Adnan Sami Khan , popularly known simply as
Adnan Sami, is a British born singer, musician pianist, actor and composer of Pakistani origin from Canada. His style merges
AsianAsian music encompasses numerous different musical styles originating from a large number of Asian countries.-See also:* Music of the Arab World* Music of China* Music of Central Asia* Music of India* Music of Iran* Music of Korea* Music of Pakistan...
and
WesternWestern music is the genres of music originating in the Western world including Western classical music, American Jazz, Country and Western, pop music and rock and roll...
styles and
instrumentationInstrumentation is the branch of engineering that deals with measurement and control.According to ISA or known as Instrumentation and Systems Automation Society formerly known as Instrument Society of America, the official definition of Instrumentation - is a collection of Instruments and their...
and ranges from
classicalClassical music is the mainstream music produced in, or rooted in the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 9th century to present times...
to
jazzJazz is a musical art form which originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States from a confluence of African and European music traditions....
to modern
popPop music is a music genre that developed from the mid-1950s as a softer alternative to rock 'n' roll and later to rock music. It has a focus on commercial recording, often orientated towards a youth market, usually through the medium of relatively short and simple love songs...
-
rockRock music is a genre of popular music that entered the mainstream in the 1960s. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, rhythm and blues, country music and also drew on folk music, jazz and classical music....
.
Early life and education
Sami was born, reared and educated in London, United Kingdom. His father, Arshad Sami Khan was a decorated fighter pilot and war hero of the Pakistan Air Force, and a proud alumnus of PAF College Sargodha., a Hindkowan who was born in Pakistan and lived in India, was a Pakistani diplomat and had training in composing classical and jazz music. His mother belonged to an Indian Muslim family.
Sami attended
Rugby SchoolRugby School, located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire, is regarded as one of the UK's leading co-educational boarding schools and is one of the oldest public schools in England.-History:...
. He went on to graduate from
King's CollegeKing's College London is a British higher education institution and co-founding constituent college of the University of London. Founded by King George IV and the Duke of Wellington in 1829, its royal charter is predated, in England, only by those of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge...
and became the first person to play Indian/Pakistani
classical musicClassical music is the mainstream music produced in, or rooted in the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 9th century to present times...
on the
electric pianoAn electric piano is an electric musical instrument.Electric pianos produce sounds mechanically and the sounds are turned into electronic signals by pickups. Unlike a synthesizer, the electric piano is not an electronic instrument, but electro-mechanical...
. He had played the piano since the age of five. Sami began taking lessons from Pandit Shivkumar Sharma when visiting India during his school vacations. Indian singing legend
Asha BhosleAsha Bhosle is an Indian singer. She is best known as a Bollywood playback singer, although she has a much wider repertoire. Her career started in 1943 and has spanned over six decades. She has done playback singing for over 1000 Bollywood movies and sold many records...
spotted talent in a ten-year-old Sami at an R D Burman concert in London, and encouraged him to take up music as a career.
As a teenager, Sami, when performing on the keyboard at a programme in
Stockholm' is the capital and largest city of Sweden. It is the site of the national Swedish government, the Riksdag , and the official residence of the Swedish Monarch as well as the prime minister. The Monarch resides at Drottningholm Palace outside of Stockholm since 1980 and uses the Royal Palace of...
, was noticed by
Keyboard MagazineKeyboard Magazine is a magazine that originally covered electronic keyboard instruments and keyboardists, though with the advent of computer based recording and audio technology, they have added digital music technology to their regular coverage, including those not strictly pertaining to the...
as being the fastest man on keyboard in Asia.
Sami then went on to learn Indian classical music from Mahraj Khatak, a Pakistani classical singing teacher and dancer.
At the age of sixteen, Sami was approached to write a song for
famineA famine is a widespread scarcity of food that may apply to any faunal species, which phenomenon is usually accompanied by regional malnutrition, starvation, epidemic, and increased mortality...
-hit
EthiopiaEthiopia , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country situated in the Horn of Africa. Ethiopia is bordered by Eritrea to the north, Sudan to the west, Kenya to the south, Somalia to the east and Djibouti to the northeast. Its size is 1,100,000 km² with an...
for which he won a special award from UNICEF.
Career
Adnan had begun playing the piano at the age of five and was an accomplished concert pianist having performed in several countries such as Sweden and UAE.
He had his first solo album RAAG Time in 1991-92.The song from his latest album Kisi Din 'Teri Yaad' was the title track'Jab Chandani Barh Kar' of his first album. In 1994, he composed music for a film for the first time. The
PakistanPakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located at the crossroads of South Asia, the Middle East, and Central Asia...
i film, in which Adnan was the lead with his wife Zeba and famous Indian playback singer
Asha BhosleAsha Bhosle is an Indian singer. She is best known as a Bollywood playback singer, although she has a much wider repertoire. Her career started in 1943 and has spanned over six decades. She has done playback singing for over 1000 Bollywood movies and sold many records...
did the playback,
SargamSargam is a Pakistani Urdu film directed by Syed Noor starring the singer Adnan Sami and his ex-wife Zeba Bakhtiar. The film was Adnan Sami Khan's first and last appearance in any Pakistani film. He composed some songs with Indian singer Asha Bhonsle and created an all time Pakistani record for any...
, was a blockbuster. However, the authorities banned Asha's voice from the soundtrack which disappointed Adnan. He then had to re-record these songs with Hadiqa Kiyani. After unsuccessfully trying to make it to the competitive Pakistani pop scene in 1997, in 2000, Asha Bhosle teamed up with him to release a collection of love songs named
Kabhi to Nazar Milao. The music was also composed by Adnan. According to Adnan, this was a "dream come true" for him. The album became an instant rage and topped the Indipop charts for most of 2001. According to
BusinessWeekBusinessWeek is a business magazine published by McGraw-Hill. It was first published in 1929 under the direction of Malcolm Muir, who was serving as president of the McGraw-Hill Publishing company at the time. BusinessWeek is a business magazine published by McGraw-Hill. It was first published...
, the album sold 2 million copies in India.
Songs
Kabhi to Nazar milao whose music video featured model
Aditi GowitrikarAditi Gowitrikar is an Indian model, actress and a physician. She was born on 21 May 1976. She was selected Mrs. World in 2001 . She is also known by her married name, Dr. Sarah Muffazal Lakdawala. Aditi Gowitrikar is a gynaecologist by profession. However, she started her career as a model after...
and
Lift karaa de whose music video starred the popular
BollywoodBollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the Indian film industry. Bollywood is the largest film producer in India and one of the...
star
Govinda' and ' are names of Krishna, referring to his youthful occupation as a cowherd.Both names translate to "cowherd". Sanskrit go means "cow"; pāla and vinda form tatpurusha compounds, literally translating to "finder of cows" and "protector of cows", respectively.The story of how Krishna was given...
from the album became immensely popular at this time. The videos were shot by Anil Mehra who had shot popular Hindi movies
Hum Dil De Chuke SanamHum Dil De Chuke Sanam is a Hindi film made in 1999. It was released in the English-speaking world as Straight from the Heart. It was filmed throughout the Gujarat-Rajasthan border region, in addition to Budapest, Hungary, which was used to represent Italy...
and
LagaanLagaan , also known as Lagaan: Once upon a time in India, is a 2001 Bollywood feature film made in India. The film, based on an original story by Ashutosh Gowariker, was also directed by him...
. Looking at the immense success of this album, Magnasound and Adnan released an album
Always yours"Always Yours" was a popular song by Gary Glitter.Written by Glitter and Mike Leander and produced by Leander, "Always Yours" was Glitter's third and final number one single in the UK, spending a single week at the top of the chart in June 1974.-References:...
which is a
remixA remix is an alternative version of a song, different from the original version. This name is also used for any alterations of medias other than a song ....
version of numbers from this album.
He soon became a "sensation" which led
HindiStandard Hindi, also known as High Hindi, Nagari Hindi or Literary Hindi is a standardised register of Hindi. It is one of the 22 languages with official status in India, and is used, along with English, for administration of the central government.Standard Hindi is a sanskritised register derived...
filmmaker
Boney KapoorBoney Kapoor is an Indian film producer. He is the son of Surinder Kapoor, who is also a film producer. His brothers are actors Anil Kapoor and Sanjay Kapoor. He was married to Mona Shourie Kapoor and had two children Arjun and Anshula when he married Indian actress Sridevi on June 2, 1996. The...
to invite him to give music for his film. This was the beginning for him composing and singing songs for Hindi films very successfully of even the top Hindi film producers of the time like
Yash ChopraYash Raj Chopra is an Indian filmmaker, screenwriter, and the most successful producer of Bollywood to date in India. Waqt, Deewar, Kabhi Kabhie, Lamhe, Darr, Dil To Pagal Hai, and Veer-Zaara are some of the highly successful movies which Yash Chopra made...
and
Subhash GhaiSubhash Ghai is an Indian film director, producer and screenwriter. His most notable films include Karz , Hero , Meri Jung , Karma , Saudagar , Khalnayak , Pardes and Taal...
. Due to the immense popularity of his music videos and live performances, he had even begun getting acting offers at this time.
The song,
Tu sirf mera mehboob, from the Hindi movie
Ajnabee (2001) sung by Adnan also "became a rage" and was a superhit.
ScreenScreen is India's most respected entertainment weekly and has been the reflection of Indian film industry for over 57 years. Published every week by The Indian Express Group. The content focuses on Media & Entertainment....
called him the
popPop music is a music genre that developed from the mid-1950s as a softer alternative to rock 'n' roll and later to rock music. It has a focus on commercial recording, often orientated towards a youth market, usually through the medium of relatively short and simple love songs...
personality of the year 2001 and even says that the success of his album
Kabhi to Nazar milao "kept the Indian pop music industry alive and breathing" in 2001.
In 2002, Pepsi Foods made Adnan its brand ambassador in India, a contract which involved hosting a series of live music concerts across cities as well as Adnan featuring in ads for Pepsi products. According to the Pakistani newspaper
DawnDawn is the time that marks the beginning of the twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the presence of weak sunlight, while the sun itself is still below the horizon...
, no Pakistani artist had managed to gain as much popularity in India as Sami had. According to an article in the Indian newspaper
The Times of IndiaThe Times of India is a popular English-language broadsheet daily newspaper in India. It has the widest circulation among all English-language daily newspapers in the world, across all formats . It is owned and managed by Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd...
, Sami was the most successful face in non-film music in India at that time.
His second studio album,
Tera Chehra, was released in October 2002 to critical eulogies even as his first album was still selling. The music videos for this album were shot by
Binod PradhanBinod Pradhan is an acclaimed Indian cinematographer whose creative visuals and cutting-edge imagery have left their mark on Indian cinema. Some his award winning works include Devdas, Rang De Basanti, Mission Kashmir and Munna Bhai M.B.B.S..-Biography: Binod grew up in the picturesque hill town...
who had shot the popular Hindi movie
DevdasDevdas is a Bengali novella by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay.-Plot summary:...
, directed by Bela Sehgal (director of
Devdas Sanjay Leela BhansaliSanjay Leela Bhansali is a highly acclaimed Indian film director. He is an alumnus of the Film and Television Institute of India...
's sister) and featured popular Bollywood stars
Rani MukerjiRani Mukerji born on March 21, 1978, is an Indian film actress who works in Bollywood movies.Making her acting debut with Raja Ki Aayegi Baraat , Mukerji had her first commercial success with Karan Johar's romance Kuch Kuch Hota Hai , her biggest hit so far, and won a Filmfare Best Supporting...
in the title track,
Amitabh BachchanAmitabh Bachchan , is an Indian film actor. He first gained popularity in the early 1970s as the "angry young man" of Bollywood cinema, and has since become one of the most prominent figures in the history of Indian cinema.Bachchan has won numerous major awards in his career, including three...
in the track
Kabhi nahi who also sang the duet with Adnan and actress
Mahima ChaudhryMahima Chaudhary is an Indian actress and former model. She made her film debut in the 1997 film Pardes.-Personal life and education:...
in another song. The title track was written by famous Hindi movie lyricist
SameerSameer is an Indian lyricist, mainly writing lyrics for songs in Hindi language films. He is the son of noted Hindi lyricist, Anjaan . Since the beginning of his career, Sameer has penned around 4,000 songs in over 500 Hindi films and more than 130 songs in 23 regional films, including Bhojpuri...
. According to
ScreenScreen is India's most respected entertainment weekly and has been the reflection of Indian film industry for over 57 years. Published every week by The Indian Express Group. The content focuses on Media & Entertainment....
, it was the only successful pop album of the year.
SaathiyaSaathiya is an Indian Bollywood drama/romance movie which was released on December 20 2002. Rani Mukerji, Vivek Oberoi and Tanuja star in this movie. It was Shaad Ali's debut as director and the soundtrack was composed by A. R. Rahman. It was the remake of a Tamil movie, Alaipayuthey directed by...
(2002) brought the opportunity to work with maestro
A. R. RahmanAllah Rakha Rahman is an Indian film composer, record producer, musician and singer. His film scoring career began in the early 1990s...
in the form of
Aye Udi Udi which he was looking forward to. According to
ScreenScreen is India's most respected entertainment weekly and has been the reflection of Indian film industry for over 57 years. Published every week by The Indian Express Group. The content focuses on Media & Entertainment....
, the song was the highlight of the album.
rediff.comRediff.com India, is a news, information, entertainment, and shopping portal. It was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Mumbai, India with offices in New Delhi and New York City, USA....
called him the "reigning king of Indipop" in early 2003 based on the sales of his albums in the past two years.
His most successful albums have been
Kabhi To Nazar Milao (with
Asha BhosleAsha Bhosle is an Indian singer. She is best known as a Bollywood playback singer, although she has a much wider repertoire. Her career started in 1943 and has spanned over six decades. She has done playback singing for over 1000 Bollywood movies and sold many records...
) and
Tera Chehra, and his music videos usually have had a host of
BollywoodBollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the Indian film industry. Bollywood is the largest film producer in India and one of the...
stars in them, including
Namrata ShirodkarNamrata Shirodkar or Namrata Ghattamaneni is an Indian actress. Her sister is the actress Shilpa Shirodkar...
("Bheegi Bheegi Raat"),
Mahima ChaudhryMahima Chaudhary is an Indian actress and former model. She made her film debut in the 1997 film Pardes.-Personal life and education:...
,
Raveena TandonRaveena Tandon is a National Film Award winning Indian actress, producer, and a former model...
,
Rani MukerjiRani Mukerji born on March 21, 1978, is an Indian film actress who works in Bollywood movies.Making her acting debut with Raja Ki Aayegi Baraat , Mukerji had her first commercial success with Karan Johar's romance Kuch Kuch Hota Hai , her biggest hit so far, and won a Filmfare Best Supporting...
("Tera Chehra"),
Govinda' and ' are names of Krishna, referring to his youthful occupation as a cowherd.Both names translate to "cowherd". Sanskrit go means "cow"; pāla and vinda form tatpurusha compounds, literally translating to "finder of cows" and "protector of cows", respectively.The story of how Krishna was given...
,
Fardeen KhanFardeen Khan is an established Indian Bollywood actor.- Early life :Fardeen Khan is the son of Sundari and famous Indian actor/director Feroz Khan, who was originally from Bangalore. While he was brought up in India, Fardeen studied abroad...
,
Amisha PatelAmeesha Patel is an Indian actress who appears in mainly Bollywood movies. Making her acting debut in the blockbuster Kaho Naa.....
("O Meri Jaan"),
Bhumika ChawlaBhumika Chawla is an Indian actress. She made her film debut in the Telugu film Yuvakudu and has since then worked in various Indian film industries and appeared in over thirty films in Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, Bhojpuri, Punjabi and Malayalam...
("Maahiya"),
Dia MirzaDia Mirza or Diya Mirza Handrich, nicknamed Dee, is a former Indian model and actress who appears in Bollywood films. She was second runner up at Femina Miss India 2000 and was subsequently sent to Miss Asia Pacific 2000 where she won.-Personal life and education:Dia Mirza was born in Hyderabad,...
("Pal Do Pal") and most famously,
Amitabh BachchanAmitabh Bachchan , is an Indian film actor. He first gained popularity in the early 1970s as the "angry young man" of Bollywood cinema, and has since become one of the most prominent figures in the history of Indian cinema.Bachchan has won numerous major awards in his career, including three...
("Kabhi Nahi"). and in 2007 the soundtrack from the hit
Salaam-e-Ishq: A Tribute to Love.
Since 2003, he has sung for a few
TamilTamil cinema is the Chennai–based Tamil language filmmaking industry of the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu...
movies like
Boys,
Aayutha Ezhuthu composed by A.R. Rehman. The songs,"Boom Boom" from
Boys and "
Nenjamellam Kadhal" for
Aayitha Ezhuthu, were
hitA hit single is a recorded track or single that has become very popular. Although it is sometimes used to describe any widely-played or big-selling song, the term "hit" is usually reserved for a single that has appeared in an official music chart through repeated radio airplay and/or significant...
s. He also sang for the Tamil and Telugu versions besides the Hindi version of songs fromthe movie
YuvaYuva , originally titled Howrah Bridge is a feature film directed by Indian director Mani Ratnam and released in 2004...
(2004) whose music was also composed by A. R. Rahman. Besides Rahman, he also worked together with composer
Yuvan Shankar RajaYuvan Shankar Raja is an Indian film composer, musician and singer. His film scoring career began in the late 1990s, when he scored the music for Aravindhan at the age of 16...
, singing hit Tamil songs "Oh Intha Kadhal" from
Satham PodatheySatham Podathey is a 2007 Indian Tamil thriller film written and directed by Vasanth and produced by Shankar and Senthilnathan. It stars Prithviraj, Padmapriya Janakiraman and Nithin Sathya in the lead roles whilst Nassar, Suhasini Mani Ratnam, Premji Amaren and Raghav play cameo roles...
and the very recently released "Oru Kal" from
Siva Manasula SakthiSiva Manasula Sakthi is a Tamil film directed by Rajesh and starring Jeeva and newcomer Anuya Bhagvath, a student of Pune Film Institute, in the lead roles. Actor Arya appears in a special appearance in the movie. It began its first schedule on March 10, 2008...
, which got very popular and widely noticed.
He has also sang for a Kannada film song. His first Kannada song, "
Don't Worry Madabeda" for the film
Super Star starring
UpendraUpendra is a Kannada cinema cine actor, director and script writer. Born in a middle class Brahmin family at koteshwar near Kundapur, Upendra started his career off with film director Kashinath as a writer and an assistant director...
was a big hit.
In 2006, he took a sabbatical, and reportedly lost over 70 kg, to make a comeback in April 2007 with a new album
Kisi Din.
His latest film music composition was for
ShauryaShaurya is a 2008 Bollywood movie directed by Samar Khan, starring Rahul Bose, Kay Kay Menon, Javed Jaffrey and Minissha Lamba. This film is based on the play, A Few Good Men by Aaron Sorkin, although this isn't acknowledged in the movie. Music in the film is by pop singer, Adnan Sami...
(2008).
Personal life
Adnan Sami was married to
Zeba BakhtiarZeba Bakhtiar or Bakhtiyar is a Pakistani film & TV actress and director, of Hungarian and Pashtun-Pakistani descent. She is the daughter of Yahya Bakhtiar, a prominent bureaucrat from Quetta and former Attorney General of Pakistan...
for a short period (2nd marriage, separated in 1996/1997) from whom he had a son Azaan Khan. After their separation, Adnan abducted their son and took him to
DubaiDubai is one of the seven emirates and the most populous state of the United Arab Emirates . It is located along the southern coast of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula. The Dubai Municipality is sometimes called Dubai state to distinguish it from the emirate...
after the
Lahore High CourtThe Lahore High Court is based in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. It was established on 21 March 1919, although its predecessors have been providing justice since 1866. The Lahore High Court has such jurisdiction as is conferred on them by the Constitution or by law...
awarded custody rights to Zeba.
In May 1998, Zeba alleged that Pakistani and UAE officials were not co-operating with her in her bid to gain custody of her son from Adnan. She took the custody of Azaan by appealing in a Canadian court. Canadian immigration officials "stormed" Adnan's home, arrested him and "whisked away" his son who was handed over to his mother, Zeba. According to Adnan, this forced him to cancel millions of dollars worth of concerts and other recording obligations. Adnan's father, Arshad Sami Khan, filed a defamation suit against Zeba and her family claiming that during the hearing, he and his family members were defamed.
According to Sami, this was when he began to gain weight by using food for comfort and getting more depressed and this became a vicious cycle and by June 2006, he weighed 206 kilos.
In 2001, Sami fell in love with and married
DubaiDubai is one of the seven emirates and the most populous state of the United Arab Emirates . It is located along the southern coast of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula. The Dubai Municipality is sometimes called Dubai state to distinguish it from the emirate...
-based Sabah Galadari, his third marriage and her second. This relationship also called quits a year-and-a-half later. According to Adnan, Sabah left him because he was obese. He also claimed that they were married for 10 years.
Since at least 2001, Sami, who was then based in Dubai, was unsuccessfully attempting to acquire Indian citizenship. In July 2001, he approached the Home Minister of India,
Lal Krishna AdvaniLalchand Kishen Advani known as Lal Krishna Advani is a prominent Indian politician and a former president of the Bharatiya Janata Party, which is currently the major opposition party in the Indian Parliament...
in Dubai and requested for granting of Indian citizenship. After failing to acquire Indian citizenship, he attempted to acquire Canadian citizenship and was successful in getting it.
In 2002, Adnan filed an appeal for the custody of his son Azaan in a Pakistani court by claiming that Zeba had obtained the custody of Azaan by "misleading the Canadian court through false and ill-founded allegations against him". Soon after, the two agreed to reconcile and settle the issue out of court after years of legal battles. Adnan agreed to let Zeba have custody but wanted access to Azaan. But it did not work out and in 2004, he sued the
Canadian governmentThe government of Canada is established as a constitutional monarchy, with the powers and structure of the federal government established by the Constitution of Canada, which includes the written part, the decisions of courts, and unwritten conventions developed over time.-Usage:In Canadian...
for 30 million $ in connection with the immigration raid that had ended with his son "being whisked away". According to Sami, he won the case.
In 2004, Sami described himself as a huge fan of S D Burman and R D Burman.
In 2005, Adnan suffered from lymphoedema and developed an
abscessAn abscess is a collection of pus that has accumulated in a cavity formed by the tissue on the basis of an infectious process or other foreign materials...
in the knee. He was in intensive care, had to undergo a risky surgery and was in bed for three months. He was linked to Bollywood actress
Amisha PatelAmeesha Patel is an Indian actress who appears in mainly Bollywood movies. Making her acting debut in the blockbuster Kaho Naa.....
who featured in one of his music videos and accompanied him on his world tour. But this was denied by both him and Amisha's boyfriend
Vikram BhattVikram Bhatt is a Bollywood director, producer and screenwriter.He is the grandson of Vijay Bhatt, who was one of the pioneer of Indian films and the son of cinematographer Pravin Bhatt. He has more than 21 films to his credit and at present he is the creative head of a conglomerate called ASA...
.
In June 2006, Adnan weighed 206 kilos and according to him, his doctor said he was giving him just six months to live. By diet, exercise and will-power, Adnan lost 107 kgs weight in 9 months.
In 2008, Adnan's wife Sabah returned to Mumbai, remarried and began staying with Adnan.
On 30 January 2009, Adnan's wife Sabah registered a case against Adnan at the
OshiwaraOshiwara is a neighbourhood in northern Mumbai very near to Lokhandwala. Located between Goregaon and Jogeshwari, it has a large number of industrial estates. A railway station is scheduled to be completed by June 2008....
police station accusing him of physical and mental torture after they had a violent fight. Adnan was summoned to the police station and warned against misbehaving with his wife in future. According to Adnan, Sabah is making a claim to his flat in Lokhandwala and did not allow his father to return to it. He said he was planning to fight in court with his wife. Adnan also said that his wife was unkind to his son from a previous marriage, Azaan. Sabah has said that their troubles began soon after remarriage and that Adnan was suffering from
alcoholismAlcoholism is a term with multiple and sometimes conflicting definitions. In common and historic usage, alcoholism is any condition that results in the continued consumption of alcoholic beverages, despite health problems and negative social consequences...
which "increased by the day" and would often indulge in violence against her.
According to her, on one occasion, Adnan drank so much alcohol that he fell down in the bathroom and they had to cancel a show in London. She has also said that he abused and apologised to her and it became a pattern and that she loved him "so much".
Adnan Sami violated the law of India & purchased 8 flats in Mumbai with out approval from the competent authorities, Naresh Kadyan, Chairman - PFA Haryana asked the Mumbai Police to lodge FIR against Adnan Sami u/s 420, 120-B IPC along with other relevant sections of the law of the land.
Awards and accolades
Sami has won many international awards, including the Nigar Award, the Bolan Academy Award, and the Graduate Award. He was given a special award by UNICEF for the song he wrote for famine-hit Ethiopia as a teenager and a United Nations Peace Medal for a song he wrote and performed for Africa.
A review of his piano solo performance on
Channel 4Channel 4 is a UK public-service television broadcaster which began working on November 2, 1982. Although commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station owned now and operated by the Channel Four Television...
, UK, in
Keyboard MagazineKeyboard Magazine is a magazine that originally covered electronic keyboard instruments and keyboardists, though with the advent of computer based recording and audio technology, they have added digital music technology to their regular coverage, including those not strictly pertaining to the...
acknowledged him as the "Keyboard Discovery of The 90s".
In 2001, he was awarded the Breakthrough Artist of the Year by
MTVMTV is a cable television network based in New York City and launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs...
.
He was invited to be a member of the jury of the prestigious music festival
Voice of AsiaVoice of Asia is a music festival, held annually in Almaty, Kazakhstan. The usual venue for the festival is the outdoor Medeo speed skating rink, situated on the mountainous outskirts of Tian Shan, several kilometers away from the Almaty center....
competition, held annually at
AlmatyAlmaty is the largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population of 1,348,500 , which represents 9% of the population of the country....
,
KazakhstanKazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a country situated in Eurasia that is ranked as the ninth largest country in the world. It is also the world's largest landlocked country. Its territory of 2,727,300 km² is greater than Western Europe...
- the jury comprises top music composers of the world. Sami was featured in a documentary, commissioned by the Foreign and Common Wealth Office of Great Britain, about ten people from the
Indian subcontinentThe Indian subcontinent, also Indian Subcontinent and other terms, is a region of the Asian continent on the Indian tectonic plate south of the Himalayas, forming a peninsula which extends southward into the Indian Ocean...
, who have influenced the
Asian cultureThe culture of Asia is the artificial aggregate of the cultural heritage of many nationalities, societies, religions, and ethnic groups in the region, traditionally called a continent from a Western-centric perspective, of Asia...
in the UK over the last fifty years.
Swedish and British radio and television have often referred to him as the fastest keyboard player in the world. Sami has performed for prestigious music festivals to sold-out stadia of his solo concert tours all over the world in over forty countries. In summer 2003, he became the only Asian artist to have sold out,
Wembley StadiumThe original Wembley Stadium was a football stadium in Wembley, a suburb of north-west London, standing on the site now occupied by the new Wembley Stadium that opened in 2007.-History:...
, London, for two consecutive nights, which won him a place in the
Limca Book of RecordsLimca Book of Records is a record book of Indian origin. It is the only record book of its kind in India. First published in 1990, the 20th edition of this book was released by Amitabh Bachchan in March 2009....
.
As a classical concert pianist, Sami has had the honour of giving "solo" Royal Command performances before the King of Sweden and King Hussein of Jordan.
In 2008, he was presented the Naushad Music Award by Andhra Pradesh Department of Culture, at Hyderabad.
Discography
- Ecstasy - 1991
- Raag Time - 1991 - This album featured India's famous tabla artist Ustad Zakir Hussain.
- Behta Darya - 1992
- Sargam - 1995 - All songs from this album was used in a Pakistani movie with the same name, Adnan played the lead role against his then wife Zeba Bakhtiar.
- Badaltay Mausam - 1997 - This album was re-released in India as Kabhi To Nazar Milao
- Kabhi To Nazar Milao - 2000 - No.1 album for (72 weeks) - Indian charts
- Tera Chehra - 2002 - Biggest selling album of (including film soundtracks) in Indian charts (53 weeks)
- Kisi Din - 2006
- Tum Jo Milay - 2008
- Daddy Cool
-Plot:The story is set in Indian state of Goa and takes place mainly at a Catholic family home where Steven and his wife Nancy live with his parents. When the story opens, it is the day of Steven's father's funeral and, while in the process of organising this event, Steven and Nancy plan to...
-2009