The PFF has partnered with music platform Humnava to release ‘Sway’, a tribute to the beautiful game that brings together international artists and the contrasting worlds of Hunza and Lyari. It released on YouTube on July 7

A press release from the federation said the objective was to highlight the country’s “rising football culture a soundtrack – by bringing the wider football community into one national conversation”.

It said both Pakistan’s men’s and women’s teams had made remarkable strides in the game this year, with the boys bagging their first international trophy ever at the Diamond Jubilee International Football Tournament last month and the girls scoring their biggest ever win — an 8-0 thrashing of the Turks and Caicos Islands — in April.

The release quoted PFF President Mohsen Gilani as saying, “Pakistan’s football story belongs to every player, coach, supporter and community that has kept the game alive across the country. Our men’s and women’s teams are creating moments that are giving supporters new reasons to believe.”

Humnava’s Creative Director Zulfiqar Khan — known better as Xulfi — said Pakistanis watch every World Cup with a dream. They see the upsets, the winning goals, the underdogs making their place among giants and want to see their own teams do the same someday.

He said music wasn’t very different, especially when it comes to Karachi’s Lyari — where the song is partly shot. “It has watched its own boys, Better Future Pakistan, go unbeaten across a foreign field to lift the Norway Cup and it has heard its own voices, Eva B and Kaifi Khalil, rise from those same streets until the world had no choice but to listen.”

Khan said football was more than just a game and music was more than just sound; both were reasons for people to forget their differences and share love.

“‘Sway’ is ultimately a celebration of a simple but powerful idea: Pakistan’s football dream is alive, it belongs to the entire country and it deserves a soundtrack,” the statement read.

The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) announced the voluntary labels alongside six other groups including the Grammys.

“Fans want to know whether and how generative AI has been used,” the chief executives of IFPI and RIAA said in a prepared statement.

“These labels will provide an immediately understandable and easily scalable approach to transparency.” They unveiled two labels. The first would indicate music that is primarily “AI-generated” — cases where artificial intelligence “was used to generate the entirety or the primary portion of the creative elements of the recording.” This includes tracks generated “entirely” from AI prompts, as well as lead vocals and “key” instrumental tracks that are AI-generated, according to the statement.

The second label applies to “AI-assisted” music recording which are still “created substantially by humans and expresses human creativity” but contain “some expressive elements” that were generated with AI.

However, humans must perform the lead vocals and primary instrumental tracks.

This voluntary labelling system is designed for “broad, global adoption,” including on streaming services.

Music-streaming site Deezer systematically flags tracks generated with AI, which the company recently said appear in close to half of new uploads. In June, it launched an “AI music detector” which it said is 99.8 per cent accurate.

Earlier this year, an Apple Music executive told Billboard that more than one-third of new uploads were entirely created with AI.

The Digital Media Association (DIMA), a trade group representing streaming companies including Apple Music, Amazon and Spotify, said it was following the labelling announcement closely and looks forward to receiving more detailed and accurate AI metadata as a way to “strengthen our ability to give fans the transparency they deserve”.

“DIMA has long advocated for the creators, owners and distributors of music to provide accurate and timely metadata on all music released and distributed to streaming services,” the association’s CEO Graham Davies said in a statement.

In April, Spotify launched a “Verified by Spotify” label to signal that users can “trust the authenticity” of an artist, and last year the company announced new efforts to support AI disclosure and combat impersonation.

Spotify declined to comment on Friday. Apple Music and the Digital Media Association did not respond to requests for comment.

Appearing on the podcast Excuse Me with Ahmad Ali Butt, he refused to confirm whether or not the star of the 1981 hit Umrao Jaan had written him a love letter at some point.

“Sir, some things need to stay between you and me, we can’t tell everyone everything,” the singer told Butt. He said he had “great friends” in Bollywood whom he respected a lot, including Madhuri Dixit, Mandakini, Sonu Walia, Amitabh Bachchan, Mithun Chakraborty, Govinda, Salman Khan and Shahrukh Khan.

When the host asked which of them wrote love letters, Jahangir replied, “They all did, everyone does, I did too. I am sure you must have as well at some point.”

What he did confirm was an incident where he was getting mugged and the mugger wouldn’t believe he was who he said he was. “He wouldn’t believe me initially, took my phone, the keys to my car, then I said ‘I am Hassan Jahangir.’ That’s when he looked up, started laughing, returned my mobile and keys, got on his bike and his partner started revving.”

Jahangir said the pair apologised to him and drove off.

When asked about India-Pakistan relations and the hostility in India towards Pakistani artists, the singer said all people should love their countries, but it shouldn’t manifest as violence.

“Every man has a right to love their country and they should love their neighbours too. Relations should remain good, there shouldn’t be fighting and war. The war that’s going on right now, I am against it… We get a short time [on Earth], why should we spend it fighting?”

Love wasn’t the only thing he got from Bollywood. Jahangir said he learned things from his Indian friends too. In response to a question on how fame at a young age can be dangerous, he said he had the privilege of meeting big names like Bachchan and seeing their humility made him want to be as humble as them.

He said Indian actor Dharmendra in particular taught him a lesson he still holds dear to his heart — “Think high, look down.” He explained that this meant he should be ambitious as he could possibly be, but that he should stay down to earth.

Cover photo: Ahmad Ali Butt/YouTube, Red Sea Film Festival/Instagram

Now they’re fighting back against the negative coverage by taking the BBC to court for defamation arising from “labels [placed] upon us that did not, do not and will never fit”.

In a post on X, the group announced they were taking legal action against the British public broadcaster that has “disappointingly continued to prove how little it represents the interests of the people and our access to unbiased news and information”.

Bob Vylan said the BBC had tried to “silence those that oppose the heinous crimes taking place in Palestine”. The charges levelled against it include labelling critical voices “anti-semitic”, editing and removing content, and “blocking the release of documentaries that challenge the desired narrative of the BBC and its top brass”.

These responses to criticism of Israel, they said, “are unacceptable”.

The duo said, “So, seeing the opportunity to remind them the power of the people that they are attempting to silence, we had no choice but to take on this fight. In fact, we take great pleasure in serving them that reminder in court.”

They ended their message calling for a free Palestine and justice for the Filton 25 — a group of Palestine Action activists arrested for disabling weapons at an arms factory owned by Israel’s Elbit Systems.

Bob Vylan faced a since-dropped police investigation last year after leading a crowd in chants against the Israeli military at the Glastonbury music festival. The investigation led to them being dropped from a number of subsequent festivals.

Meanwhile the BBC was on special alert this year for political messaging at the Bafta awards which it broadcasts. The broadcaster landed in hot water for how the ceremony was edited, with mentions of Palestine being cut but an involuntary racial slur against black people being allowed to air.

The channel was also criticised at the Baftas for its decision not to air the documentary Gaza: Doctors Under Attack citing concerns over partiality. The documentary was aired by Channel 4 and went on to win an award in the Current Affairs category.

Excitement has swirled around America’s “royal wedding”, which is happening on the United States’ 250th birthday weekend amid a record-breaking heat wave, a near-total news blackout and a security lockdown of the kind typically reserved for heads of state.

The anticipation was even greater as Swift and Kelce made no public announcements about their wedding plans at the storied Madison Square Garden — and reportedly insisted guests sign non-disclosure agreements.

But the singer’s longstanding publicist Tree Paine broke the silence late Friday as she detailed a luxurious and intimate ceremony — without saying exactly when the pair wed.

“Taylor and Travis did not have bridesmaids or groomsmen. Instead, her brother Austin Swift served as Taylor’s man of honour and Jason Kelce was Travis’s best man,” she said in a statement.

“The ceremony joined both families together and was officiated by friend Adam Sandler,” Paine added.

She said the couple’s wedding looks were created by Christian Dior Haute Couture, while their shoes were custom made by Christian Louboutin. Swift wore Cartier jewellery.

Shortly before the announcement, a giant screen outside the Garden showed the message “JUST&T MARRIED!” — T&T for Taylor and Travis.

Star-studded

Ahead of Friday’s bumper event, a crowd of Swifties — as the megastar’s fans are known — cheered and sang her songs outside the arena as a line of black SUVs dropped off guests.

“I grew up with her music and I’m really excited to get to be in New York today for her wedding day,” Mayan Menahem, 31, told AFP in Manhattan.

But heavy rain and a severe thunderstorm warning Friday night sent home many of the fans waiting outside Madison Square Garden for a glimpse of the glitterati, CNN reported.

Some 1,000 guests, reportedly banned from carrying phones, were expected to attend the secretive wedding.

Stars heading to the venue included model Gigi Hadid, actors Hugh Grant, Bradley Cooper and Dakota Johnson, and pop figures Benson Boone and Camila Cabello.

The Empire State Building said it would have a “light blue sparkle” to celebrate the wedding.

All night party

The main event came after an initial rehearsal dinner late Thursday for 100 invitees at Madison Square Garden.

Entertainment outlets said Swift and Kelce gave guests black velvet boxes etched with the couple’s initials, apparently containing a champagne flute adorned with diamonds.

Friday’s party reportedly kicked off with mid-afternoon cocktails, before a reception going late into the night.

Stevie Nicks and Tim McGraw were to perform, while Ed Sheeran was also rumoured to be among those taking the stage, according to Page Six.

Royal wedding

Ahead of the nuptials, Swifties also flocked to Big Apple locations mentioned in their idol’s lyrics, including the Bus Stop Cafe in the West Village.

“She is the biggest thing in America — like, she is our royalty, she is our queen, she is everything,” said Alyssa Heinen, 24, from Manhattan. “It feels like a royal wedding to us.” To mark the occasion, the couple also donated $26 million to various US charities, including in New York and Kansas City, Swift’s spokesperson said.

Swift’s marriage to Kelce comes after a string of high-profile failed relationships — including with British actor Joe Alwyn, and singers John Mayer and Harry Styles — which became fodder for her songs.

She revealed her engagement to the hulking, bearded Kelce last August in an Instagram post captioned “Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married.” The 14-time Grammy winner is coming off a banner year with the success of her album The Life of a Showgirl, induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and a new song on the Toy Story 5 soundtrack.

Kelce, a tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs, has signed on for a 14th season in the National Football League. He is also a co-host of the popular New Heights podcast alongside his brother Jason.

The singer was on an Instagram live on Tuesday to hype up his tour of Europe when a fan from Lahore asked him to visit the city.

Responding to the request, Dosanjh said, “No brother, if I come to Lahore, they won’t let me go anywhere else. You know what’s going on in the world. It’s all about politics bro.”

He went on to say that he doesn’t see himself ever getting involved in politics because it requires “very thick skin”.

“I always stay away from politics, always keep my face away from it. That’s why I say politics, for anyone who wants to pursue it as a profession, is very hard. ‘It’s not something I can handle,’ that’s what I say and stay away from it all,” Dosanjh said.

The singer, whose work in Punjabi music and cinema has amassed him a cross-border following, occasionally finds himself the victim of politics, which may explain his aversion to it.

Last year, his film Sardaar Ji 3 made waves in India and Pakistan for casting Hania Aamir as the female lead. While Pakistani audiences watched the movie in cinemas, Indians could not as it did not get a theatrical release in the country.

Dosanjh defended the film and refused to bow down to pressure from his home industry, which threatened to ostracise him entirely.

He told the BBC Asian Network things weren’t as tense when he started the project and he wasn’t going to let things “out of his control” get in the way of his commitments with the film’s team.

More recently, he starred in Main Vaapas Aaunga, a film that explores the story of Partition from the eyes of a man who went through it in his youth. Much of the story is set in the now-Pakistani city of Sargodha.

“It is with profound sadness that I must announce the death of my husband, Victor Willis. Victor passed away on Tuesday June 30, 2026 as a result of a short, but aggressive illness,” the post on Willis’s official page said.

The Texas-born musician was a co-founder of the Village People and co-wrote hits including ‘Y.M.C.A’, ‘In the Navy’ and ‘Macho Man’ that swept the world’s dancefloors in the late 1970s.

With their flamboyant costumes and choreography, the group became a pop culture phenomenon, targeting disco’s large gay audience with camp fantasy characters of butch builders, bikers, cowboys and soldiers.

Willis left the group in 1980 but rejoined in 2017.

He struggled with drug addiction and took a plea deal over cocaine possession in 2006.

‘Y.M.C.A’, whose lyrics urge “young men” to head to the Young Men’s Christian Association in New York, became an anthem for the LGBTQ community and beyond.

But some say the song has been co-opted by the American right wing following its use at rallies and events supporting Trump.

The president developed his own trademark dance to accompany the song — a stiff shuffle of the hips and fist bumps at waist-high level.

The band performed ‘Y.M.C.A.’ at a Trump rally in January 2025, before the Republican was inaugurated for his second presidential term.

Willis said at the time: “Let’s give President Trump a chance, regardless of what you may have thought about him in the past.”

“Let’s see what he’s going to do moving forward and if he does things to restrict LGBTQ rights, Village People will be the first to speak out,” he said.

In a video shared on Instagram on Tuesday, he explained what intellectual property rights are and how he hadn’t granted them to an Indian programme where two young contestants sang his song ‘Ravi’.

“Recently, I saw this reel from India where these two kids were singing ‘Ravi’ and they’re singing it really well. They did a really good job and I really congratulate them for it. They were on some Indian TV programme, a Punjabi programme, and in the comments some of our people began to say ‘Look, he didn’t let our kids on Pakistan Idol sing his songs but gladly let Indian kids sing them. He permitted them to use his music but wouldn’t do the same for our kids,’” Ali said.

The singer said the song had been used without permission on the show. “They did not ask for permission and I did not grant it, they just played the song. The how and why of it, my legal team will get in touch with them about that.”

Coming to allegations that he deliberately took a public stance against Pakistan Idol, he said he was simply speaking at a concert press conference and was asked about the show by one of the attendees.

He said before the show’s organisers tried to use his music without paying him his due, he had wished the programme well and still believes we need more programmes like it.

Ali said the whole thing had been painted as him “not letting kids sing his songs”, which hurt because he really enjoyed seeing young singers perform on the show. He asked why nobody was going after other artists who refused to hand over the rights to their work.

The singer also took issue with the way social media pages never shared anything positive about him, like the many times artists outside of Pakistan appreciated his songs. “B Praak sang them, Guru Randhawa sang them, Diljit Dosanjh posted ‘Ravi’ so many times, made so many reels. Someday it’s Shreya Ghoshal saying something [about my music], someday it’s Sonu Nigam, nobody picks that up,” he said.

He contended that social media thrives off of controversy, but asked people to “stop dragging your own artists down”.

Ali asked his fans, listeners and people on the internet to refrain from blindly trusting what they saw on social media and not share things without verifying them first.

For singers and musicians, especially ones appearing on shows like Pakistan Idol, he asked them to make their own music instead of singing covers. “That’s how the industry will move forward, otherwise we’ll just keep singing the same songs over and over again,” the singer said.

The One Battle After Another actor ​took home four awards, including the special, noncompetitive honor of Icon of the Year, ‌presented by singer Janet Jackson. She also won the Fashion Vanguard Award, Best Actress, and Video Director of the Year for the short film Escape Room.

“There would be no me without you,” Taylor said to Jackson during a ​tearful acceptance speech for the Icon of the Year award, which BET describes as ​honouring those who have paid homage to music, entertainment, advocacy, and community impact.

“I ⁠worked my a** off 20 years for this. So, I’m not accepting what I’ve earned with ​arrogance; I’m accepting what I’ve earned with gratitude,” she said.

The BET Awards were held at the ​Peacock Theatre in Los Angeles and broadcast live on BET, as well as multiple Paramount-owned channels.

Comedian Druski, the youngest person ever to host the ceremony, opened with his comedic pastor persona, leading the audience in a humorous group ​prayer that blended jokes with tributes to spirituality.

The ceremony featured performances from Cardi B, Raye, T.I., ​Kehlani, Doechii, and Don Toliver.

Boundary-breaking music industry executive Sylvia Rhone was also honoured with the BET Ultimate Icon ‌Award, which ⁠recognises individuals who have made a lasting impact throughout their careers in the entertainment industry and the Black community.

“Tonight’s honour bears my name but really belongs to all of us who create culture. I’ve been fortunate to spend my life around extraordinary artists,” Rhone, 74, said as she accepted ​the award onstage.

“Black creativity ​is one of the ⁠most powerful forces in the world. It has shaped culture,” she said.

She emphasised that while technology is valuable, it is essential for Black creatives ​to preserve the soul and artistry of music for the next generation.

The ​50-year veteran ⁠of the music industry is the first Black woman to have held various top level positions at a number of well-known record labels.

She has held executive roles at Epic Records, Universal Motown, Elektra, Atlantic, and ⁠East ​West, and is known for her mentorship, including her work ​with Missy Elliott, Brandy, and Busta Rhymes.

Other honours of the night included Cardi B winning Best Female Hip-Hop Artist and ​Lauryn Hill taking home the inaugural Living Legend Icon Award.

The British group of five young women formed in 1994, and the irrepressibly catchy ‘Wannabe’ was released on June 26, 1996, initially in Asia. It shot swiftly up the charts to number one in Britain, the United States and dozens of other countries.

“They weren’t just a throwaway pop band,” Dominic Mohan, a former editor of The Sun tabloid who covered the British music scene at the time, told AFP.

“They were very spirited and they had quite strong messages as well, about feminism and about girl power and about being who you are.”

And he said of ‘Wannabe’: “It’s one of those records, as soon as you hear it you realise that it’s going to go down in history.”

He has curated an exhibition at the Barbican Centre in London entitled 1996: 30 Years on running until mid-September, which features the Spice Girls and some of their iconic looks.

Band member Mel B loaned the leopard-skin catsuit she wore to belt out ‘Wannabe’ at the 1997 Brit Awards, where the song won two prizes. Unlike previous girl groups in matching outfits, each of the five Spice Girls had their own individual style.

Mel B, short for Melanie Brown, also known as Scary Spice, wore animal prints, Posh Spice Victoria Adams, now Beckham, had a bob and dark dresses and Baby Spice Emma Bunton preferred pastels and bunches.

Mel C, Melanie Chisholm or Sporty Spice, favoured sports gear and Geri Halliwell, or Ginger Spice due to her red hair, wore a short, short Union Jack dress and boots for the Brits performance.

‘Wannabe’ with its catchy refrain — “I’ll tell you want I want, what I really, really want” and its insistence that “friendship never ends” — became an anthem for a generation of young women. It has been played almost 1.5 billion times on Spotify.

The anniversary has revived talk of a possible reunion, although the bandmates have not all performed together since the 2012 London Olympics.

“It’s our 30th anniversary, I do think we should be doing something,” Brown told the Press Association this month.

“We’re all talking about it”, but “nothing has been confirmed”.

The women are said to have remained close, with four of them joining celebrations for Emma Bunton’s 50th birthday earlier this year.

A punk feel

In a sign of their lasting legacy, current stars including Taylor Swift, Dua Lipa, Adele and Charli XCX have cited their music as an influence.

“There’s a tendency, I think, for people to look back and think Spice Girls were really bubblegum pop,” Joel Gray, a lecturer in media, art and communications at Sheffield Hallam University, told AFP. But he argued “they actually had much more of a punk feel”.

The women’s raucous style also made them gay icons, Gray said, since “their loud and proud persona gave a platform to the LGBT audience”.

Both Mel C and Halliwell were named “honorary gays” by Britain’s Attitude, a top LGBTQ magazine.

The group was, however, put together and managed by men: powerful industry figure Simon Fuller oversaw the release of ‘Wannabe’, although the women subsequently sacked him.

Unlike some boybands of the era such as Take That, the group have rarely performed together since splitting in 1998 and going on to build successful careers, such as Victoria Beckham’s fashion label.

All five members sang at the 2012 Olympics, and their most recent performance was in 2019, without Beckham.

Given the ‘Wannabe’ anniversary, “I would have thought that they might re-form … for just maybe a one-off kind of gig or a few dates,” said Mohan.

So far, the group have only announced a T-shirt and a vinyl issue of ‘Wannabe’.

“I don’t think we’re going to see a permanent full-time reunion, but I could absolutely see them doing something again as a group,” said Gray.

“What I’ve learned with the Spice Girls is never say never.”

The Korean-Canadian rapper was seen wearing a t-shirt with the Confederate flag at a fan event, with his newly founded label Upper Room posting pictures and taking them down soon after.

The flag, which was used by the Confederate States of America during the US Civil War, has come to represent white supremacist ideals and the economic justification of slavery.

Users on X — fans and ops alike — knew this was something he’d have a hard time walking away from.

Seeing the backlash, Upper Room issued an apology on Tuesday. In an Instagram story, it said, “We would like to extend our sincere apologies for the concern, discomfort, and disappointment caused by the vintage T-shirt that appeared in a recently shared photograph.

“The garment was selected solely as a vintage wardrobe item,” it continued. “However, upon recognising the historical significance and sensitivity associated with the symbol displayed on the T-shirt, we took measures to ensure that it would not be visible in any official content. Despite these efforts, the image was subsequently shared externally.

“We take full responsibility for this oversight,” the label said. “Upper Room and the artist unequivocally reject and do not tolerate racism, hate, discrimination, or any form of intolerance. We are also grateful to those who brought this matter to our attention. In response, we will strengthen our internal review procedures for wardrobe selection and content approval to help prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future.”

People did not buy it, saying Lee grew up in North America and should have known better.

A user called it “laughable” how the moment Lee gained control over his public image, he pulled this stunt, after remaining generally unproblematic during his time with NCT.

Another said Koreans were sensitive when it came to their own history and expected other people to respect it — as evidenced by the backlash received by Starbucks recently. They said it was wrong of Lee not to afford the same courtesy to other cultures.

Users asked fans not to defend his actions and one even wondered if he had taken inspiration from Nicki Minaj — who has, in recent times, become an ardent supporter of President Donald Trump.

Lee has not addressed the controversy personally, even though some fans are demanding an apology. Upper Room’s statement can be said to be his — he founded the company earlier this month — but many have said that may not be enough in this case.

The music video for the song, which released on Wednesday, is shot entirely in black and white and moves between visuals of Gaza and the singers themselves in a studio.

The video highlights the destruction and desolation in Gaza, showing somber shots of massive piles of rubble that once used to be city blocks. Survivors of the war are also shown in the video — people who continue rebuilding, who are committed to living and finding moments of lightness and joy where they are. The visuals seem to tell a story of resistance through existence, of a people who cannot become ‘comfortably numb’ to the war and must keep living through it.

An older, more grief-stricken Waters sings the opening verse from the original, to which Miari responds in Arabic, “After what happened, no one was left. No words were left — what use is asking? All that is lost… Home, oh beloved home. The night fell silent and collapsed. Oh, beloved home, tell him.”

In his next verse, Waters says the cries of the people of Palestine reach him in New York, travelling across oceans. Miari sings of her own dreams of freedom. “Our light will break the darkness. We are the promise of a new dawn,” she says of the Palestinian people.

Both singers join voices to say they will “never become comfortably numb”.

Later in the song, Waters laments not learning of continued injustice against the Palestinian people sooner, “We never know about the Nakba. I was only five years old in ‘48. We were unaware what was happening over there. It breaks my heart I came on board so late.”

He says now is the “Time to clean the slate. Go back to 1948. Before the settlers stole the land. When Grandma’s key unlocked the door and everyone revered the olive tree. And every human life was sacred, everyone, every daughter and every son.”

The song ends with the two demanding “equal rights for everyone, from the river to the sea”.

The song was released on music platforms on June 12, with the music video following a few days later.

Waters has been a vocal supporter of the Palestinian cause, notably facing a possible legal case for his outspoken stance on Palestine Action — an organisation that has been banned by the UK parliament.

Waters has publicly declared the group is “not a terrorist organisation”, for which he may face prosecution in Britain.

On Monday, they got closer than ever to the answer they were waiting for when New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani appeared to confirm the wedding dates during a press conference.

Speaking to the media about security arrangements for the FIFA World Cup and a series of other events coming up in the city, he said, “We are the biggest city in the country. We are used to big events, and we are incredibly excited for this one. We know it coincides with the Knicks’ [NBA] Finals run. We know it coincides with July 4, America 250, Taylor Swift’s wedding — all happening at the same time — and we are so excited to welcome the world here.”

Mamdani’s statement seemingly confirms rumours of a wedding on Independence Day weekend — July 3-5 — one of the many theories popular among Swifties.

Earlier, the CEO of the wedding’s speculated venue — Madison Square Garden — seemed to confirm his arena would be hosting the event.

Talking about rumours that Swift and her fiance Travis Kelce were given free tickets to a New York Knicks basketball game in exchange for renting out the venue for their wedding, he said the media got it “half wrong”.

When asked which half, he said, “Travis is in a mandatory training camp” and wouldn’t be able to attend the game.

As for Mayor Mamdani — a Swiftie himself — he won’t be at the wedding. When asked if he was invited and whether he planned on going, he replied, “No and no.”

“I wish them a lovely wedding. I’ll listen to ‘Only the Young’ at home on my own,” Mamdani added, referring to the Grammy winner’s 2020 track.

His fellow fans are probably rejoicing that he wasn’t on the guestlist, as invitees reportedly had to sign non-disclosure agreements and face penalties for revealing wedding details like the date and venue.

The pianist, who recorded more than 70 albums, “passed away peacefully, surrounded by his family in Germany, after a short illness,” the family said.

Ibrahim began his professional career at the age of 15 before being discovered in 1963 in a Zurich club by American jazz pianist Duke Ellington. In 1965, Ibrahim and his wife moved to New York, where he fronted the Duke Ellington Orchestra on several occasions.

By the 1960s, jazz had come to symbolise resistance against apartheid because of its mixed-race bands and audiences — and the hardline segregationist government was cracking down.

Ibrahim and his future wife, jazz singer Sathima Bea Benjamin, decided to leave, taking up a contract to play at a club in the Swiss city of Zurich.

There he was discovered in 1963 by US jazz pianist Ellington, who was so impressed that he took the South African to a recording session in Paris. Invitations to perform followed.

In 1965, Ibrahim and his wife moved to New York, where he fronted the Duke Ellington Orchestra on several occasions, studied at the Juilliard School of Music and mixed with other jazz artists.

Three years later, the couple returned to Cape Town and he converted to Islam, taking the name Abdullah Ibrahim.

In 1974, he recorded the iconic ‘Mannenberg — ‘Is Where It’s Happening’’ which became an anthem against apartheid.

Originally published in Dawn, June 16th, 2026

The singer was on stage at London’s iconic O2 Arena when he spoke to the crowd, waxing nostalgic about his younger years.

“Many years ago, there was a boy from Lahore. The way most people make do on pocket money, he couldn’t, because his friends were too important for him. But those many friends, they made many sacrifices for him. They’d give him their lunch, they’d give him a ride to college. Who knew that boy would be in London’s O2 Arena 20 years later?”

He dedicated the performance of his song ‘Jal Pari’ to everyone who supported him as he worked to release his first album and for everyone who can’t wait to listen to the next one.

That’s right, he announced a new album.

Aslam used the concert to announce his fourth studio album — and his first since 2008. While he didn’t provide a name or any other details, the singer said it would be released in the first week of August.

He told his fans he couldn’t “thank you enough for being with me”.

Opening acts are often treated as little more than a warm-up while audiences wait for the main performer. But Mehtab Hassan proved to be a pleasant exception. Within minutes of stepping on the stage, the up-and-coming singer from Lahore had completely won over the audience!

Armed with little more than an acoustic performance, an easy smile, a stellar set list and a brilliant voice, the young artist transformed pre-show anticipation into a singalong. That night, reels of his performance spread on Instagram with captions like, “Came for Murtaza Qizilbash and fell in love with Mehtab Hassan’s vocals.”

For Hassan, the overwhelming response was both exhilarating and surreal.

“I was very nervous,” he recalls. “It was my first time performing in front of such a large crowd. I’ve done private shows, corporate events and concerts with a limited audience before, but this felt very different and very special.”

Yet somewhere between the first few songs and the final applause, the nerves disappeared. The audience sang along to his covers, some of his Instagram followers cheered from the crowd and when he introduced his original song ‘Saya Jo Tera’, he taught the audience its hook before performing it. What happened next caught him by surprise.

“They responded with so much love and tried singing along. That was the moment I truly felt the connection.”

But while most may have just discovered him, Hassan’s relationship with music began long before social media, streaming platforms and sold-out concerts.

Growing up in Lahore, music was a constant presence in his childhood. One of his earliest memories is a Basant celebration from when he was just four years old. His family’s Christian neighbors, two brothers who spent their evenings playing guitar and singing songs by Atif Aslam, Jal, Noori, Junoon and various Western artists, unknowingly became his first musical mentors.

With no musicians in his immediate family, they were among the first to notice the little boy who sat watching them closely, absorbing every note. Inspired, Hassan took to the mic at the rooftop Basant gathering and sang Atif Aslam’s iconic ‘Aadat’. The response was unforgettable.

“The appreciation I received that day stayed with me,” he says.

Yet, during his school years, Hassan was shy and hesitated to sing publicly despite his friends encouragement. At 19, he moved to the United Arab Emirates to work at Legoland Dubai. The job offered stability and a new experience, but his interest in music never went away.

“Deep inside, I always felt that something was missing, and that something was music,” he says.

There was another obstacle too: he was camera shy and hesitant to put himself online. Like many aspiring artists, he worried about how people would react. Eventually, encouraged by friends and family, he began posting song covers on social media. Then, somewhere in 2022, one of his videos went viral on Instagram with over 200,000 views.

For Hassan, the moment served as both validation and a wake-up call. The response convinced him that music was more than just a hobby; it was the path he wanted to pursue seriously. Soon after, he left his job and returned to Pakistan to focus on building a career as an independent artist.

Since 2022, he has steadily built a reputation through private events, corporate performances and live shows, while simultaneously developing his own original music.

When asked about his musical influences, he told Images that Atif Aslam remains a foundational inspiration, while Indian playback legend Sonu Nigam shaped his understanding of vocal control and emotional expression. More recently, Hassan has found inspiration in Ali Sethi’s ability to bridge classical traditions with contemporary sounds.

That blend of traditional and contemporary has also informed Hassan’s own artistic identity.

“I would describe my style as classic pop,” he says, though he believes versatility is one of his strengths.

For all the opportunities social media has created, Hassan acknowledges that the path remains challenging for emerging artists. Although exposure comes easier than ever before, so does criticism. He also believes the music industry could do more to create meaningful collaboration opportunities between established names and rising talent.

Still, his outlook remains optimistic.

For Hassan, music is ultimately about connection rather than recognition. “Humanity comes first,” he told Images. “I deeply respect all forms of art because they help people express emotions and connect with each other.”

That philosophy may explain why Lahore embraced him so quickly. In an era where audiences often discover artists through algorithms, Hassan’s breakout moment happened the old-fashioned way: standing on a stage, singing from the heart and earning a crowd one song at a time.

The attention generated by his Lahore performance has only strengthened his resolve to keep going. Inspired by artists like Murtaza Qizilbash, whom he describes as a close friend, Hassan is now focused on releasing more original music.

He already has several songs ready for release after Muharram and hopes to put out at least five original tracks by the end of the year. For an artist who once struggled to sing in front of a camera, it marks a remarkable evolution.

And if the audience’s response in Lahore is any indication, Hassan’s days as a hidden gem might just be numbered.

In an episode of the Geo Podcast, Haq told host Mubashir Hashmi he had neither authorised the use of the song for Karan Johar’s film Jugg Jugg Jeeyo, nor was he benefitting from it.

The singer talked about how a company in London had claimed the rights to some of his most famous tracks, including ‘Nach Punjaban’ and ‘Billo De Ghar’ — something that caused problems when he re-recorded the latter for Coke Studio. He claimed the company had gotten songs taken off YouTube after wrongfully claiming to own copyrights to them.

“Look, I haven’t sold [the rights] to them, they assumed I had. And when we asked them about it, they gave a very interesting answer. They said, ‘You have that friend, Haroon, right?’ I said I did and they said I should ask Haroon… I told them I hadn’t given the rights to Haroon either, I have the rights. All they said was, ‘You can ask Haroon.’”

Haq said the company had prepared “fake documents” with “forged signatures” in London and litigation there was expensive. He said he wasn’t the only victim of this scam, other artists had been impacted too.

About Johar’s film, the singer categorically denied being asked if he was okay with his song being used in the movie. “They sold the whole film on that song, it was unfair,” he said.

Haq said he was still suing to get the rights back and described the dispute as an “open and shut case”. He said he had the option to recreate the song, maybe with new lyrics, but the original song belonged to him and he wanted it back.

“I am not the kind of guy to take music very seriously, I make it for the sake of fun, for the sake of happiness. But if it’s going to become such a big source of revenue, nobody should take someone else’s rights away.”

The back and forth between the singer and London-based Moviebox has been going on for years now, with the two parties having first traded barbs on X — then known as Twitter — in 2022. Abrar claimed at the time that Johar and his team had copied his song without permission and vowed to take them to court.

In response, Moviebox said publicly that they owned the rights to the music and had sold them to Indian label T Series. T Series later confirmed they had bought the rights from Moviebox and said, “All due credits shall be included across all platforms when song releases”.

The comment came after the White House shared a video on TikTok earlier this week highlighting its immigration policy. The video, which depicts federal ​agents arresting and handcuffing people, features the Grammy Award-winning ​singer’s 2024 song ‘Bye’.

“Please do not ever use my music ⁠in relation to this barbaric, inhumane, heinous nonsense,” Grande ​wrote in a comment posted on the White House video on ​TikTok on Thursday.

A source close to the singer said her team is looking into how to remove the music from the video as soon as possible.

Responding ​to Grande, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said: “We’ll say this ​one last time: what’s actually barbaric, inhumane, and heinous are the criminal illegal ‌aliens ⁠who have injured and murdered innocent American citizens.”

Grande, a singer and Academy Award-nominated actor, was critical of the Trump administration last year after sharing a post on Instagram asking people who ​voted for Trump ​if their ⁠lives had gotten better since he returned to office.

Trump, now in his second non-consecutive term, has ​an active social media presence. Members of his ​communications team ⁠often post short videos that feature popular songs to illustrate the president’s efforts to deliver on his campaign promises.

Some of the ⁠videos ​have featured hit songs while depicting images ​showing Trump’s immigration crackdown, US military operations against Iran and the arrest of former Venezuelan President ​Nicolás Maduro.

For the music video, he changes things up even more, replacing Rishi Kapoor with himself, the mountains with the streets of Karachi and the heroine with yearning — yeah, this is clearly the same guy who sang ‘Jo Tu Na Mila’.

The video begins with our hero arriving in the city of lights and frantically looking for something — or someone. He asks the guards at the gate, looks around and then gets into an old-timey taxi to take his search elsewhere.

“Jaane kahan hai, kahan phir rahi. Mein dhoondoon tera jo guzar ho kahin (Where is she, where is she roaming. I look to see if you’re passing through somewhere).” We find out that the singer is indeed searching for a girl and that she promised to meet him, but has now ghosted him.

We get a taste of Kumar’s original vocals before Azhar keeps wondering aloud, “Tu hai kahan? Tu hai kaha-ha-han? (Where are you?)”

We then get even more details about the relationship between him and the mystery girl when he sings about her wanting space but them being made for each other. He asks her to have mercy on him, “You know I can’t wait, peeche na bhaga (don’t make me chase after you).”

After all his adventures across Karachi, we end up at the final scene with Azhar sleeping at home and being shaken awake by a barrage of texts from a “Pari” who is apparently waiting for him at the airport.

Did he sleep in and miss his flight? Did he give her the wrong time? Why couldn’t he have called her to clarify — he even asks if he should in the song. We have more questions than we have answers, but maybe that means something too.

But there’s a detail in the fine print below Swift’s name that someone could easily miss at first glance. In the piece, Forbes confirms that the country singer is the wealthiest female musician of all time with a total net worth of $2 billion.

The list recognised Swift for her influence on the music industry as “one of the most commercially successful songwriters of all time”. It said she “leveraged her star power to re-record most of her discography” in 2020, taking back the royalties to her music and inspiring other artists to do the same.

“In 2024, Swift reached billionaire status thanks to The Eras Tour, which became the highest-grossing concert tour in history with revenue of $2.2bn,” Forbes noted. It added that she used around $360 million of the funds to buy back the rights to all her master recordings last year.

“By March 2026, her net worth doubled to $2bn, making her the richest female musician in history,” the list said.

According to her profile on Forbes, “Her fortune includes nearly $800m amassed from royalties and touring, plus a music catalogue worth an estimated $600m and some $110m in real estate.”

The star continues to set records, recently becoming the most streamed artist of all time on Spotify, which had released its top 20 ranking earlier this year for its 20th anniversary.

She also posted a note on the subject thanking her friends, family and well-wishers, asking them not to share unverified information about her.

Rumours circulating on the internet claimed Syed had died, with fans grieving the loss of a titan of Pakistani music. Naturally, when they reached the singer herself, she addressed the situation by talking to her fans personally.

“I have come to know that rumours are being spread about my health. I am absolutely fine, by the grace of God. I am living a really good life in New York. Thank you all for your prayers and well wishes,” Syed said.

The written statement read, “I have come to learn that false reports of my passing are being circulated on social media. These are not true. Alhamdulillah, I am alive, well and in good health. I request everyone not to share this false news and to help correct the misinformation wherever it appears. Thank you.”

She wrote she was “deeply touched by the concern, kindness, and affection shown by the many people who reached out to me after seeing these reports”.

Designer Hassan Sheheryar Yasin also helped dispel the rumours by posting a picture of the singer and saying she was “alive, well and in good health”. Bushra Ansari posted Syed’s video message to her own account.

The internet occasionally likes to kill people off before their time. Most recently, Indian actor Dharmendra was declared dead by Indian media during a hospitalisation in November. He was alive and passed away a couple of weeks later.

In Pakistan, actor Sakina Samo was rumoured to have succumbed to Covid-19 at the height of the 2020 pandemic. She is still alive and well, having recovered from the virus after a stint of self-isolation.

“Suman ji died at around 8pm at her residence in Lokhandwala due to old age. She died peacefully. Over the last few days, she had been listening to her own songs,” Mangala Khadilkar, who wrote the acclaimed Marathi biography Suman Sugandh on the singer, told the Press Trust of India.

The singer rose to fame in the 1960s and 70s, she was known across the subcontinent for her film tracks such as ‘Aajkal Tere Mere Pyar Ke Charche’ from Brahmachari (1968), ‘Na Na Karte Pyar’ from Jab Jab Phool Khile (1965) and ‘Tumne Pukara Aur Hum Chale Aaye’ from Rajkumar (1964).

During the course of her career, she sang 740 songs in 11 different languages, including 140 duets with Mohammed Rafi — another legend of Indian music. Beyond film music, her repertoire included bhajans, ghazals, and thumris.

Kalyanpur’s soft vocals were often compared to Lata Mangeshkar — arguably the biggest name in Bollywood playback singing — with many listeners confusing the two.

Kalyanpur always dismissed the comparison. In a 2022 interview, she called Mangeshkar a close friend.

“Everyone loved her songs and she will remain immortal. We recorded a duet together for the film Chaand. Every time I met her, it felt like meeting a close friend. I believe she felt the same,” she said.

Tributes poured in for the singer, including from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who sent condolences to her family and said he was “anguished” by her passing.

“Her melodious voice and soulful renditions enriched our cultural world. Through her songs, she created a special place among music lovers and admirers of Indian cinema,” He said.

Kalyanpur is survived by her daughter Charu. Her last rites will be performed in Mumbai on Monday (today).

Cover photo: Press Information Bureau / Government of India

Of course, when half of a couple is singer Annural Khalid, the song has to be her own. That’s what ‘Falling4U’ is — a bride’s ode to her loving husband.

With Khalid’s signature soft vocals and an acoustic guitar forming much of the musical accompaniment, the song is mellow, calmingly so. The point, however, lies in the simple but meaningful lyrics.

As if describing her own struggles before getting married, Khalid starts her song with, “Bechayn kab se, hum hain baithay. Din raat kitaabon main, tujh ko dhoondain. (I have been sitting restless for so long. Day and night, I have searched for you in books).”

She goes on to describe the love she has for her husband Moeez, whose picture with the singer is front and centre on the album’s cover, with words like “behisaab (immeasurable)” and “beshumaar (uncountable)”.

Later, she says, “Chali jase hawain, dheemay dheemay, teri ore mujhe kyu yeh lay chalin? Jaisay, teray hi liye to main hoon bani. (As the winds blew gently, why did they push me in your direction? Like I was made for you).”

The evidently enamoured singer surprised fans in April with news of her wedding, which she sprung up on everyone with a black and white picture of her and Moeez’s hands captioned “Mr and Mrs”.

‘Falling4U’ is Khalid’s first release since tying the knot and a very fitting one at that. A promo for the song on Instagram had a montage of Moeez’s baby pictures and shots of them together. A message on the video read, “To my husband, for today and for every ordinary little day that turns extraordinary with you. And to our families… thank you for the love, softness and grace that we now carry forward.”

He shared a clip from the show, which just dropped its second season on Thursday.

“Eid Mubarak from Deli Boys season 2 which just dropped,” he wrote in his caption, asking people to spot the “fake qawwal” in episode five.

In the clip, Sethi sings ‘Chaap Tilak’ while Poorna Jagannathan dances along.

We totally should have seen this coming, given how the soundtrack for Bait, Riz Ahmed’s new show on a British-Pakistani actor hoping to become the next James Bond, was a celebration of all things desi music.

The second season of the Hulu dark comedy Deli Boys, stars Asif Ali, Saagar Shaikh and Jagannathan, and has added five new names to its cast. Fred Armisen is set to join as a major character, which was announced back in August, Andrew Rannells and Kumail Nanjiani have been cast as recurring characters, while Robin Thede and Lilly Singh will be joining the show as guest stars.

Created by Abdullah Saeed, the show follows Pakistani-American brothers Mir and Raj Dar (Ali and Sheikh) who have lost everything and are now preparing to take over their father’s criminal empire.

The show, which received acclaim for its representation of Pakistani Americans and it’s comedic content, was renewed for its second season in August. The 10-episode first season — which includes a cameo by Pakistani fashion designer HSY — can be watched on Hulu and Disney+.

The group also claimed Best Male K-pop Artist and Song of the Summer for ​the single ‘Swim’.

BTS prevailed in a high-powered Artist of the Year category that included Taylor Swift, winner of the most ​AMAs of any musician over her career, as well as Sabrina Carpenter, Bad Bunny, Harry Styles, ⁠Lady Gaga and others.

“We made it once again!” BTS member RM told screaming fans inside the MGM Grand Garden Arena in ​Las Vegas. BTS won the same honour in 2021.

“Our biggest thanks and gratitude, as always, goes to the ARMYs all ​over the world,” RM added, referring to the nickname for BTS fans. “You have stood by us for the past 13 years.”

The red-carpet gala, which aired live on CBS and Paramount+, opened with members of BTS in a pre-recorded performance of ‘Hooligan’ from a recent Vegas concert.

BTS went on ​hiatus in 2022 when all seven members took part in South Korea’s mandatory military service. In March, they returned with their ​fifth studio album Arirang. The album topped the Billboard 200 chart for two weeks, a first for a K-pop group or artist.

In other AMA ‌wins ⁠for K-pop, the Song of the Year award went to EJAE, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami, the voices behind the fictional group HUNTR/X and ‘Golden’, the upbeat tune from the Netflix animated movie KPop Demon Hunters. The trio won three AMAs in total.

Katseye, a global girl group with members from four countries, also took home three awards including New Artist of the Year.

Swift had ​been the leading nominee heading ​into the ceremony, with eight ⁠nods including Album of the Year for The Life of a Showgirl and Song of the Year for ‘The Fate of Ophelia’. She did not win in any of the categories and did ​not attend the event.

Carpenter, also a no-show, earned Album of the Year for Man’s Best ​Friend and two ⁠other awards.

Twenty-year-old indie musician Sombr scored three trophies including Best Rock/Alternative Song for ‘Back to Friends’.

“I wrote this song when I was 19 and depressed all by myself in my bedroom,” he said on stage. “So being here, I never would have expected that.”

Billy Idol, ⁠an ​icon of 1980s rock, received a lifetime achievement honour. The 70-year-old reflected ​on starting a career in punk rock in 1976.

“We thought it may last only about six months, let alone 50 years,” Idol said before performing ​rousing versions of ‘Eyes Without a Face’ and ‘Dancing with Myself’.

Rollins had recorded the confidently titled Jazz Colossus album in 1956, but the saxophonist remained wracked with self-doubt.

So, in the summer of 1959, he ​began to play on the windswept pedestrian walkway of New York’s Williamsburg Bridge. Initially a place where he could avoid disturbing his pregnant neighbour, the walkway became the site ‌of endless practice.

“What made me withdraw and go to the bridge was how I felt about my own playing,” Rollins told the Guardian newspaper in 2022. “I knew I was dissatisfied.”

He ended up spending more than two years there, often for 14 or 15 hours a day.

“Of course, sometimes I’d come down to go to the bathroom, or I’d go to a bar I liked where I might have a cognac,” he said. “But then I’d go right back up.”

The resulting record, The Bridge, was not a ​complete break from his previous style but took his soloing and improvisation to a new level. A review in the Jazz Journal at the time said Rollins was able “to extract the last ​ounce of meaning from a particular phrase taken from the melody of the song”.

The record also set him on a course to becoming one of the most ⁠acclaimed performers of his generation, alongside John Coltrane and Wayne Shorter.

Rollins died at his home in Woodstock, New York, according to a statement released on Monday.

I was just immersed in it

Born on September 7, 1930, ​Walter Theodore Rollins grew up in Harlem surrounded by music.

Both his brother and sister studied violin and piano. Pianist Fats Waller lived in the neighbourhood. Sonny, as he was known from an early age, recalled how he ​instinctively knew that Waller’s music was right for him — “like a baby getting a bottle or something,” he told PBS NewsHour.

His idol, saxophonist Coleman Hawkins, lived nearby, too.

On his way to school, Rollins walked past the Cotton Club and the Savoy Ballroom — both venues at the heart of the New York jazz world. “I was just immersed in it from the beginning really,” he said.

A child prodigy, Rollins was influenced by saxophonist Charlie Parker and mentored by pianist Thelonious Monk. Early opportunities came calling ​in the late 1950s when he played with leading jazz artists such as Art Blakey, Bud Powell and Miles Davis.

He wrote some of Davis’ best-known early pieces, including ‘Oleo’ and ‘Airegin’.

Saxophone Colossus included the calypso-inspired ‘St Thomas’, starting a ​long association with the music beloved by his parents, who hailed from the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Rollins’ often marathon, hard-blowing solos earned him a reputation as the greatest jazz saxophone improviser.

He told PBS he would go on stage with his ‌mind blank and ⁠no plan for his solos beyond an awareness of the structure of the piece. “Improvising on it, that I leave completely to the forces,” he said. “Sometimes I’m surprised by what comes out.”

Rollins also innovated by using his sax as a rhythm section instrument.

Albums included the soundtrack to the film Alfie, and East Broadway Run Down, both recorded in 1966.

His devil-may-care compositions for Alfie captured the mood of that movie as successfully as Davis’ haunting music had done for Louis Malle’s Elevator to the Gallows eight years earlier.

I’m the last guy

Things could have turned out very differently for Rollins. In 1950 he was arrested for armed robbery and spent 10 months in jail.

“In retrospect, it was ​the first of my sabbaticals! Unlike the others, ​it wasn’t self-imposed. But it was a learning ⁠place,” Rollins said about his time behind bars in an interview with Uncut magazine.

“The prison was a brutal place, but fortunately I was involved in the music, and I largely avoided the brutality.”

In 1952, he was re-arrested for breaking the terms of his parole by using heroin, a habit he later swapped for an exercise ​regime and yoga practice, shunning the all-night partying that destroyed the careers of so many other musicians.

During another sabbatical, starting in 1969, he spent time ​in Japan and India — including ⁠a spell in a monastery — before reappearing in the early 1970s to make more records.

Lucille, whom he married in 1965, acted as his manager. The couple stayed together until her death in 2004. They had no children.

Rollins recorded more than 60 albums as a leader. He performed with bands including the Rolling Stones, providing improvisations to three tracks on their 1981 album Tattoo You. But he later told The New York Times that he did not relate to ⁠their music, which ​he felt was “just derivative of Black blues”.

After winning two Grammy awards from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, as ​well as a Lifetime Achievement Award from that same institution, a respiratory illness forced him to stop playing. He retired in 2014.

Rollins was aware of his place as the last surviving giant of the era of jazz led by Parker, Monk and Coltrane.

“I’m the ​last guy but in a way I’m not, because when I’m gone my music is going to be here,” he told PBS in 2011. “We’re all still here, we’re all still here.”

The pop star talked about his marriage and newfound followers in an interview with Haroon Rashid on BBC Asian Network.

Raheem said he was glad he got married, joking that he thinks his wife “likes the attention” she gets from the relationship. “Honestly, I’m like, ‘It just took like six years to be a star and look at you, like two days and you’re everywhere’. And she’s like, ‘Stop it, Hasan.’”

The singer called marriage the “best decision I did”, adding that the wedding took place at “a crucial point in my life, going through a lot of stuff”.

He said the cultural aspect of the wedding was very important to him, so he got married “in the most authentic Gilgiti way”.

“Everyone had to see that side of me. What’s better than doing it on your wedding?”

What Raheem didn’t see coming was the outpouring of love he received and not just from fans either. “I was not expecting it to blow up so much. Like, I get aunties meeting me who are not fans of my music. They’re like, ‘You got married!’ I’m like, ‘What?’”

The star recalled an incident when he was flying within the US and talked to a woman whose daughter wanted to attend his concert in Washington DC.

She asked him to get her daughter tickets and while Raheem got on with arranging passes, the woman stopped him and said, “One second, beta, listen to me. You’re the Hasan who got married, right? I know you!”

“The wedding had a separate fanbase,” he told Rashid.

Months later, he revisited the controversy surrounding his Kathmandu concert and talked about the interview on the Geo Podcast with Mubashir Hashmi.

Hashmi brought the incident up by singing the rapper’s praises and saying that Anjum is popular around the world, so a fan presenting him with a flag was simply a gesture of love.

Hashmi said Pakistanis had a record of being the more sane voices when it came to cross-border matters and said he found the way Anjum was treated to be “completely unacceptable”. He asked the rapper for his views on this, adding that many people condemned it at the time.

“I wasn’t expecting that and that’s mostly because I don’t do interviews and wherever I go, I try for there to be a point to it. I don’t talk to people for no reason,” Anjum replied.

He said he had been following the news in the aftermath of his concert and found mixed reactions, with senior artists who had been to India — who “knew what it feels like when a fan shows love to you,” in the rapper’s words — supporting his point of view.

The two agreed there were double standards in the way people dealt with Indian and Pakistani artists interacting. “When Diljit [Dosanjh] does a concert and invites Hania Aamir on to the stage, we celebrate,” Hashmi said, with Anjum calling this behaviour “hypocrisy”.

Coming to the interview, the rapper said in the days following his concert, one channel “had gone after him” and he felt he needed to go on to their show and explain himself.

“When the interview started, the way I was spoken to, I don’t talk to anyone like that and I don’t want anyone to talk to me that way. Sitting there, I felt like I was a politician.”

Anjum said he corrected her, still respected her, and wished her the best of luck, but thought she “must have learnt that you don’t do this”. That earned a hearty laugh from Hashmi who said, “Yeah, she sure found out.”

The rapper’s tone was similarly celebratory at the onset of the flag controversy, when he said he would “do it again” in a now-deleted post on X.

Later, facing backlash from the public, he issued an “unconditional” apology on Khan’s show, saying he had lost track in the heat of the moment.

The host’s behaviour on the show was called out for being aggressive, especially by celebrities. At the time, Yasir Hussain and Khaqan Shahnawaz even compared Khan to firebrand Indian TV personality Arnab Goswami.

The Pakistani pop sensation said, “At the end, music and art will win.”

Raheem said the pair had collaborated on three songs and he loved how Talwiinder was unapologetic about being a misfit. He said they had tried to keep the joint performance “low-key”, but any notion of that went out the window when the Indian artist stepped on stage and “the voices started shrieking”.

He said they performed the song once, then twice at the crowd’s insistence. When they asked the duo to sing a third time, Raheem said he didn’t want to annoy his guest, but Talwiinder insisted they should.

When Rashid asked the singer if he knew the impact his collaboration had, he said he absolutely did. “I feel like art is supposed to be borderless,” he added.

“If I like his songs, if I like the way he talks, if I like his energy, I’m going to just hit a message up and I’ll be like, you want to do a song together? It’s as simple as that. But if you want to make it more complicated, you can also do that.”

Raheem said he was happy to share the stage at his concerts because he remembered seeing concerts as a kid where an artist makes a surprise appearance and “everyone would lose their minds”.

He said his parents had taught him all moments in life were temporary and that he should share them with friends.

While Raheem speaks so positively about his friend from across the border and his fanbase in Pakistan fully supports their onstage bromance, Talwiinder faced strong backlash in India for the performance.

Despite the opposition, Talwiinder has a number of collaborations with Pakistani artists, including the song ‘Sachay Loki’ with Meesha Shafi and the viral hit ‘Pal Pal’ with Afusic and Ali Soomro.

Bulgaria had missed the last three editions of the glitzy extravaganza but took the crown in Vienna for the first time ever, overtaking Israel at the very end as the points came in, with Romania finishing third.

Pop singer Darina Yotova, known as Dara, was not among the favourites going into Eurovision week but the 27-year-old gained traction following a strong performance in the semi-finals, with her highly-choreographed dance routines.

“Everything is possible: Bulgaria just won Eurovision!” Dara told a press conference.

“I really like breaking rules. I’m really good with following my rules — not anybody else’s. We wanted to give to the audience something new and fresh, something that is not expected.”

Eurovision highlighted that “the song ended up winning both sets of scores, which is the first time the juries and the public have chosen the same winner in almost 10 years, since Kyiv 2017”.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev hailed “a young artist who, thanks to her talent and professionalism, has managed to rise above all the complexities and prejudices surrounding the voting process.”

“Bulgaria is looking forward to welcoming Europe and the world for Eurovision 2027!” he added on social media.

Around 10,000 glammed-up fans filled the Wiener Stadthalle arena in the Austrian capital to watch Saturday’s showpiece final of Eurovision, where, as always, the razzmatazz didn’t escape the geopolitics in the background.

Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland, Iceland and Slovenia staged the biggest political boycott in Eurovision history over Israel’s participation, citing the war in Gaza.

Originally published in Dawn, May 18th, 2026