Pakistani rock
| Music of Pakistan | |
|---|---|
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| Genres | |
| Specific forms | |
| Religious music | |
| Traditional music | |
| Media and performance | |
| Music awards |
Lux Style Awards Hum Awards Pakistan Media Awards |
| Music festivals |
All Pakistan Music Conference Lahore Music Meet |
| Music media | |
| Nationalistic and patriotic songs | |
| National anthem | Qaumi Taranah |
| Regional music | |
| Local forms | |
| Related areas | |
Pakistani rock is a variety of rock music that is largely produced in Pakistan. Pakistani rock incorporates elements of both British–American rock and Pakistani classical music.
Since the 1980s, Pakistani rock has had its own distinctive elements, such as a homegrown class of sounds and melodies, spanning progressive rock, hard rock, and heavy metal, initially influencing the development of heavy metal music in late 1990s. Pakistani rock is almost entirely sung in Urdu, however many bands have issued songs in Punjabi, Pashto, Sindhi and English languages.
Rock music in Pakistan began in the 1980s with the arrival of cassettes by Western rock music groups such as Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Van Halen. By 1983-85, local underground rock groups began to perform at five-star hotels and university campuses across the country. The genre began rooted in the ultraconservative regime of President Zia-ul-Haq who had denounced the Western culture and put forwarded the program of Islamized transformation of the country.
In mid-1985, Western-influenced rock music began to be noticed by the public, and underground concerts were held all over the country. The quick success of the music jolted the country in a time when President General Zia-ul-Haq was reigning supreme as a dictator masquerading as "democratically elected." The President with a puppet parliament sanctioning his every move reeking of a Machiavellian brand of so-called "Islamisation." President Zia-ul-Haq had famously and strongly denounced "western ideas" such as jeans and rock music. Various groups had garnered and got the attention of the public, and the genre began to be appreciated as it was out of the ordinary.
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Wikipedia