speech during an appearance in New York.

The remarks drew criticism from certain pro-Israel venue owners who threatened to cancel Sheeran’s shows if Macklemore were to perform with him.

The rapper is an outspoken voice for Palestine, often using his platform to highlight Israeli crimes, especially in the aftermath of the country’s brutal invasion of Gaza in 2023.

In 2024, he wrote a song called ‘Hind’s Hall’, celebrating student protesters at Columbia University in the US who took over and renamed one of the campus halls of residence after six-year-old Hind Rajab, who was killed by the Israeli military in Gaza.

Later, he was buried in Kakakhel Town, Peshawar.

The renowned Pashto folk singer, who served as an authentic and enduring voice of traditional music across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, was born in Mardan in 1950.

He launched his singing career from Radio Pakistan Peshawar, later expanding his reach through PTV Peshawar Centre, vibrant stage performances and Pashto cinema. Known for his poignant vocal style and deep connection to classical Pakhtun folk traditions, Gulrez Tabassum earned widespread fame among regional listeners for preserving the acoustic essence of rural music.

His career flourished across local hujra gatherings, television broadcasts and regional audio recordings. He remained steadfastly committed to authentic Pashto musical heritage, prioritising classical folk instruments like rubab and acoustic percussion over modern synthetic beats.

His repertoire was celebrated for its emotional depth, focusing on iconic tappay — the two-line folk couplets that express the joy, grief, and romance of Pakhtun life — alongside traditional badala and narrative qissa ballads passed down through generations.

Through featured broadcasts and film playback, Gulrez Tabassum brought traditional folk literature to a wider audience, solidifying his role as a vital custodian of Pashto culture.

However, he had long quit singing and called it a day more than a decade ago owing to ailing health. During his last few years, he remained bedridden as his medical condition worsened. According to family sources, he passed away in a local hospital.

Gulrez Tabassum will be remembered as a soulful icon whose vocal mastery helped to sustain the rich poetic tradition of the borderlands. His artistic legacy endures through his preserved recordings, film tracks and the lasting footprint he left on the cultural memory of Pashto folk music.

Originally published in Dawn, October 29th, 2026

A few steps down, however, at number 39, just under ‘One Of The Girls’ by The Weeknd and Jennie, there were three names that may not be super familiar to foreign listeners but are well known in Pakistan: Zain Ali, Zohaib Ali and Hamza Malik, whose song ‘Alfaaz’ is making waves across the world.

The Urdu-Punjabi song, which can perhaps be described as a soundtrack for the disastrously smitten, has been climbing charts left and right, reaching the top spot on the Top 50 chart for both India and Pakistan.

This streak continues from a very successful week for the song, which reached second place on the UK’s Indian-dominated Official Asian Music Chart — in fact, ‘Alfaaz’ dethroned MXRCI and Karan Aujla’s ‘Straight Up’.

Giraffe, the studio behind the song, said its success was “unprecedented” for a Pakistani song and called it an “example of how far a song can travel when it finds its audience”.

For the studio, co-founded by production maverick Zulfiqar J Khan — Xulfi — this is their second chart topper after Sheheryar Rehan and Zoha Waseem’s ‘Majboor’ last year, which also topped Spotify’s Pakistan chart and peaked at second place on the India chart.

The studio said both songs were “different stories, shaped by different artists and trajectories, but together they reflect the possibilities that emerge when compelling music meets the right audience and continues to find new ones”.

The Dutch withdrawal is the latest in a series of boycotts from countries unhappy with Israel’s inclusion in the annual music festival, given its military campaign in Gaza.

“We have known for some time that Israel’s participation elicits various reactions in society and causes discussion and division,” said Jurre Bosman, NPO’s media director, in a statement.

“Therefore, after consultation with the Board of Broadcasters, the NPO has decided to forgo participation in 2027,” added Bosman.

The Dutch decision brings to an end a series of flip-flops over its participation, highlighting the divisive nature of the debate in the country and more broadly.

In August, the AVROTROS broadcaster, which selects the Dutch entry and broadcasts the show, had pulled out, saying the event can “no longer be considered neutral” given divisions over the Gaza war.

But a month later, NPO stepped in to replace AVROTROS, saying it would take on the responsibility, only to reverse course with its decision on Tuesday.

Jet de Ranitz, NPO’s executive chairman, acknowledged their decision would disappoint many Dutch Eurovision fans and stressed that the contest would still be aired on the public channels.

However, De Ranitz said: “We must conclude that it is currently too early to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2027.”

“Due to the sensitivities surrounding the themes currently at play, we have decided to take a step back for the time being,” added De Ranitz.

In August, organisers announced they were excluding any country involved in an armed conflict from hosting the competition. But that has not prevented withdrawals, with Ireland already announcing they will not take part and the head of the Spanish public broadcaster also coming out in favour of a boycott.

Earlier this month, the Czech public broadcaster pulled out, but cited spending cuts as the reason.

Next year’s contest, the world’s biggest live televised music event, will take place on May 15 in Bulgaria’s Black Sea city of Burgas. It will be the first time the Balkan nation has hosted the contest, coming after Bulgarian singer Darina Yotova, known as Dara, won this year’s contest in the Austrian capital Vienna with the catchy floor-filler ‘Bangaranga’.

Since its launch in 1955, Eurovision has become the ultimate pop platform, catapulting Swedish icons ABBA to worldwide fame, as well as boosting the likes of Celine Dion, Cliff Richard and Olivia Newton-John.

The 2026 competition was watched by 131 million viewers, down 35 million from the year before after five countries boycotted it over Israel’s participation. The Netherlands, Iceland, Spain, Ireland and Slovenia all pulled out of the 2026 contest – with the latter three refusing to broadcast the show at all.

The Dutch took part in the very first Eurovision Song Contest back in 1956, and have won on five occasions. Their most recent winner was Duncan Laurence, whose song Arcade won the contest in 2019, going on to top charts globally.

It became the first Eurovision entry to reach one billion streams on Spotify, according to the Eurovision website.

The head of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which organises the show, said he was “deeply sorry” that the Netherlands would not be taking part.

“We understand their decision, and we respect the strength of feeling behind it in the Netherlands,” said Martin Green in a statement.

“At the same time, we believe the Eurovision Song Contest matters in a divided world.”

NPO’s Bosman said the broadcaster was still talking with the EBU about the future of the contest.

“We are convinced that the event can once again become a place of music and connection, where there is room to make societal themes open for discussion,” said Bosman.

Cover photo: Sarah Louise Bennett / EBU

The Grammy-winning rapper received a deafening ovation in Dublin, where fans in the overwhelmingly pro-Palestinian country came draped in Palestinian flags, black, red and green football jerseys and keffiyeh scarves being sold by vendors outside.

“I ​am proud to stand here on stage in solidarity with the Palestinian people. We will ​continue to fight for collective liberation until our last breath,” Macklemore said on stage, ⁠where he waved a Palestinian flag for much of his set.

“Six weeks ago, two words is all ​that it took,” he said, referring to the rallying cry of “Free Palestine” and his criticism of the Israeli ​government’s actions in Gaza and the West Bank at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium that led to his removal from Sheeran’s US tour.

“Those two words are so threatening to some people that we’d rather silence those two words than confront what they ​actually mean… Somehow those words have become more controversial than the suffering that made them necessary.”

The crowd, ​which snapped up the 13,000 tickets for Dublin’s 3Arena within minutes, chanted “Free Free Palestine” throughout.

“We need a speaker for our time. ‌It ⁠has to be somebody like that who can reach out to people. He made it feel so alive and I’ve come out feeling I want to be part of something,” said Siobhan Lyons from Dublin, who attended the concert with her daughter.

Irish artists who have spoken out against Israel’s actions played in support ​on Monday, including ‘Take Me ​to Church’ singer Hozier, ⁠rap group Kneecap and Beoga, one of the acts who quit Sheeran’s tour in solidarity with Macklemore.

Palestinian singer Lina Makhoul and Palestinian-American DJ Habibeats also performed ​and pro-Palestine activists such as Game of Thrones actor Liam Cunningham spoke between ​sets.

Several stars sent in pre-recorded video messages, including Avengers star Mark Ruffalo. “Keep fighting for a free Palestine and humanity all over the world and amongst the people. There will be no peace until there’s equality,” the actor said to enthusiastic applause throughout the stadium. “Lots of love, have a good show. Keep fighting the good fight.”

Julian Casablancas, the lead singer of rock band The Strokes, said, “Take care of each other and the innocents and continue standing up in this struggle towards a just world system.”

Other celebrities who sent in video messages included actors Ilana Glazer, Cynthia Nixon and Natasha Rothwell.

Sheeran, one of ⁠the world’s top-selling recording artists, said stadium owners on the remaining dates threatened to bar any further shows with Macklemore on the bill.

Palestinian authorities say more than 74,000 people have been killed in Israel’s assault on Gaza, launched ⁠after Hamas-led ​fighters killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel on October ​7, 2023.

The Free Palestine tour will continue in Paris and London this week ​, with US dates due to be announced later, Macklemore has said.

The show at the NFL championship game is the most coveted showcase in the world of music. US television ratings for the halftime performance often top 100 million viewers and rank higher than the ​audience for the game itself.

Iconic artists including the Rolling ​Stones, Beyoncé, Madonna, Prince and Bruce Springsteen have taken ⁠the Super Bowl stage over the years. Puerto Rican rapper ​Bad Bunny headlined the show at the last Super Bowl.

Next ​year’s Super Bowl will take place on February 14 in Los Angeles. It will be broadcast on Walt Disney’s ABC and ESPN television networks and ​will stream on Disney+ and the ESPN app.

Jay-Z’s company Roc ​Nation has produced the Super Bowl Halftime Show since 2019, and he plays ⁠a key role in selecting each year’s performer.

“For several years, we’ve had the privilege of working closely with Jay-Z and Roc Nation, and I’ve seen the extraordinary impact he has had on ​the Super Bowl ​Halftime Show,” ⁠NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement.

“When we first reached an agreement with Roc Nation ​to produce the show, I had just one ​request: ⁠that Jay-Z take the stage himself one day, whenever the moment felt right to him.”

Jay-Z is known for hits such as ‘99 Problems’ ⁠and ‘Hard ​Knock Life’. The 56-year-old rapper has also ​collaborated with artists including Alicia Keys on ‘Empire State of Mind’ and his wife, ​Beyoncé, on ‘Crazy in Love’.

Younger listeners know her for ‘Banjarapan’ — the OST of the recent drama Jinn Ki Shaadi Unn Ki Shaadi — while those with more mature tastes remember her for other soulful renditions, including the popular 2018 ‘Shikwa Jawab-i-Shikwa’ from Coke Studio, with the qawwal troupe of Fareed Ayaz and Abu Mohammad.

But few people know she recently also collaborated with one of China’s most popular singers, Lay Zhang, on a song called ‘Pak-Cheen Dosti Zindabad’ which celebrated the 75th anniversary of Pak-China relations. It is available on major platforms, including YouTube and Spotify.

Despite her Hunzai roots, Natasha behaves more like a Karachiite than many of the Karachiites I know. She was born in the city and raised there in part; however, people often mistake her for a foreigner in her own country. In fact, on her recent trips to China, people mistook her for Chinese.

From Allama Iqbal and Parveen Shakir’s poetry to a collaboration with the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, the singer has taken some unexpected turns in her musical journey. Add a Chinese pop star, a love of cricket and a determination to do things her own way, and there’s plenty more to her story than meets the ear

Parveen Shakir and the poetry that stayed

Since making her mark in the music industry, Natasha has released several albums. If her debut album Zariya (2020) introduced her to many new followers worldwide, Khirad (2022) came out as a tribute to the legendary poet Allama Iqbal, whose poetry was the backbone of each song.

The album featured the massively popular ‘Shikwa Jawab-i-Shikwa’, as well as ‘Wajood-i-Zan’, a women’s empowerment song; the title track ‘Khirad’ and ‘Ne Mohra’ were also praised for their Western-style composition with an Eastern touch. However, she admits she knew little of the late Parveen Shakir’s work before starting Khushboo (2026), her third album in six years.

“I hadn’t read Parveen Shakir’s poetry in depth before this album,” she says. “I knew of her, obviously, but when I started working on her poetry, I realised how much there was to it.”

What stayed with her was Shakir’s ability to write about love without losing dignity. “Her writing gave me a lot of validation and dignity. The way she talks about love, accepts love and expresses herself — it empowered me.”

Natasha also mentions the graciousness of Parveen Shakir’s son, Murad, who gave her permission during a video call to use his mother’s poetry and wonders what she would have felt had she been alive. Shakir passed away in a car accident in 1994.

“I don’t know whether she would like it, but I hope she would understand that we are trying to honour her writing,” says Natasha.

The Chinese connection

In her mind, if the Shakir album requires her to stay attuned to Urdu’s nuances, her international collaborations demand the opposite — communicating through music even when words fail.

The songstress made two trips to China this year: first to record the Pak-China Friendship song, and second to perform as a showstopper at an international event. She was overwhelmed to realise that, by sharing the recording booth and the music video with Chinese sensation Lay Zhang, she became huge in China, where local girls apparently told her, ‘You must be big in Pakistan to record a song with Lay Zhang!’

Her collaboration in China led her to a well-equipped international studio, where she recorded material in Chinese and Urdu as part of celebrations marking the 75th anniversary of Pakistan-China friendship.

“The Chinese were looking for someone from Pakistan who could sing a few verses in Chinese and found me on YouTube,” Natasha explains. “At first, I wasn’t that thrilled, because I viewed it as just another collaboration with any other artist. But when I saw their internationally equipped studio and their passion for their work, my perception changed.”

She adds that during the music video shoot, she filmed at the Great Wall of China, a feat no other Pakistani artist can claim.

“Thank God Lay Zhang could speak English because of his K-Pop connection. Despite being a major star in China, he served as an interpreter during the song’s production.”

Then there was Jimmy Choo…

On her second trip to China, she was invited to appear as a showstopper at the World Dance Competition. She tells me, in her usual rapid-fire style, that while she was responding to the many people who came to congratulate her on her performance, an older gentleman approached her, took her hand and asked for a picture.

He then directed his friend to take the photo, beaming with pride. Only later did Natasha discover who they were. The friend who took the photo was an ambassador attending the event; the polite older gentleman was none other than the legendary designer Jimmy Choo.

“I had no idea who he was at the time. He was just a very sweet and humble person who wanted a picture with me. Later, when someone asked me, ‘Do you know who that was?’ I was like, ‘What!’” Natasha is nothing if not expressive.

“That is one of the things I love about travelling and performing,” she adds. “You meet people from completely different worlds, and sometimes you don’t even realise who you are standing next to.”

Canada, Karachi, Hunza and everything in between

Natasha also had a successful tour of Canada this year, where she performed for a crowd that featured many people who didn’t understand Urdu. Their reaction afterwards surprised her.

“I couldn’t believe how they were meeting me,” she says. “Their eyes were almost bursting with excitement and appreciation. And I thought, ‘You don’t even understand the language.’ They informed me that it didn’t matter to them whether they understood the language or not. They loved the way I performed.”

She adds that by going to different countries and interacting with locals, she can safely vouch for the saying that music is a universal language. It does not need known words to connect.

Natasha is a happy-go-lucky soul who embraces cultures wherever she goes, and credits her upbringing in both north and south Pakistan for it. “I am a very good blend of a Hunzai and a Karachiite,” she offers. “I wear the route I have come from as a badge, because it made me unique.”

Karachi, meanwhile, instilled in her the confidence and independence that became central to her personality. “Karachi has made me who I am. This personality — it has been given to me by this city.”

Before music, there was cricket

Natasha credits her perseverance, adap­­tability to different surroundings, and never-say-die attitude to sports, particularly cricket, which taught her a lot.

Cricket? Natasha Baig? That was news to me, even though I was active in the sports scene. I realised why it was a miss — she represented the Karachi region as an off-spinner at the Under-15, Under-17, and Under-19 levels in the domestic circuit as Natasha Zakir, not Natasha Baig.

“Cricket was my first love,” she enthuses. “I didn’t want to leave it, but it was difficult for me because, when you play, the player’s mind is focused on the game.”

She believes playing with the best, including Sana Mir, who later captained the national side, helped her a lot. However, despite her potential, her career was cut short because she lacked support at home. Natasha still had another year of under-19 cricket remaining and was offered another trial with the Karachi team, but she declined. Another reason was that music had already entered her life.

“I was very depressed after leaving sports,” says Natasha, then adds: “I was basically dating sports. So when I broke up with sports, music entered my life as a friend. I fell in love with music. I think I was meant to do this.”

It’s an analogy that amuses me. But I hold off on asking her about her personal life.

Finding a voice of her own

But how did the young Natasha find her voice? Unlike youngsters who know they want to become a singer when they grow up, Natasha was late to the party; only in her teens did she consider her voice a singer’s voice.

“In my mind, Lata Mangeshkar, Noor Jehan, Nayyara Noor and Alka Yagnik — these were voices. When you hear them, you think, ‘This is what a singer sounds like.’ I never thought I could sing.”

Only after people who listened to her sing in private told her she had a good voice with a unique tone did she believe it. “And I thought, okay, there are so many singers. Will people accept me?”

Hassan Ali Effendi, her manager and long-time collaborator, played a key role in helping her understand her talents. Their creative partnership also extended to Laal Series, the production company and media consultancy firm they co-founded, which has released all her albums and promotes original music, folk tunes and artistic projects.

She also credits Sounds of Karachi with her early musical development, when Ahsan Bari invited her to join the ensemble soon after she appeared on the scene in 2013.

Although she has performed all kinds of songs, Natasha is still largely regarded as a Sufi singer. “I don’t want to put myself in that bracket where I’m just a Sufi singer,” she says honestly. “However, when I perform a Sufi song, the fun comes naturally. It is very effortless.”

The fear of a powerful woman

How does she see herself as a female artist, I ask. “I have never tried to see myself as a woman artist,” she responds immediately. “I have only seen myself as an artist.”

But she believes powerful women still make people uncomfortable. She says her voice has sometimes made other musicians reluctant to collaborate because they fear she might overpower them.

“People think I will overshadow them. I used to ask, why? How? You bring your expression, and I will bring mine.”

Her recent collaboration with Kashmir reinforces the point. The band approached her for ‘Kyun’ because they heard something in her voice that she couldn’t initially recognise.

“I was amazed when they approached me for a collab because they could hear only me singing those verses. Even though I felt the song could have done better with another artist, they saw in me what I couldn’t see.”

She also joined a project called Ustad: Chapter One that centres on the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s music and reimagines his work with a new generation of artists.

“The project was offered to a lot of individuals a few years ago by Universal Music, who were reviving Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s music, and I was part of one of the collaborations. I worked with Haider Ali and Bol Jani and we chose ‘Maikhana’ as it was one of my favourite Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan songs.”

Natasha adds that she nearly forgot about the whole episode until she learned her collaboration was selected as the best and that they would digitally add her voice to Nusrat sahib’s.

“I didn’t even ask about the money. I just heard Nusrat and thought, ‘I want to do this.’ Now it has made my checklist. Even Nusrat sahib is with me. I got to collaborate with him. It’s a big deal.”

The people who stayed

Natasha’s journey has not been effortless or without its heartbreaks. Her father never accepted her decision to pursue music. They remained estranged over it, and he died during the Covid pandemic without the two resolving their differences.

“Some people came and told me he was really proud of me, but maybe he didn’t have the heart to say so,” she says, subdued for the first time in our talk.

She attributes her success to her mother, who has been instrumental in her journey. “If she hadn’t supported me and believed in me, I wouldn’t have made it here today.” Natasha reveals that her mother was a huge Nazia Hassan fan in her youth and loved music, but an early marriage ended her dreams.

“Maybe that’s why she supported me and my younger brother, Sameer, who is less active on the scene these days. By making music and performing together, we fulfil the dream my mother had before it was taken away.”

What keeps her grounded

For someone who represented her city at the national level in cricket and continues to be a proud ambassador of her country through music, Natasha’s ability to stay grounded is a remarkable achievement. She credits her ‘faith’ for it.

“If people see any talent in me, it’s because of sports,” she says. “I have played so much that it has kept me very grounded. God has blessed me.”

I finally ask her about her personal life. Away from music, her life is surprisingly quiet, she tells me. Happily single, she spends time with her rescued cats, declutters when she feels overwhelmed and sometimes picks up a guitar.

“My favourite thing to do when I have nothing planned is to open YouTube and watch an artist play the handpan for hours,” she says. “It’s a kind of meditative therapy that relaxes me. I sing along to the songs or sometimes create one.”

Perhaps that is the best way to understand Natasha Baig at this stage in her career: an artist who keeps moving between worlds without feeling the need to choose one.

She can return to Parveen Shakir’s Urdu, sing Sufi music for an audience that cannot understand the words, reproduce a Chinese phrase after hearing it once, collaborate across borders, be mistaken for a local in China — and then return to a Karachi coffee shop to speak perfect Urdu in the fast-paced Karachi style, as if none of it were unusual.

“I once left music to prepare for the CSS exam, but music never left me behind,” Natasha informs me.

The detour was temporary, but the music wasn’t.

Originally published in Dawn, ICON, October 25th, 2026

She posted two stories on her Instagram account on Tuesday in which she shared a post from United Musicians and Allied Workers — a trade union of professionals in the music industry. The post in the first story demanded AI-generated music be labelled at all steps to differentiate it from human-made tracks.

Aftab said AI was using human-made music to make its own, which impacted the musicians whose music it trained on and used. She said any future rule-making on AI use in music should be mindful of this.

In her second story, the singer shared a slide from the post calling for streaming platforms to pay human artists directly. It also asked for the same payments not to be extended to creators of AI-generated music.

Aftab said musicians should be entitled to payments even now as their work is being used to train AI to make music, which she said counts as usage of their work.

The singer also said musicians should be entitled to royalties if their work is used to make new work — aka derivative work.

The industry’s fight against AI-generated music is not new, with over 13,000 artists — including ABBA’s Bjorn Ulvaeus and Radiohead’s Thom Yorke — signing a statement in 2024 condemning AI’s unlicensed use of human-made music.

And in February last year, over 1,000 musicians — including Kate Bush — released a silent album in protest of the UK changing laws to allow AI to use copyrighted material like songs and books to train.

Spotify has been active in the fight, introducing “Verified for Spotify” labels for creators who were verifiably human and not just bots on a computer. The streaming platform also introduced “AI Persona” badges for creators who are making AI music.

In a newsletter released on Tuesday to mark a year since they announced these steps, the streaming giant said it had removed over 50 million “slop and spam tracks” from people’s recommendations.

Spotify also said it had verified over 300,000 human creators, over 70 per cent of whom were independent artists. The streaming service said 99pc of user searches were for human-made tracks.

The group’s fifth full-length album, Arirang, drove the achievement, generating 5 billion streams since its release in March, the most for an album dropped this year.

On the day the album rolled out, all 14 tracks, including the all-instrumental track, ‘No. 29,’ swept the top 14 spots on Spotify’s Daily Top Songs Global chart.

Meanwhile, the seven-piece act is in Santiago, Chile, for three shows through Saturday as part of its Arirang world tour.

BTS will wrap up the month with three shows each in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Sao Paolo, Brazil, before heading back to Asia.

The final shows in the two cities will be available for live viewings in cinemas worldwide, with the Buenos Aires show to air Oct 24 and the Sao Paolo show to air Oct 30.

This story was originally published on The Korea Herald, an ANN partner of Dawn

Cover photo: Reuters

In an Instagram post on Thursday, Raheem announced he had submitted ‘Bewajah’ for consideration in the Best Music Video and Best Global Music Performance categories at the 2027 Grammys.

The track, sung in both Urdu and Shina, is a ballad of grief with a soul rooted in the mountains of the singer’s native Gilgit-Baltistan. It’s set to traditional percussion tunes as a pair of monologues between two lovers.

But the star of the song, as the categories it has been submitted to suggest, is the gorgeous music video shot in the shadow of the towering peaks of northern Pakistan.

Set largely in a polo match, with the singer bejewelled and dressed in white, contrasting sharply against the rest of the black-clad crowd, Raheem said the game was something everyone should see played once in their life.

In a post on Instagram at the time of the song’s release, the singer explained the game being played wasn’t the gentrified style of polo played internationally. This was freestyle polo, a variety played famously at the Shandur Polo Festival without rules and referees.

Raheem follows Meesha Shafi, who submitted her album Khilnay Ko and Arooj Aftab, who submitted her song ‘Raat Ki Rani’, for consideration last year.

While neither of them won, Aftab became the first Pakistani to ever win a Grammy in 2022 when her song ‘Mohabbat’ won her the Best Global Music Performance award.

Taurees Habib, sound engineer working on the soundtrack for Dune: Part Two, did end up winning a prize last year, making him Pakistan’s second-ever honouree.

The first round of voting for the Grammys, which determines the nominees for the awards, is open till October 22. Nominees will be announced on November 16.

The second round of voting, to determine the 2027 winners, will take place from December 10 to January 7. Winners will be announced at the 69th Grammy Awards on February 7.

And if your immediate reaction to that news was quietly mumbling “no, that can’t be true,” we’ve got good news for you. His brother Abu Muhammad confirmed to Images on Tuesday that Ayaz was not in fact retiring and “was just angry”. He did not mention why he was angry.

Ayaz and Muhammad lead a qawwali troupe and are perhaps best known for their work on film tracks and their rendition of ‘Piya Ghar Aaya’ for Coke Studio.

In the clip, Ayaz is standing on a stage and addressing the crowd. “Ladies and gentlemen. Before I leave, I just want to say that I am announcing my retirement from qawwali today,” he said to a wave of gasps from the audience.

He went on to say that he had served his listeners for so long and now the next generation would carry on the tradition, inviting applause as he walked off stage.

And it certainly is a tradition Ayaz is upholding, with over 700 years of history behind it. They hail from the legendary qawwal-bachcha gharana, which is said to have been set up by none other than the poet Amir Khusrau.

While the news of the qawwal’s retirement spread far, it seemed a bit unlikely given that the brothers still have shows from the US tour running into the next month.

Cover photo: Girift Media/Instagram

BTS announced in July that it would not submit music for consideration for the 2027 Grammy Awards, objecting to the newly created category and saying it hoped music could be appreciated without being divided by region or language.

Stray Kids also made the choice to sit out this year’s submissions process. JYP Entertainment confirmed on Friday that the group did not submit any music before the Aug. 21 deadline, though the agency did not disclose a reason or say whether the decision was related to the Asian pop category.

The Recording Academy, meanwhile, confirmed last week that the award will proceed as planned, saying it had received a “robust” number of submissions despite the controversy.

But with BTS and Stray Kids — two of K-pop’s most globally prominent acts and potential contenders — out of the running, questions remain over what their absence could mean for the inaugural award and whether their decisions could influence other K-pop artists considering the category.

“The absence of BTS and Stray Kids will inevitably affect how the first Asian pop Grammy is perceived,” said music critic Lim Hee-yun. “The category can still establish credibility through the artists who participate, but when one of the most internationally recognized Asian acts chooses not to compete because it disagrees with the premise of the category, that becomes part of the context surrounding the award.”

The Recording Academy initially introduced the Best Asian Pop Music Performance category in June to recognise pop music originating from or widely recognised within Asian markets. Eligible recordings must feature meaningful use of at least one Asian language.

The category quickly drew criticism over whether defining Asian pop partly through geography and language could separate Asian artists from the broader pop landscape rather than expand their recognition.

Following BTS’ announcement, the Recording Academy held discussions with figures across Asian music industries and considered the feedback surrounding the new award. CEO Harvey Mason Jr. ultimately confirmed on Thursday that the category would remain, saying the Recording Academy heard opposition but that support from music creators was substantially stronger.

The reported volume of submissions suggests that BTS’ decision has not triggered an industry-wide rejection of the category, but whether it influences K-pop artists and agencies remains less clear.

“The industry is well aware of BTS and Stray Kids’ decisions to boycott the Grammys, but that does not necessarily mean other K-pop artists will follow suit,” an industry official said on condition of anonymity. “The Grammys remain a highly prestigious and symbolic award, so there are certainly artists who would still want to pursue one.”

At the same time, the official added that it is “difficult to ignore the concerns raised by the artists who choose to boycott and the K-pop fans who support their stance.”

Lim also added, “Rather than K-pop collectively pulling out of the Grammys together, we are more likely to see artists and agencies making individual approaches.”

Ateez leader Hongjoong’s recent comments illustrate that tension. In a recent interview with Variety on Sept 26, Hongjoong added that while winning a Grammy is “a dream” for himself and Ateez, he added that he personally agrees with BTS’ decision and that he also believes that music “has no boundary.”

Final nominees for the 2027 Grammy Awards will be announced on the Grammys’ official website on Nov 16.

This story was originally published on The Korea Herald, an ANN partner of Dawn

The music video for Azhar’s ‘Maheya’, featuring rising talent AARYAN, was released on Friday. It’s a mournful plea from a lover who has lost everything to his beloved.

It marks the platform’s third offering, following ‘Dil’ by Afusic, Zoha Waseem and Ali Soomro last month, and ‘Rangeen’ by Hasan Raheem and Izzchugtai, which added its own distinct flavour to the lineup.

The music video for ‘Maheya’ opens with a child impatiently sitting in a chair whilst his face is painted with what look like mime colours. His father gently instructs him to stay still. When a man asks whether the boy is ready, the father confirms that he is.

The camera then pans towards Azhar, who is levitating, cross-legged in a meditative pose.

The video then shifts to black and white, where Azhar is shown sitting in a makeup chair — a subtle nod to the child we saw earlier.

Azhar is presumably a playback singer for a film being shot in 1955, in which a man is trying to keep alive a figure in a cage with a mechanical heart. It’s giving distinct Frankenstein energy — though whether the creature will break into song or simply break out of the cage is for the viewer to find out.

As Azhar is shown signing autographs, we see AARYAN entering the scene. From there, we’re taken down a series of events that lead Azhar back to the chair he started from, with the child’s father standing right behind him.

In an emotional Instagram post, Azhar shared the song with his followers, reflecting on his journey with Coke Studio, which began with his track ‘Tera Woh Pyar’ almost a decade ago.

Ever since Nu.WAV arrived on the scene, it has generated a great deal of buzz, which is less about the music itself than about how it differs from what Coke Studio audiences have come to expect over the years.

What many people fail to realise, however, is that Nu.WAV is, at its core, a space for experimentation, especially designed for young and up-and-coming artists.

With its inaugural edition, Nu.WAV is set to deliver a packed and diverse roster, including Maanu, Sabaat Batin, Shae Gill, and Young Stunners.

Apple made the update to its ‘Availability of Apple Media Services’ tab on Wednesday, according to which Apple Music is now officially listed as available in Pakistan.

The service launched globally in 2015 with more than 100 countries included in its initial rollout.

The subscription pricing for Pakistani users is now available in the Apple Music app. An Individual plan, which offers unlimited music for one person, costs Rs379 per month. For families, the Family plan is priced at Rs649 per month and covers multiple users. Both plans begin with a one-month free trial, after which they automatically renew on a monthly basis.

Apple Music Classical — which is a separate service — isn’t available in Pakistan yet.

This isn’t the first time a major streaming platform has taken its sweet time to reach Pakistani shores. Spotify, which launched in 2008, didn’t arrive in Pakistan until 2021 — a wait of 13 long years.

For years, Pakistani music fans had to jump through hoops just to listen to their favourite songs — switching regions, borrowing foreign accounts or simply giving up. Now, they can just tap subscribe and hit play. Whether Apple Music wins over Spotify loyalists or not, one thing is clear: after 11 years of waiting, Pakistani listeners finally have a proper choice. And that’s a win for music lovers everywhere.

The programme was attended by a large number of jazz enthusiasts and formed part of the World Culture Festival Karachi 2026 series, said a press release issued on Thursday.

Renowned Austrian musicians Robert Pawlik and Michaela Rabitsch delivered an engaging performance, showcasing their musical artistry and bringing a distinctive Austrian jazz experience to Karachi.

The ensemble was also joined by Waqas Gulab and Zeeshan Pervaiz, who performed alongside the Austrian musicians.

Among the distinguished guests were Dr Jörg Martin Schumacher, Director, Goethe-Institut Pakistan Karachi; the consuls general of Japan, Korea and Italy.

During the performance, guitarist Robert Pawlik and trumpeter Michaela Rabitsch demonstrated their exceptional command of jazz, captivating the audience with a selection of evocative melodies.

The performance was warmly received, with music lovers responding with enthusiastic applause throughout the evening.

Speaking on the occasion, Arts Council President Ahmed Shah said, “Today, we had the opportunity to listen to Austrian jazz musicians. I warmly welcome the Austrian artists, the diplomats present here and all the participants.”

He announced that the third edition of the World Culture Festival would commence at the Arts Council from Oct 29, bringing together musicians, actors, dancers and visual artists from around the world.

He said the month-long festival would offer the people of Karachi an opportunity to experience a diverse range of international cultures and artistic traditions under one roof.

Originally published in Dawn, October 2nd, 2026

Macklemore broke the news in an Instagram post on Wednesday. “All three shows sold out immediately,” the rapper wrote.

“I’m honestly blown away. We put these shows together fast and in community, believing that musicians can stand in solidarity with Palestine, use the stage to raise funds and show what collective action can look like,” he said, before adding that line-ups for the show will be announced soon.

The Free Palestine tour was announced as a result of the the rapper’s controversial removal from Ed Sheeran’s US tour earlier this month.

It all began at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on September 4, when Macklemore used his opening slot to call for a “Free Palestine”, telling the crowd he wanted people in Gaza and the occupied West Bank to know “we have not forgotten about them”. The speech, and his performance of the protest song ‘Hind’s Hall’, triggered a petition from the Israeli American Council and, according to Macklemore, a pressure campaign by billionaire stadium owners including Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots and the Gillette Stadium.

The fallout after kicking Macklemore off the tour has been substantial for Sheeran, whose remaining support acts — Finneas, Lukas Graham, and Irish band Beoga — withdrew in solidarity. Resale ticket prices for Sheeran’s shows at the Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts plummeted and last week, the tour’s promoters announced that his shows at the stadium will be cancelled “due to severe weather warnings”.

Macklemore, meanwhile, has framed the moment as larger than himself.

“When those in power try to silence our calls for liberation, art will always be a form of resistance,” he said towards the end of his Instagram post.

Rahat Fateh Ali Khan — who learned to sing under the tutelage of his famous uncle — gave a statement before his concert in Toronto on Sunday praising Dosanjh for doing justice to the piece.

“It would be appropriate to say that very big artists get nervous when performing [Nusrat] sahab’s songs, but Diljit has fully done it justice, to the best of his ability, in a wonderful way with all his heart,” Rahat said.

“We can see it and hear it too, so I will appreciate [him].”

Dosanjh made history on September 12, becoming the first Punjabi artist to headline a show at Wembley — one of the world’s biggest event stages.

At the venue, which has hosted greats such as Michael Jackson, Queen, Madonna, David Bowie and U2, the Punjabi singer led an emotional crowd as they sang along to Nusrat’s work.

It was a departure from his usual style, as his own body of work leans into modern styles like hip-hop. He initially shot to international fame by blending traditional folk music with hip-hop.

As for making history, he’s been doing that for a while now.

In 2023, Dosanjh became the first Punjabi artist to perform at Coachella. In June 2024, he made his debut on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.

Later that year in October, the singer became the first South Asian artist to appear on the cover of Billboard Magazine.

She also won Video of the Year, which she dedicated to country legend Dolly Parton, praising the recently deceased performer’s music and saying “every single song she wrote, her storytelling was so vivid”.

“She handled this fame with such grace and love and gratitude,” she added.

Swift used the occasion to premiere the video for her new single ‘Patient Zero’, which stars actors Colin Farrell and Dakota Johnson. In the track, Swift warns a woman about her partner, with whom the singer had a toxic relationship.

“If he’s killing you / I got you / I was patient zero,” she sings.

But Swift struck out in some of the show’s biggest categories, including Artist of the Year, which went to the queen of pop, Madonna.

While accepting the prize, Madonna reminisced about how her manager scolded her backstage at the very first MTV awards show, where she briefly mooned the audience in a performance fumble.

“My manager said my career was over,” she said, adding that he wasn’t her manager anymore.

Known for creating an indelible VMAs moment when she kissed Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera onstage during a 2003 medley, Madonna also opened the show with her first performance at the event since that night.

Sporting knee-high boots and her platinum tresses loose, the 68-year-old pop queen sang ‘Bring Your Love’ alongside Sabrina Carpenter before medleying with Charli XCX for ‘Danceteria’.

While accepting the award for Best Collaboration after their performance, Madonna and Carpenter joked about how the material girl direct messaged via social media to get them into the studio for the collaboration.

Grunge band Nirvana received the Video Vanguard award. They are the first group to receive the top honour in more than 20 years. Frontman Kurt Cobain died by suicide in 1994, after studio albums Nevermind and In Utero skyrocketed to success.

“Nirvana continues to resonate so deeply because people are still hungry for authenticity,” bass player Krist Novoselic said after a video retrospective of the band’s videos.

“Something real, something uncompromising. Something that tells you it’s just okay to come as you are.”

Thai artist LISA, a member of girl group Blackpink, won the award for best pop for ‘Dream’, featuring Kentaro Sakaguchi.

The vast majority of awards were doled out offstage during an evening far better known for its performances and stage antics than its prizes.

Kacey Musgraves headlined a tribute to late country legend Dolly Parton, while Teddy Swims, Sombr and Raye offered a soulful tribute to crooner George Michael, 40 years after the release of his landmark album Faith.

Rapper Snoop Dogg hosted the ceremony, which aired on CBS and MTV.

The tour’s promoters — who Sheeran credited with making the decision to boot Macklemore — announced in an update on Instagram that his shows at the Gillette Stadium near Boston will be cancelled “due to severe weather warnings”.

They said the decision was made with the safety of “fans, staff and everyone involved with the shows as the top priority”.

This is just the latest in a series of setbacks for Sheeran, who has been in the news ever since Macklemore — who was opening for the singer — used his concert stage to call for a “free Palestine”.

While the crowd cheered the rapper on, some pro-Israel groups called for action against him. The action came when Macklemore was taken out from the rest of the tour at the insistence of venue owners who refused to let Sheeran’s shows proceed otherwise.

Among those venue owners was Robert Kraft, the pro-Israel businessman described by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a “friend” of the country. It was his venue in Massachusetts that was impacted by the concert cancellations.

Earlier, all of Sheeran’s supporting acts walked out of the tour in solidarity with Macklemore, including the tour’s live band, as the singer scrambled to defend his decision and make a statement that could please both sides — it did not.

The rapper has since announced he will be donating the $1 million he earned on Sheeran’s tour to organisations working in Palestine and called on Kraft to match his pledge.

This was met by the singer and the businessman announcing they’d be donating $2m each to “aid in the region”. Macklemore’s appeal was answered by children’s entertainer Ms Rachel, who matched his donation with $1m to the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund.

Macklemore is now preparing to continue his contribution with his Free Palestine tour. He announced shows in Dublin, London and Paris on Thursday, saying all proceeds will go to Palestinian organisations.

Meanwhile in Palestine, Israel continues killing Palestinians in Gaza, with the death toll from the brutal war on the territory sitting at 73,928. Israeli military action has also led to over 175,000 injuries as per the health ministry in Gaza.

Macklemore, who was opening for Sheeran’s Loop Tour, shouted “Free Palestine!” and told Palestinians they were “not forgotten” during two concerts earlier this month in New Jersey.

The ‘Thrift Shop’ star was quickly booted from the US tour — a decision that Sheeran said was made by tour promoters, not him — provoking outrage among musicians and pro-Palestinian activists.

“What happened to me is bigger than one artist or one stage,” Macklemore, 43, said in an Instagram post.

“When the billionaire class can decide which voices are allowed on stage and which ones are too dangerous to hear, everyone should be paying attention,” he added.

Macklemore announced three shows in London, Paris and Dublin for late October, with US dates also planned, and said all proceeds will benefit pro-Palestinian organisations.

“It’s 2026. Being apolitical during a genocide doesn’t work anymore,” he said.

“People are asking artists to show up, educate themselves and be in community. To use the stage for more than entertainment. To push back when the call for a Free Palestine is met with attempts to silence it.”

Macklemore’s removal has opened a can of worms for the Grammy-winning Sheeran, who has typically steered clear of making any overt political statements.

But last weekend at a show in Philadelphia, he broke his silence on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by describing the situation in Gaza as “catastrophic and unjustifiable and disproportionate”.

“I’ve had to take and make difficult decisions, and I am making mistakes, and I’m so, so sorry,” an emotional Sheeran told his audience, who responded with cheers.

Four other supporting artists, including American singer Finneas, have also pulled out of Sheeran’s tour in solidarity with Macklemore.

The track first came out in 2022 as part of Coke Studio Season 14. It features vocals by Hasan Raheem and Justin Bibis along with electro-pop beats by Talal Qureshi.

Xulfi, who led the project, expressed his happiness over seeing the song reach listeners around the world.

“Representation is what puts us on the global map of everything. It might just look like a soundtrack in a movie, but music has the power to set the narrative and tell the world about who we are, where we come from, where we have reached and what we stand for. ‘Peechay Hutt’ in a Hollywood movie is part of that revolution,” wrote Xulfi.

The exciting news comes shortly after another historic win for the producer. Coke Studio’s ‘Pasoori’, which he also curated and produced, recently became the first Pakistani-made music video to reach one billion views on YouTube.

Now that ‘Peechay Hutt’ is on Netflix, it will reach millions of subscribers. The song’s music video, at the time of this article’s publication, already has over 28 million views on YouTube.

The Best of the Best soundtrack also includes major international artists such as BLACKPINK, Hanumankind and AR Rahman. This makes the inclusion of ‘Peechay Hutt’ all the more meaningful.

The song’s famous demand to ‘make way’ now means something different: Pakistani music is moving forward — and the world is making room.

Best of the Best is a coming-of-age story directed by Lena Khan and co-written by Hasan Minhaj and Prashanth Venkataramanujam. The plot revolves around childhood best friends Maya (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan) and Anjali (Priyanka Kedia) as they join their university’s competitive Bollywood-fusion dance team and set their sights on the US championship. It’s a story about friendship and celebrating South Asian culture on a global stage.

The film, however, recently found itself in hot water over a joke in which Maya tells a girl “guys throw themselves at you like you’re the last plane out of Kabul” — a line critics say makes light of the trauma of the 2021 US evacuation of Kabul.

The Encore will be released on Friday, Swift said in an Instagram post. The Life of a Showgirl was released last October and topped several records, with every one of its 12 songs landing in the top 12 of the Billboard Hot 100.

The new tracks were written after Showgirl had the biggest debut for an album in modern music history based on album sales and streams, Swift said.

At that time, “I took a trip to Sweden to celebrate with Max (Martin) and Shellback, my two collaborators on this album,” the pop superstar said in an Instagram post. “Really we just wanted to reflect and take in how grateful we were for the moment we were in, but there was a studio there and we did what we do when we feel anything at all: We wrote more songs.”

The expanded Showgirl will feature the single ‘Patient Zero’, which the pop superstar teased and subsequently announced on Tuesday, alongside ‘Cleveland!’, ‘Pink Clouding’ and ‘Babylon’.

Martin and Shellback are songwriters who have worked with Swift on several of her studio albums.

Swift’s announcement followed her appearance this month in a comedy sketch at television’s Emmy Awards that convinced her fans she was teasing new music.

‘The Fate of Ophelia’, the lead single off Showgirl, brought in 92.5 million official streams in the US in its opening week, according to Luminate, a firm that tracks music sales.