Adnan's Life
Early life and education
Adnan Sami was born, brought up and educated in London, United Kingdom.[7][8] His father, Arshad Sami Khan was a pilot with the Pakistan Air Force and a Pakistani diplomat. Sami attended Rugby School.[9][10] He had played the piano since the age of five.[11][12] Sami began taking lessons from Pandit Shivkumar Sharma when visiting India during his school vacations.[7] Indian singing legend Asha Bhosle 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.[13][14]
As a teenager, Sami, when performing on the sitar at a programme in Stockholm, was noticed by Keyboard Magazine as being the fastest man on keyboard in Asia.[7] Sami went on to learn Indian classical music from Mahraj Khatak[citation needed], a Pakistani classical singing teacher and dancer. At the age of sixteen, Sami was approached to write a song for famine-hit Ethiopia for which he won a special award from UNICEF.[2]
He graduated from King's College[citation needed] and became the first person to play Indian classical music on the electric piano
Career
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 Pakistani film, in which Adnan was the lead with his wife Zeba and famous Indian playback singer Asha Bhosle did the playback, Sargam, was a blockbuster.[15] However, the authorities banned Asha's voice from the soundtrack which disappointed Adnan. He then had to re-record these songs with Hadiqa Kiyani.[15] 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.[16] The music was also composed by Adnan. According to Adnan, this was a "dream come true" for him.[7] The album became an instant rage[17] and topped the Indipop charts[5] for most of 2001.[18][19] According to BusinessWeek, the album sold 2 million copies in India.[20]
Personal life
Adnan Sami was married to Zeba Bakhtiar[36] for a short period (2nd marriage,[37] separated in 1996[38]/1997[39]) from whom he had a son Azaan Khan.[39] After their separation, Adnan abducted their son and took him to Dubai after the Lahore High Court awarded custody rights to Zeba.[38]
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.[38] She took the custody of Azaan by appealing in a Canadian court.[40] Canadian immigration officials "stormed" Adnan's home, arrested him and "whisked away" his son who was handed over to his mother, Zeba.[41] According to Adnan, this forced him to cancel millions of dollars worth of concerts and other recording obligations.[41] 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.[40]
Awards and accolades
Sami has won many international awards, including the Nigar Award[citation needed], the Bolan Academy Award[citation needed], and the Graduate Award.[27] 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[27]
A review of his piano solo performance on Channel 4, UK, in Keyboard Magazine acknowledged him as the "Keyboard Discovery of The 90s".[27][51]
In 2001, he was awarded the Breakthrough Artist of the Year by MTV.[28][52]
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