Atif attended high School at PAF College, Lahore, where he played Cricket and became interested in music.
He attended Punjab Institute of Computer Science (PICS) to do his Bachelors in Computer Science (BCs). It was at PICS, Lahore that he met guitarist and talented young composer, Goher Mumtaz. This led to performances at their college and at various restaurants eventually pushing the pair into finding a name for their subtly formed band, which they named "Jal" – which means water.
Working together, the pair recorded the song Aadat (with the help of Salman Albert, amongst other established and accomplished Pakistani musicians). It became popular on a host of promotional Pakistani music websites. The music video for Aadat was shot one day in a warehouse in Karachi. On the basis of the popularity of this song, "Jal" began their tour of Pakistan. However, while on tour, personal problems between Atif and Goher led to a verbal bust-up resulting in an unannounced and indefinite hiatus, during which Atif launched his solo career. Goher continued under the band's name "Jal".
Atif Aslam, after leaving Jal, released a new solo album, Jal Pari (meaning "Mermaid") which was a big hit. The songs Woh Lamhey, Dil Haarey and few others were hits on both Pakistani radio stations and music channels. Since Jal's album, "Aadat", and Atif's album, Jal Pari, shared certain tracks (such as "Aadat", "Bheegi Yaadein", "Ankhon se") an unofficial war over rights began which resulted in both sides claiming to possess hard proof to support their respective claims (that, they alone owned the concerned songs). The hype this feud gave to both Atif and the new Jal was extraordinary and split the musical nation with the fans of each side backing their respective favourite.
While the drama of lyrics & composition ownership continued in Pakistan, Bollywood director Mahesh Bhatt called Atif Aslam to seek his consent to include "Woh Lamhey" in the soundtrack of his new motion picture, Zeher (2005). The song (especially the remix version) became a hit.
Atif Aslam (born Muhammad Atif Aslam) is a Pakistani singer, and film actor. His film debut was in the 2010 social drama Bol, which was the one of the highest-grossing Pakistani films of all the time. He has recorded numerous chart-topping songs,[1] and is known for his vocal belting technique.[2] He was declared the most popular artist on Saavn (an Indian music streaming service) in 2013, followed by Arijit Singh, A. R. Rahman, Shreya Ghoshal, and Mohit Chauhan. Atif is the youngest recipient of Tamgha-e-Imtiaz
Even though Atif always admired Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Abida Parveen,[6] his first love was for cricket and he dreamed of representing his nation as a cricketer. He was a fast bowler and his passion for the sport saw him being selected for the national Under 19 cricket team trials. At one stage Atif was training to represent his country in the U-19 World Cup.
Spurred on by his friends he began to sing in public during his days in college and recorded his first single "Aadat" (with the band Jal) with his pocket money. Within a matter of weeks "Aadat" went viral online and soon he became a household name on the basis of that one song. On 17 July 2004 his first album titled Jal Pari.[7] [8]
Several songs from his debut album such as "Bheegi Yaadein", "Ehsaas", "Mahi Ve", "Ankhon Sey" along with the title track "Jalpari" went on to become major hits and charted across countries in the subcontinent.
Following Jal Pari, he released two more successful solo albums, Doorie and Meri Kahani. Then, within a span of three years he recorded over two dozen chartbusters for top Bollywood films. Aslam's work on the movie Race, was nominated for the Filmfare Award. He continues to work on top productions and his growing popularity has seen filmmakers create special music videos to promote their films with his songs.
Following sold out concerts throughout his country the demand to watch Atif Aslam perform live grew across the world.
He began to tour internationally with performances in the US and Canada with RDB and Annie Khalid. Atif then made his solo debut concert in New Jersey in Summer Beats 2008 (that also featured Kailash Kher, Richa Sharma and Amanat Ali) at Sovereign Bank Arena. After a sold out concert in New Jersey, Atif returned with his band and special guests toQueens Colden Center, New York to perform on 2 July 2010.[9] Taking over the production, Atif produced the event with special sound and light design to support his concert.
Atif performing in Lahore, Pakistan
Two years later Atif Aslam returned to the US. Collaborating with vocalist Shreya Ghoshal their March 2010 tour originally had 10 shows announced in US and Canada. However, the response inspired the organizers to put shows in six more cities. The next month, Atif Aslam made his debut in South America with a performance at Anthony Nesty Sports Hall, Suriname.The world touring continued with Atif Aslam performing with Sunidhi Chauhan for the first time at Hershey Centre, Mississauga followed by another show at Oracle Arena, San Francisco, Oakland[10] in July 2011 during their USA and Canada tour. In September 2011 he performed in New York.
Atif continued to tour the world with headline performances[11] at Royal Albert Hall in London (alongside Jay Sean). He followed that with dates across major concert venues in the UK in 2010.
On 22 April 2012 Atif Aslam became the first man from his country to perform in London's O2 Arena[12] a concert spectacular to promote love, peace and unity among India and Pakistan. Atif performed for four hours. This was followed up by shows in Manchester[13] andGlasgow.[14]
In 2012 he was invited for three concerts at the World Trade Centre in Dubai. This was followed with his debut concert in Bangkok at the Centara Convention Centre on 6 October 2012.[15] Atif Aslam then returned to performing in 10 major cities of Pakistan during his Jazz Jazba Generation Tour[16] where backstage footage of Atif Aslam during the tour, his interactions with his fans, and intimate look at the man behind the star was filmed for the first time. On 2 November he performed his first public concert in Malaysia.
In December 2012, Atif was named among top performers of Dubai for 2012 alongside Pitbull, Enrique Iglesias, Il Divo, Gotye,Evanescence and Swedish House Mafia. A few weeks earlier, Atif Aslam became the first man from Asia, and the second artist after Bryan Adams, to be permitted to perform inside the Dashrath Rangasla National Football Stadium in Kathmandu, Nepal. With 25,000[17] in the crowd this concert was a great success.[18] Atif once again returned to Dubai for multiple concerts in 2013 at the world famous Atlantis resort. He also earlier shared stage with upcoming talent Shalmali Kholgade in Dubai.
In April 2013, Atif performed for the first time at the LG Arena in Birmingham[19]
came the first artist from Asia to perform twice at London's O2 Arena. Also in concert at the O2 were Bollywood stars Shaan, Malaika Arora Khan & Bipasha Basu. The show was produced by Naz Choudhury and Flex FX.[20] In November 2014 Aslam performed at the Leisure Valley grounds in Gurgaon alongside Arijit Singh in front of thousands. The Pakistani Atif, as popular here as the Indian Arijit, both Bollywood 'hit machines', showed that when it comes to music, art and people-to-people contact, there really are no boundaries.[21]
- In August 2015, Atif performed at London's O2 Arena for the third time, in which his fans witnessed him perform Tajdar-e-Haram from Coke Studio (Pakistan) Season 8.
